The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that a defamation plaintiff is not automatically entitled to compel an internet service provider to lay bare the blogger’s identity, absent a showing of sufficient facts supporting the defamation case to defeat a motion for summary judgment. (J.L. Miller, “Del. court protects blogger’s identity”, WIlmington News-Journal, Oct. 6; Francis Pileggi, Oct. 6). Prof. Bainbridge (Oct. 6) calls it “a major win for bloggers and the First Amendment.”
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
The bear’s death warrant? Public liability
We’ve reported before (Mar. 18, 2004) on how, after court decisions in Arizona eroded the state’s longstanding immunity from being sued over the actions of wild animals, lawyers began obtaining large verdicts from public managers over humans’ harmful encounters with wildlife — with the result that managers began moving to a “when in doubt, take it doubt” policy of slaughtering wild creatures that might pose even a remote threat to people. The continuing results of the policy came in for some public discussion last month after a bear wandered into a residential area near Rumsey Park in Payson, Ariz. and was euthanized by Arizona Game and Fish personnel:
[Ranger Cathe] Descheemaker said that the two Game and Fish officials were no doubt following procedure, and that bears are routinely destroyed ever since the agency was sued when a bear mauled a 16-year-old girl in 1996 on Mt. Lemmon near Tucson.
“Since Game and Fish lost that lawsuit, they do not relocate any bears,” she said. “The fact that bear was in town was its death warrant.”
(Jim Keyworth, “Bear found near Rumsey Park destroyed”, Payson Roundup, Sept. 6). For another set of complications that can arise from public liability for wildlife — namely, pressure to close off the general public’s access to wilderness — see Mar. 29.
Free Market Project & Katrina insurance lawsuits
The Free Market Project covers anti-business media bias, and has been issuing weekly exposes of media coverage of the various lawsuits over insurance companies’ flood exclusions: Oct. 5, Sep. 28, Sep. 14. Our coverage: Sep. 15, Sep. 12; POL Sep. 28, Sep. 26, Sep. 25, Sep. 23, Sep. 22, Sep. 9. I spoke about the issue at an AEI panel I moderated on October 3 that was broadcast on C-SPAN2. Transcripts will be posted in the next couple of weeks on the AEI site.
Errin’ on the airwaves
Tom Bray of the Detroit News weighs in on the controversy over the Harvard School of Public Health’s decision to give an award to Erin Brockovich (earlier: Sept. 30) and points out that the glamourpuss toxic-tort-chaser is making a push into TV:
She is listed as the executive producer of an upcoming NBC series titled “Class Action,” which will lionize a team of fictional plaintiff’s attorneys who specialize in class-action lawsuits.
(“Radical parody threatens environmental movement”, Oct. 2)(via Toxic Tort News).
Rehosted (and on MT 3.2)
You can probably tell by the slightly altered style that this is the new version of Overlawyered rehosted on Hosting Matters and powered by the new Movable Type 3.2. A few points:
* I expect to be tinkering further with the style. In particular, I’d like to reduce the wasted space, widen the right sidebar, and give readers a way to increase font size, especially on the sidebar. (Update: I’ve done some of these things in the course of the day, and will be checking out some further suggestions from readers.) Suggestions are welcome, especially from readers who are familiar with Movable Type and stylesheets, I myself being an amateur.
* The new version of MT stores archives using a different filename format. This will result in some broken links for archives and older topical pages, at least temporarily, although I expect to install redirects that will help. All of the archives remain accessible through date-based browsing (see sidebar on front page) as well as through site search (more than one search may be necessary, though).
* I’ve cross-posted a few items I posted over the past two weeks at Point of Law. I trust all of you have bookmarked that site by now, and you should go on visiting it even after regular posting at this site resumes.
P.S. Well, at least we’ve got the serifs back now.
Hiatus and rehosting update
Readers were not shy about recommending hosting services (thanks for all your emails!) and I’ve now decided to go with Hosting Matters, which has many articulate fans and seems to make a specialty of Movable Type-based blogs. It’ll probably be a few days more before the site is back up and running.
In the mean time, you can follow both my and Ted’s postings at the Manhattan Institute site Point of Law, which has been extra-busy lately (see, for example, its reprint of Ramesh Ponnuru’s fascinating National Review article on trial lawyers and social conservatives). I’ve been juggling a number of other deadlines and published a “Rule of Law” op-ed column on Hurricane Katrina and flood insurance last Saturday in the Wall Street Journal (sub) (more on that). (Bumped 9/30).
Something in the water at Harvard?
Why, oh, why, asks Michael Fumento, is the Harvard School of Public Health bestowing its Julius Richmond Award on glamour-puss toxic-tort-chaser Erin Brockovich? (more, more, more, more)(cross-posted at Point of Law; and see later post there).
“Prairie Ho Companion”
More about the Garrison Keillor nastygram (earlier).(cross-posted from Point of Law).
Subway maps on your personal electronic device
What a neat idea, so naturally it’s drawn cease-and-desist letters from the New York and San Francisco transit authorities (Wired, via Dennis Kennedy who got it from B.L. Ochman)(cross-posted from Point of Law).
First WTC bombing trial
Trial is starting in a liability case against New York’s Port Authority over the 1993 bomb attack on the World Trade Center (see Dec. 5, 2004). (cross-posted from Point of Law).