1.   By law, political parties could be banned only by a court decision, which had not been received.

2.   Although banned by the National Football League and International Olympic Committee, it is still legal in major-league baseball.

3.   Florida is the only state that prohibits adoption by all gays while two other states, Mississippi and Utah, have laws banning adoption by same-sex couples.

4.   Hall repeatedly grilled tobacco company lawyer Richard Cooper, comparing tobacco to heroin, pesticides and other products regulated or banned by the government.

5.   IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch wants to ban visits by all members except those on a special evaluation commission, but others object.

6.   It is legal in baseball but banned by the National Football League and the International Olympic Committee because it is thought to provide an unfair advantage.

7.   McGwire recently acknowledged taking androstenedione, an over-the-counter substance that is legal in major league baseball but banned by some other sports.

8.   Mississippi and Utah are the only other states to ban adoptions by gays and lesbians, and gay adoptions completed in other states are recognized in Florida.

9.   On Thursday, the Nassau police revised their policy on drunken-driving stops, banning stops by plainclothes officers in unmarked cars.