UPDATE 1-U.S. court OKs ban on political ads on public stations

* Congress sought to protect programming decisions * 9th Circuit rejects First Amendment challenge By Jonathan Stempel Dec 2 (Reuters) - A divided federal appeals court on Monday upheld a federal ban on political advertising on public television and radio stations, rejecting an argument that it unconstitutionally violated the First Amendment. By an 8-3 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco let stand a 1981 federal statute that prohibits public stations from...