Justin Levine at CalBlog takes a pessimistic view (Jan. 27).
Archive for January, 2005
Historic preservation laws
…can encourage midnight teardowns, as Ted explains on Point of Law (Jan. 27). See also Feb. 15-17, 2002.
Oz judge: let’s purge the web
Australia: “A Supreme Court judge has called for the internet to be purged of any material likely to prejudice a trial, to prevent jurors conducting their own investigations into cases they are sitting on. Justice Virginia Bell, of the [New South Wales] Supreme Court, told a conference in Darwin of Supreme and Federal court judges from across the country yesterday that the ready availability of archived press reports on the internet could jeopardise the trial of an accused person.” She recommended that prosecutors “carry out searches on the internet and, in the event that prejudicial material is identified … request any Australian-based website to remove it until the trial is completed”. The secretary of a journalists’ organization called her proposal “silly and unworkable”. (Kevin Meade and Cath Hart, “Judge demands trial web blackout”, The Australian, Jan. 26).
Fear of Linux adoption
Welcome Observer (UK) readers
London’s Observer quotes me today on the subject of litigation against schools and in particular the case of Peer Larson, the Wisconsin high school student who’s suing to challenge the right of his honors math teacher to assign homework over the summer (see Jan. 21). (Richard Luscombe, “Homework-hater takes his maths teacher to court”, Jan. 30). Follow the links for more on school litigation and on cheerleader suits (here and here and here.) (In case it isn’t clear from the context, by the way, my mention of large dollar settlements isn’t intended to refer to cheerleading-squad cases). And since overlegalization and the compensation culture are by no means limited to the U.S., we’ve also got a UK section.
Update: “Jokester to face grand jury”
“Prosecutors have dropped a disorderly conduct charge against legal reform advocate Carl Lanzisera, one of two men arrested for telling lawyer jokes outside District Court in Hempstead, N.Y. But his comedic and legal reform partner, Harvey Kash, must appear before a grand jury — and Lanzisera has been subpoenaed to testify in the case against him.” (Zachary R. Dowdy, Newsday/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Jan. 27)(see Jan. 13, Jan. 14). Monica Bay (“Common Scold”) comments (Jan. 27).
Fee in Visa/MC class action, cont’d
David Giacalone has some apposite things to say (Jan. 26) about a court’s recent decision to allow a mere $220 million in fees, rather than the more than $600 million sought, to lawyers who’d represented the plaintiff class of merchants in an antitrust suit against Visa and MasterCard (see Jan. 24). In particular, he notes the claim of the class counsel (on its website) that its billing rates “are typically significantly less than those charged by larger firms”; the willingness of big-name legal academics like Arthur Miller and Jack Coffee to hire themselves out to class counsel to bless the fees; and the dubious impact on consumers of some of the injunctive relief obtained by the class (he notes that he can’t use his debit card at Wal-Mart any more).
Speechcrime in the UK, cont’d
More on a subject we covered on Dec. 13, Sept. 14, and Jul. 16 of last year: in December British authorities rounded up and arrested the head and various officials of the British National Party, charging them with inciting racial hatred in political speeches (“Let the people of England speak”, The Spectator, Jan. 1). Also in December, the quasiofficial Press Complaints Commission announced a crackdown “on the use of the term ‘illegal asylum seeker’ by newspapers after research revealed its continued usage. Sir Christopher Meyer, the press watchdog’s chairman, has commissioned its cuttings agency to scan all British newspapers for use of the term after a study by the Liberal Democrats showed that the press has ignored the PCC’s guidance issued more than a year ago.” The culture spokesman of the bafflingly named LDP has written to Meyer “calling for harsher punishments for defiant newspapers”, and saying there is “a strong case for considering the imposition of fines on erring newspapers.” (Sarah Hall, “Newspapers flout ruling on asylum seekers”, The Guardian, Dec. 31).
Greyhound v. Chinatown buses
What does an incumbent bus company do when faced with low-price competition? One solution is to raise the competition’s costs by suing. But even I’ll admit that lawsuits are more civil than the violence that characterizes recent competition amongst the smaller bus lines. (Barry Newman, “On the East Coast, Chinese Buses Give Greyhound a Run”, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 28).
LA commuter rail crash II
More on the LA commuter rail crash (Jan. 27): the Los Angeles Times covers the legal aspects of the case, and suggests prospects of recovery are “slim,” because the accident is Alvarez’s doing. Ten paragraphs into the article, however, the Times acknowledges the principle of joint and several liability, whereby the railroad could be on the hook for the entirety of the economic damages if they’re found 1% responsible for the accident. (Tort reform in California has abolished joint-and-several liability for non-economic damages. Cal. Civ. Code Sec. 1431.2.) Overlawyered has covered numerous cases where the deep pocket was held responsible for the crime of another: for example, ankle monitor manufacturer 20% responsible for murder; apartment complex responsible for carjacking and shooting; beer vendor 50% responsible (plus punitives) for drunk driving accident; automaker jointly liable for drunk driving accident.
Also entertaining is the discussion of the five investigators the California Bar felt they had to send to the scene of the crime and local hospitals to shoo away potentially illegal solicitation by attorneys. (Henry Weinstein, “Victims’ Chances of Winning Big Money Are Slim”, Jan. 28).