WASHINGTON (AP) -- New York City's zoning crackdown on strip clubs and smut shops got a green light from the Supreme Court Monday.

The court, without comment, rejected appeals in which X-rated enterprises and their patrons argued that the regulations trample free speech and threaten legal businesses.The appeals said federal courts wrongly deferred to New York state court rulings that had upheld the regulations.

The city prohibits sex-oriented theaters, bookstores, massage parlors and dance clubs from operating within 500 feet of homes, houses of worship, schools or each other.

In other cases, the court:

Refused to reinstate a child molester's prison sentence, set aside by Nebraska's highest court because a judge quoted Bible verses before imposing the man's punishment. The justices let stand the state court's ruling that the sentence was invalid because reasonable people might question the judge's impartiality.

Refused to revive an Arizona measure that declared English the state's official language and required its use in most government transactions. The law was struck down by the state Supreme Court in April as a violation of free-speech rights.

Again left intact the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, rejecting a challenge by two former servicemen discharged after declaring their homosexuality. The justices turned away arguments that the policy is based on prejudice against homosexuals and violates free-speech rights.

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