A bill in the California legislature held out hope for encouraging wider adoption of the lifesaving devices, but couldn’t make it past the Litigation Lobby. [John Frith, California Civil Justice Blog]
Author Archive
Keep out of kids’ reach. It’s a founding document!
I blogged at Cato at Liberty yesterday about a copy of the U.S. Constitution sold with a parental advisory warning (hat tip: reader Clark S.). According to the warning, it might be a good idea not to let kids read the nation’s founding document until having a discussion with them about how views on race, sex, etc. have changed since it was written. It’s just boilerplate, of course, as found on other books from the same publisher. More: Eugene Volokh and Damon Root, Reason “Hit and Run”. And reader L.S. points out that in their prefatory matter the publishers also purport to prohibit readers from using or reproducing the text of the Constitution without permission.
P.S. First Things commenter Jared: “I presume, in the interests of not being chauvinistic about the present, that which they publish written today also carries a similar warning label: ‘This book is a product of the cultural mores and prejudices of the early twenty-first century…'”
Princess-Di-as-trademark case
If you want to get justice against a bad lawsuit, notes Ron Coleman, you might need to own a Mint.
Joining Cato, cont’d
More kind comments on my move from Ramesh Ponnuru at NRO “Corner” and David Lat and Elie Mystal at Above the Law (earlier). And I’m very grateful for Chris Rizo’s full-length treatment at Legal NewsLine, even if it’s hard for me to imagine anyone calling me a “godfather” of anything.
Can’t make ’em up dept.
Germany: “Teacher with rabbit phobia to sue 14-year-old for drawing bunny.” The educator “says she was traumatized by the drawing, and claims the girl knew it would terrify her.” [Telegraph]
Class action settlement against A.G. Edwards
It might sound good, says Ted at CCAF, till you actually give it a look. A fairness hearing is coming up May 14.
Jumps over fence to prevent a suicide
And then sues would-be suicide over foot injury sustained in the jump. The unusual case reached an Illinois appellate court last year, which ruled that a suit could proceed against the would-be suicide, though not his wife, who had also been named as a defendant on the grounds that she had requested the plaintiff’s help. [Illinois Injury Lawyer Blog]
Third Circuit: relative ability to pay not get-out-of-jail-free card against cost awards
Losing plaintiffs in a medical malpractice case “argued that it would be unfair to assess costs given the financial disparity between the parties,” but the court found that argument unpersuasive. It should be noted that the “costs” being shifted in this and most other federal cases do not include attorneys’ fees and most other big-ticket expenses of litigation. Or, as Beck et al put it in their summary of the case, “No, it’s not fee-shifting – but at least it’s something.”
“Judge tosses ‘mother-in-lawsuit’ vs. comedian”
“Sunda Croonquist, whose shtick for years has been to describe her life as a half-black, half-Swedish woman who marries into a Jewish family, was sued two years ago after her mother-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law said her jokes were holding them up to public ridicule.” A federal judge in New Jersey, however, has now ruled that the comedy routines were not actionable: many were opinion, not susceptible to being taken literally or otherwise protected under the First Amendment. [AP/MSNBC, earlier] More: Tim Cavanaugh, Reason “Hit and Run”.
Suit alleges “Jersey Shore” show is criminal enterprise
The suit claims the hit MTV reality show profits “from showing fights that cast members deliberately provoked.” A New Jersey judge has denied a motion to dismiss. [AP/Daily Caller] More: Courthouse News, Asbury Park Press.