A letter from the La Vega Independent School District warned DaMarcus Blackwell that his son was involved in “inappropriate physical behavior interpreted as sexual contact and/or sexual harassment” after the boy hugged a teacher’s aide and “rubbed his face in the chest of (the) female employee”. The boy was four years old at the time. (Emily Ingram, “Hug lands 4-year-old in suspension”, Waco Tribune-Herald, Dec. 10; Volokh, Dec. 12).
Author Archive
Seattle airport Christmas tree suit
Discussed at Althouse (Dec. 13).
UK: “Cathedral puts out the flames of Christingle”
“For the first time in more than 250 years, children will not be allowed to carry candles at a cathedral service in case their hair catches fire. There is no record of a child going up in flames since the Christingle service began at Chelmsford Cathedral in 1747. However, children this year will carry fluorescent glow sticks rather than the traditional candles set in oranges.” (David Sapsted, Telegraph, Dec. 12).
Atkins diet suit dismissed
U.S. District Judge Denny Chin of Manhattan has dismissed (ruling, PDF) a lawsuit against the Atkins diet people by Jody Gorran, who says after subsisting on pastrami and cheesecake while on the high-fat, low-carb diet he saw his cholesterol spike and underwent an angioplasty. Judge Chin said the hazards of those foodstuffs were well known and that dietary advice, even when accompanied by a commercial motivation, is protected by the First Amendment. (Larry Neumeister, “NY judge finds 1st Amendment protects Atkins diet against lawsuit”, AP/Staten Island Advance, Dec. 11) (via Lattman).
Judges reject Shinnecock, Paugussett land claims
In two separate cases, federal judges have rejected high-profile but long-shot claims by Indian tribes asserting ownership of land tracts in the Northeast. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas C. Platt said the Shinnecock tribe of Long Island, New York (see Jun. 13, Jun. 19 and Jun. 27, 2005), had forfeited its potential claim on 3,600 acres of high-value land in the Hamptons by waiting more than 140 years to assert possession. (John Moreno Gonzales, “Ruling aside, tribe plans to build casino”, Newsday, Dec. 5; “Judge cites passage of time in Shinnecock land claim”, Indianz.com, Dec. 6; ruling in PDF format courtesy Indianz.com). And in New Haven, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton brought homeowners’ ordeal nearer an end Nov. 29 by ruling against the federally unrecognized group that calls itself the Golden Hill Paugussetts, which has been asserting land claims in various Connecticut towns for 14 years. (Gale Courey Toensing, “Golden Hill Paugussetts will appeal rejected land claims”, Indian Country Today, Dec. 11).
“Criminal law comes home”
Something unusual in the Yale Law Journal: an article that takes a not entirely enthusiastic view of the continued spread of domestic restraining orders. Under such orders (some earlier posts) allegations of spousal abuse, whether or not eventually proven at trial and whether or not withdrawn by the accuser, can trigger highly burdensome sanctions against the accused spouse, including a prohibition on entering his or her own home. Harvard Law assistant professor Jeannie Suk says the process can amount to “de facto state-imposed divorce” and greatly increases the power of the state to reach into and reorder family life, sometimes against the will of both parties. (“Criminal Law Comes Home”, Oct., abstract leads to PDF of full version)(via Pattis). In response, a second law professor argues that current legal trends appropriately treat alleged domestic violence as a crime against the state and not just against the nominal victim, and that it is wrong to place too much emphasis on accusers’ supposed right to forgive abusive conduct (Cheryl Hanna, “Because Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”, The Pocket Part, Oct. 12)(& welcome Ron Coleman/Dean Esmay readers).
“Odometer Settlement May Earn Class Lawyers $9.5 Million in Fees”
It seems Honda odometers, until recently at least, were what you might call conservative — they registered a slightly higher mileage than actually driven, by perhaps 2 or 4 percent. Given that the best known consumer-protection hazard in the odometer world has long been the danger of unscrupulous tampering with the devices so as to underestimate mileage with an eye to resale, one way to interpret the Honda settings is that they effectively leaned over to protect buyers of used vehicles. However, class action lawyers did not interpret the phenomenon that way, instead hinting at a plot to 1) get owners to come in for scheduled service slightly more often than otherwise and 2) run out mileage-triggered warranties slightly faster than otherwise. Reader James Ingram, referring to the handsome fee haul, writes: “I’m sure I am happy to pay $9 1/2 million to know that my Honda odometer which reads 10,200 to 10,400 really should read 10,000. If I drive it, say, 150,000 miles it might cost me an additional $30 oil change.” (Mary Alice Robbins, Texas Lawyer, Nov. 13).
“The ugliest suits…”
“…are those where lawyers sue lawyers.” Profile of Georgia attorney Frank Beltran, who specializes in filing lawsuits against lawyers: “‘When lawyers split up it’s worse than a marriage,’ Beltran said, observing that some get vindictive as ‘ego and testosterone’ kick in.” And then there are the wrangles over how to split fees (Meredith Hobbs, “Legal Malpractice Brings Unique View of Brethren’s Vices”, Fulton County Daily Report, Dec. 4).
Crazed samurai killer wins only $1 in police brutality case
Perhaps this Pennsylvania jury considered that it was steering things down the middle with its result:
Five Bethlehem police officers used excessive force to restrain a man high on crack cocaine who killed a drug dealer with a samurai sword and set him on fire, a federal jury ruled Tuesday night.
… [Sonny] Thomas, 50, who testified he suffered bruises and recurring migraine headaches as a result of the violent scuffle, sought $35 million in damages but was awarded $1….
Thomas testified he had smoked 12 rocks of crack cocaine during the four hours before stabbing [19-year-old Carlos] Garcia more than 80 times with a 4-foot-long samurai sword.
Police, who arrived at the grisly scene to find Garcia’s body set ablaze with the sword sticking out of it, said Thomas ignored an order to surrender, while Thomas countered that he put up no resistance but was beaten anyway. While finding five of the police officers at the scene responsible for excessive force, the jury exonerated five others. The federal judge who presided over the trial, John Fullam, called the jury’s verdict “remarkable”. (Matt Birkbeck, “Samurai killer wins police brutality case, $1 award”, Allentown Morning Call, Nov. 29). For more on “one-dollar” verdicts by juries in excessive-force cases filed by criminals, see my 1994 City Journal article on New York’s “mugger millionaire” case.
Daniel Edelman vs. subprime lenders
The Chicago class action lawyer, vividly remembered for his role in the notorious BancBoston Mortgage case, among others (Nov. 15, 1999, Feb. 7, 2000; see also Dec. 15, 2004 for his involvement in junk-fax litigation) is now filing suits against lenders who solicit persons with poor credit histories for more loans. The Northwest Indiana Times kindly quotes me on the subject (Joe Carlson, “Lawsuits targeting credit scams”, Nov. 27).