Louisiana – Overlawyered

Targets of fake subpoenas can sue Louisiana D.A., underlings

Walter Olson — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 04:05:04 +0000

“A federal appellate court … ruled that a Louisiana district attorney and several prosecutors in his office violated the law by using fake ‘subpoenas’ to pressure the victims and witnesses of crimes to meet with them, finding that the attorneys were not entitled to “absolute immunity” from legal liability.” [Jerry Lambe, Law and Crime; earlier (“Even though the subpoenas were unlawful, he really did jail people who didn’t obey them.”)]

Tags: Louisiana, prosecutorial abuse, subpoenas

Targets of fake subpoenas can sue Louisiana D.A., underlings is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Louisiana: a remedy for fake subpoenas?

Walter Olson — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 05:05:45 +0000

The district attorney in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, which includes the city of New Orleans, pressured witnesses and crime victims into cooperating through the use of fake “subpoenas” warning them of fines or jail time for nonappearance. “The documents were neither authorized by a judge nor issued by a county clerk…. Cannizzaro’s office was producing them itself. Worse yet: Even though the subpoenas were unlawful, he really did jail people who didn’t obey them.” Can they sue him? [Zuri Davis, Reason]

Tags: Louisiana, prosecutorial abuse, subpoenas

Louisiana: a remedy for fake subpoenas? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Environmental roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 11:05:10 +0000

“The Climate Debate Should Focus on How to Address the Threat of Climate Change, Not Whether Such a Threat Exists” [Jonathan Adler, whose analysis of environmental law is often quoted in this space]
“Grizzly Bears and Endangered Species Recovery” [Cato Daily Podcast with Brian Yablonski and Caleb Brown] “Property Rights as a Foundation for Conservation” [same, with Holly Fretwell and Brown]
“If an environmentalist values the land more than ranchers do, then the environmentalist should get the lease.” [Shawn Regan, Reason; related on “diligence” regulations in federal resource leasing Robert M. Nelson, Regulation, Jan./Feb. 1983]
“Litigation vs. Restoration: Addressing Louisiana’s Coastal Land Loss” [U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, earlier]
Who will build the roads? Go ask Friedrich Engels [David Henderson, Econlib] Related: Market Urbanism Report podcast on road privatization and other topics with Robert Poole, Chris Edwards and others;
“Florida Democratic Party adopts ‘rights of nature’ into platform” [Scott Powers, Florida Politics; see here, here, here, etc.]

Tags: climate change, endangered species, environment, Florida, Louisiana, roads and streets

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

Law enforcement for profit roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 11:03:37 +0000

“A Louisiana DA will let you out of your community service obligation — if you donate to his nonprofit” [Radley Balko; Calcasieu Parish, La.]
New study of law enforcement fines and fees finds they bear more heavily on rural residents and have high costs of collection. Also makes a case for periodic forgiveness of mostly-uncollectible balances of old debt [Matthew Menendez, Michael F. Crowley, Lauren-Brooke Eisen, and Noah Atchison, Brennan Center/Texas Public Policy Foundation/Right on Crime]
Oakland County, Mich. “Says Seizing Home Over $8.41 Tax Debt Was OK Because Counties Need Money” [Eric Boehm, Reason first and second posts] “The Unsung Scourge of Home Equity Theft” [Cato podcast with Christina Martin and Caleb Brown]
Georgia: “Doraville Homeowners Win Round One in Lawsuit Challenging City’s Overzealous Ticketing Scheme” [J. Justin Wilson, Institute for Justice]
Here’s a revisionist (though only partly so) account of the Luzerne County, Pa. cash-for-kids judicial scandal, to which we devoted multiple posts at the time [Roger DuPuis, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader]
“Forty-four states have policies of suspending driver’s licenses over unpaid fines, fees or court debts.” Time to rethink [Jenny Kim, WSJ/Koch]

Tags: Detroit, law enforcement for profit, Louisiana, Luzerne County judicial scandal, petty fines and fees, taxes

Law enforcement for profit roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Howdy, neighbor. Now about your kids and our fence…

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 05:05:48 +0000

A Lake Charles, Louisiana lawyer’s welcome-to-the-neighborhood letter is the toast of Twitter.

