Original Article Court rules in favor of police Wire services Jun. 28, 2005 12:00 AM WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the police did not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm, even a woman who had obtained a protective order against a violent husband making an arrest mandatory for a violation. The 7-2 decision overturned a ruling by a federal appeals court. That court had permitted a lawsuit against Castle Rock, Colo., for the failure of the police to respond to a woman's pleas for help after her estranged husband violated a protective order. In another case, the court refused to hear an appeal from two reporters who say they should not be forced to reveal their sources to a prosecutor investigating whether senior Bush administration officials illegally leaked a covert CIA operative's name. The high court's order leaves New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper facing jail time. Both have declined for more than a year to identify confidential sources they spoke with in 2003 about government efforts to discredit a high-profile critic of President Bush's argument for going to war with Iraq: ex-Ambassador Joseph Wilson, husband of CIA operative Valerie Plame. The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post contributed to this article.