Denver – Overlawyered

Police roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 10:02:10 +0000

Among other barriers it erects against police accountability, California keeps prosecutors from knowing when and which cops have been shown dishonest. Time for reform [Jonathan Blanks, Cato]
“NYC has shelled out $384M in 5 years to settle NYPD suits” [Yoav Gonen, Julia Marsh and Bruce Golding, New York Post]
“Federal Judge Breaks Up Albuquerque’s Car Theft Ring” [Jacob Sullum, Reason on forfeiture ruling; Tim Cushing, TechDirt; Ilya Somin on legal implications] Class-action suit challenges civil forfeitures [George Hunter, Detroit News; C.J. Ciaramella, Reason]
Update on police union scandal in Orange County, Calif.: union’s law firm will pay $600K to a former mayor of Costa Mesa it targeted for harassment and intimidation [Steven Greenhut, earlier]
“Thrown Chairs, Resignations, And An Envelope Full Of Cash Follow Exposure Of 2-Man PD’s Acquisition Of $1 Million In Military Equipment” [Tim Cushing, TechDirt]
Denver cops, before handcuffing a journalist for photographing their actions on a public street, advise her she’s violating HIPAA. No, that’s not how it works [Alex Burness, Colorado Independent]

Tags: California, Denver, forfeiture, New Mexico, NYC, police, police unions

Police roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Denver cops abused crime database for personal look-ups

Walter Olson — Tue, 22 Mar 2016 09:51:46 +0000

If not for government, who would defend our privacy? “Denver police officers performed searches on state and federal criminal justice databases that were not work-related and instead were made to help officers in the romance department and to assist friends, according to an independent department monitor.” Punishment was usually limited to a written reprimand. [ArsTechnica]

Tags: Denver, police, privacy

Denver cops abused crime database for personal look-ups is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

A culture war that allows no concessions

Walter Olson — Sat, 22 Aug 2015 18:18:46 +0000

Hey, Denver city councilors: nixing an airport concession to punish Chick-fil-A for its politics is a blatant First Amendment violation [Jonathan Adler, Denver Post; earlier on mayors-vs.-Chick-fil-A here, here (diversity of views within ACLU), here, etc., and my writing elsewhere] In Board of Commissioners, Wabaunsee County v. Umbehr (1996), the Supreme Court found that under the First Amendment, while some balancing tests and exceptions are applicable, the government is not broadly free to withhold business from independent contractors based on disapproval of those contractors’ speech on issues of public concern. Note also the more recent round in which Boston and New York City officials vowed retaliation against Donald Trump after controversial remarks.

Tags: Denver, Donald Trump, regulatory retaliation

A culture war that allows no concessions is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Free speech roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 04:05:36 +0000

“Denver DA charges man with tampering for handing out jury nullification flyers” [Denver Post, earlier New York case covered here, here, here, etc.] More: Tim Lynch, Cato.
Occupational licensure vs. the First Amendment: Texas regulators seek to shutter doc’s veterinary advice website [Ilya Shapiro, Cato]
Fired for waving rebel flag? Unlikely to raise a First Amendment issue unless you work for the government, or it twisted your employer’s arm [Huntsville (Ala.) Times, Daniel Schwartz]
“Twitter joke thieves are getting DMCA takedowns” [BoingBoing]
A reminder of Gawker’s jaw-droppingly bad stuff on freedom of speech (“Arrest Climate Change Deniers”) [Coyote, related]
Canadian lawyer/journalist Ezra Levant facing discipline proceeding “for being disrespectful towards a government agency” [Financial Post, earlier]
“‘Shouting fire in a theater’: The life and times of constitutional law’s most enduring analogy” [Carlton Larson via Eugene Volokh, also Christopher Hitchens on the analogy]

Tags: Denver, employment at will, First Amendment, free speech, free speech in Canada, jury nullification, occupational licensure, Twitter

Free speech roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Judge allows case to proceed arguing that mass theater shooting was foreseeable

Walter Olson — Sat, 23 Aug 2014 11:41:09 +0000

A federal judge has declined to award summary judgment to Cinemark Holdings against a claim that it should have foreseen a madman’s mass shooting rampage at its Aurora, Colo. theater two years ago. [Deadline Hollywood] Ken White at Popehat corrects some media misapprehension about the difference between a summary judgment motion and disposition of the merits, but as a commenter points out, much of the practical damage is indeed done when a judge declines summary judgment in such a case, since the defendant then faces not only the substantial cost of trial but also the unpredictability of a jury faced with very sympathetic plaintiffs and a deep-pocket defendant; there is nothing either unusual or untraditional about judges’ averting these costs by ruling out particular liability theories as a matter of law.

