PHILADELPHIA - A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that sports betting in Delaware would violate a 1992 federal ban on such wagering, essentially halting the state’s plans to start taking bets next month. The plan was opposed by the professional sports leagues and the NCAA, which claimed it violated the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, would harm their reputations and expose young people to gambling.

Karen Williams, chief judge of the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the first female judge on the court, has retired because of illness. Her departure leaves five vacancies on the 15-judge court that covers the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and North and South Carolina. It is the last stop for most appeals except for the relative handful accepted by the U.S. Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court yesterday held that the federal civil commitment law for sex offenders was unconstitutional and that alleged victims of abuse at the hands of a former Somali official may sue him.