Sheriff investigating Wis. Supreme Court argument (AP)

MADISON, Wis. – A fight between Wisconsin's divided Supreme Court justices led Monday to a criminal investigation and calls from the governor and others to resolve longstanding differences and restore public confidence in the institution.

Liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that conservative Justice David Prosser tried to choke her during an argument in her state Capitol office on June 13, the day before the court handed down a decision upholding a new law that eliminates most public employees' collective bargaining rights. Prosser has denied the allegations.

Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney said his office has opened an investigation into the incident at the request of Capitol Police Chief Charles Tubbs, whose agency had original jurisdiction because the argument allegedly took place in the Capitol building.

Tubbs said in a statement he asked the sheriff to handle the matter after consulting with members of the court. He didn't elaborate and a spokeswoman for the agency that oversees the Capitol Police didn't immediately respond to a message.

The state judicial commission, which oversees judicial conduct, announced Monday afternoon that it opened a probe on Friday. The commission could ultimately make a discipline recommendation to the Supreme Court, potentially putting the justices in a position to rule on the fate of one of their colleagues.

Gov. Scott Walker, who pushed the union law as a means of saving money, said the justices must end their long-standing divisions for the sake of public confidence in the court.

Howard Schweber, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political science and law professor, said the tensions between the justices reflect a more partisan atmosphere on the court. Large injections of special interest money into the justices' campaigns have turned the court into a political battleground, he said.

The latest incident has turned the court into a "laughingstock" and reduced a once-respected institution into fodder for late-night comedy shows, Schweber said.

Supreme Court rules against Anna Nicole Smith heirs (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US Supreme Court ruled against Anna Nicole Smith's heirs on Thursday, bringing an end to their $88-million claim to the estate of the blonde bombshell's former husband J. Howard Marshall.

Smith married Marshall, a Texas oil baron, when he was 89 years old, and the billionaire died in 1995 without including the now-deceased former Playboy Playmate in his will.

The legal case began more than 15 years ago and many of the story's principal protagonists have died, which further complicated the case that reached the highest US court.

In a five-to-four decision, the court ruled in favor of Marshall's descendants and now the Marshall estate does not have to give one cent to Smith's heirs.

The legal battle first began in 1995 when the oil magnet died and Smith, who was 27 years old at the time, discovered that her late husband had left his entire fortune, estimated at $1.6 billion, to his son Pierce Marshall, despite the fact that, according to Smith, J. Howard Marshall had promised to leave her $300 million.

Since then the case has been scattered over multiple jurisdictions in Louisiana, Texas, California and eventually in 2006 up to the Supreme Court, which allowed Smith the right to try and collect on the inheritance by sending the case back to the courts.

During that time, Pierce Marshall died and his heirs took up the judicial battle.

A bankruptcy court in California had decided in favor of Smith, but a Texas state court ruled that J. Howard Marshall was mentally capable when he left his estate to his son and therefore his will was valid.

Thursday's decision marked more than simply a ruling over an ongoing and dramatic court squabble; it decided that the bankruptcy courts did not have constitutional authority to rule outside of a bankruptcy court on a state law counterclaim.

Anna Nicole Smith was found dead of an accidental drug overdose in February 2007 in a Florida hotel room, five months after the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel.

Smith's lawyer and former boyfriend, Howard Stern, was representing the interests of Smith's only surviving child, her daughter Dannielynn, who was seven months old when Smith died and who is being raised by her father, the photographer Larry Birkhead.

Smith became famous for her legal battles as well as her curves and has been a focus of American media.