More from Scott Greenfield: “The biggest growth job in America will be armed guard. … A theater showing a movie, even a Batman movie at midnight, is not a crazy killer magnet such that Cinemark could have possibly anticipated what would happen…. The law shouldn’t impose a duty that suggests otherwise.”

Tags: Denver, third party liability for crime

Judge allows case to proceed arguing that mass theater shooting was foreseeable is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Liberty cake wrecks, cont’d

Walter Olson — Sun, 08 Dec 2013 12:07:34 +0000

Turned down by all 150 (or however many) Denver bakers in their quest for a wedding cake, this couple had no choice but to sue. Oh, not really: they had an endless supply of perfectly good alternative options, but they apparently wanted to make a point by suing, as did the ACLU which represented them. [Associated Press; earlier here, here, etc.]

Tags: ACLU, Denver, discrimination law

Liberty cake wrecks, cont’d is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Denver janitors: it’s discriminatory not to communicate with us in Spanish

Walter Olson — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:15:17 +0000

“A group of Spanish-speaking custodial workers in Colorado have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that the Auraria Higher Education Center in Denver discriminated against them by failing to provide Spanish translations.” [Caroline May, Daily Caller; Denver Post]

Tags: Denver, EEOC, language bias

Denver janitors: it’s discriminatory not to communicate with us in Spanish is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Property rights roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 04:11:04 +0000

“Property Rights Panel at the Cato Institute’s Constitution Day” [Ilya Somin] Related: “Sackett v. EPA and the Due Process Deficit in Environmental Law” [Jonathan Adler]
Feds’ fishy forfeiture attack on Massachusetts scallopman [Ron Arnold, Examiner]
California politicos seek crackdown on lenders’ supposed “retaliation” against municipalities considering seizing mortgages by eminent domain: “You Can’t Use Voluntary Action to Try to Stop Government Coercion” [Coyote; earlier here, here, here] Will Congress step in to shut down the grab? [Kevin Funnell]
“The government of Honduras has signed a deal with private investors for the construction of three privately run cities with their own legal and tax systems.” [A Thousand Nations, Todd Zywicki, FedSoc Blog]
A Philadelphia business owner decides to clean up and improve an adjacent, neglected city-owned lot, and soon has sad cause for regret [Philly Law Blog]
Georgia claimant: “Hi, I own your land although I have no evidence of that” [Lowering the Bar, update]
“Blight” condemnation could stymie hopes for historic preservation in Denver [Castle Coalition]

Tags: Denver, eminent domain, Georgia, Massachusetts, Philadelphia, property law

Property rights roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Torts roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 04:04:37 +0000

Chamber of Commerce’s annual survey of which states businesses consider unfair in litigation: where does yours rank? [survey, PoL]
“Toothless cootie” in Denver: “Jury Says PI Firm Must Pay Ex-Client $2M for Pressuring Her to Settle Auto Case for Too Little” [ABA Journal, WestWord]
“Thoughts on Reporters Reading New Lawsuit Filings” [Jim Dedman]
Cruise line, defending lawsuit: no, our ship didn’t pass stranded boat [AP/KATU]
Two Harvard lawprofs on why it’s time to get rid of the interference-with-inheritance tort [Juan Antunez, Florida Probate Litigation Blog]
New Jersey high court rejects loss-of-pet emotional-distress damages [NJLRA]
“An Alternative Explanation for No-Fault’s ‘Demise'” [Nora Engstrom, SSRN]

Tags: damages for animal companionship, Denver

Torts roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Denver mistaken-identity arrests

Walter Olson — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 05:54:43 +0000

They may not be as numerous as L.A.’s, but they include some individual doozies [Denver Post via Radley Balko; earlier]

Tags: Denver, police

Denver mistaken-identity arrests is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system