21.   Nor is it certain whether her approval of a settlement would prevent the states from proceeding with their own antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft.

22.   Perhaps the most important part of the bill is a section preventing the state from establishing laws that would place new restrictions on farmers and ranchers.

23.   Other lawmakers, including Republican Tom DeLay of Texas, the powerful House Whip, favor federal legislation that would prevent states from allowing companies to recover stranded costs.

24.   Participation has to be voluntary, since the First Amendment prevents states from limiting candidate spending.

25.   Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he would fight to prevent his state from becoming a nuclear waste dump.

26.   Since the repayment was ordered by a court, the Legislature has no power to prevent the state from making the payment, officials said.

27.   So Adam comes to town not just to prevent the state from carrying out the death penalty but to learn something about his past.

28.   The agreement only prevented the state from using information gathered by the federal prosecutors after the immunity took effect.

29.   The amendment, which applied solely to Alaska, prevented the state from banning gambling except when ships were docked or within three miles of a port of call.

30.   The commissioners, at a meeting in Minneapolis, called on Congress to revise the federal law that prevents states from regulating such self-insured health plans.