In other action, the Supreme Court:
-ruled the government may impose severe fines against air polluters even when federal officials are slow to decide on proposals for cleaning up the atmosphere.
By a 9-0 vote, the justices upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's power to seek fines of up to $25,000 a day against a General Motors plant in Massachusetts.
-upheld a $1.3 million verdict against Texaco for price discrimination in a case that could force big changes in the product distribution practices of businesses everywhere.
The court rejected Texaco's arguments that it did not discriminate in price nor injure competition.
-allowed the Bush administration to limit how much welfare aid some needy families receive.
By a 5-4 vote, the court said Social Security benefits paid to children must be considered in determining a family's eligibility for benefits under the government's Aid to Families with Dependent Children program.
-upheld a law that allows hospitals and other health care providers to sue state officials for reimbursement of medical care at "reasonable and adequate" costs.
In a 5-4 ruling, the high court said health care providers have a right to force individual states to comply with a law requiring adequate reimbursement of such services.