"I had every reason to believe he would rule favorably upon that objection," Mr. Harkin said.

But a former senior administration official who has been involved in recent discussions of the issue with lawyers and lobbying groups said he believed Mr. Ashcroft would rule favorably.

With this "big stick" over their heads, the mine owners agreed to accept the ruling of an Arbitration Commission, which ruled favorably for the miners.

The judge first heard the case earlier this year and ruled favorably for the garage, Wall Street Garage Parking Corp.

Or a judge could rule favorably on a lawsuit claiming, say, that federal dollars were used to teach "untraditional" history.

Judge Sorkow ruled favorably on all issues sought by the Sterns after making a stinging attack on Mrs. Whitehead.

But he added that he was confident that the I.R.S. would rule favorably.

Rogers continued to campaign, hopeful that a federal appeals court would rule favorably in a lawsuit seeking to overturn the state's signature requirement for third party candidates.

Justice Garson, prosecutors say, fed Mr. Siminovsky arguments to use in court that he would rule favorably on.

We believe there's no basis for the B.P.U. to rule favorably for them.