The Supreme Court said...that it can't intervene in an important dispute over the rights of apartheid victims to sue U.S. corporations in U.S. courts because four of the nine justices had to sit out the case over apparent conflicts…. The court's hands were tied by federal laws that require at least six justices to hear any case before them. Short of the required number by one, the court took the only path available to it and upheld an appeals court ruling allowing the suit to proceed…. The lawyers [for the South Africans bringing the complaint] said they plan to narrow their complaint, perhaps omitting some corporations and showing more clearly how the companies assisted the apartheid government. [refers to Bank of America, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Colgate-Palmolive, Credit Suisse, ExxonMobil, HP, IBM, Isuzu, Nestle]