Tags: lawyers, Louisiana

Howdy, neighbor. Now about your kids and our fence… is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Lawyer files First Amendment challenge against uses of Louisiana bar dues

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 04:05:34 +0000

“A libertarian attorney filed a lawsuit on Thursday taking aim at the Louisiana State Bar Association’s monopoly on the legal profession, joining a wave of similar litigation in other states. New Orleans insurance defense lawyer Randy Boudreaux alleges in the federal court suit that his rights of free speech and free association are being violated because the bar association collects his mandatory dues while taking positions on controversial issues like the death penalty and LGBT rights…. Boudreaux, a married gay man, said he agrees with the bar association’s position in favor of LGBT rights. But he’s opposed to the idea of compelling his fellow lawyers to pay for a group with which they disagree.” [Matt Sledge, NOLA.com, earlier] But note: Eighth Circuit rejects argument that North Dakota bar fees are open to challenge under Janus [Fleck v. Wetch]

Tags: bar associations, First Amendment, Louisiana, North Dakota

Lawyer files First Amendment challenge against uses of Louisiana bar dues is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Libel and defamation roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 09:58:33 +0000

Though ruled unconstitutional a half century ago, Louisiana’s criminal defamation law has remained on the books and could still cause you grief, especially if a sheriff’s office thinks you’ve defamed it [Sara Pagones and Katie Moore, NOLA.com]
Certiorari petition filed asking Supreme Court to stop climatologist Michael Mann’s lawsuit against National Review [NR, earlier]
Latest sassy response to a cease-and-desist demand (language) [Mike Masnick, TechDirt; “Diamond and Silk” versus Wonkette] Person “threatens to sue the Guinness World Record folks for removing his records” [same]
Also Techdirt-related: “Defamation lawsuit brought by self-proclaimed email ‘inventor’ settles” [Cyrus Farivar, NBC, related]
New Hampshire high court: inventor and company weren’t defamed by being called patent troll [ABA Journal, earlier here and here] Lawsuit alleging adult defamation of a seventh grader results in liability but no damages [Eugene Volokh; Massachusetts Superior Court]
Council in Peachtree City, Ga. considers proposal to pay legal bills of city workers and officials who sue critics for defamation [George Franco, Fox 5 Atlanta]

Tags: libel slander and defamation, Louisiana, nastygrams, patent trolls

Libel and defamation roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Law enforcement for profit roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 10:01:18 +0000

“Addicted to fines: Small towns in much of the country are dangerously dependent on punitive fines and fees” [Mike Maciag, Governing, a publication that will be much missed]
“How diversion programs became a cash cow for DAs in Louisiana” [Jessica Pishko, Politico] New Orleans: “Judge steered defendants to campaign contributor’s ankle-monitor company, report says” [ABA Journal]
Greg and Teresa Almond seizure: “Alabama Cops Raided Their House, Seized Their Cash, and Ruined Their Lives Over $50 of Marijuana” [C.J. Ciaramella, Reason, sequel (more transparency)]
“Chicago Hiked the Cost of Vehicle City Sticker Violations to Boost Revenue. But It’s Driven More Low-Income, Black Motorists Into Debt.” [Melissa Sanchez, ProPublica, and Elliott Ramos, WBEZ Chicago] Related earlier on impound here, here, etc.
Are the big bucks where you expected them to be? “Follow the money of mass incarceration” [Prison Policy Initiative]
“Missouri trial courts send people to jail, charge them room-and-board as ‘court costs,’ then send them back to jail if they can’t pay, yielding — you guessed it — more court costs. Missouri Supreme Court: Cut it out.” [Institute for Justice “Short Circuit” on State v. Richey; Titus Wu, Columbia Missourian]

Tags: Alabama, Chicago, law enforcement for profit, Louisiana, Missouri, New Orleans, petty fines and fees

Law enforcement for profit roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Fifth Circuit: basing judges’ fund on fines and fees violates due process

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 09:59:44 +0000

Orleans Parish, Louisiana (= county, in this case coterminous with the City of New Orleans) funnels the revenue from many criminal fines and fees into a judicial services fund which, while it does not pay judges’ salaries, does cover many related expenses including staff salaries, conferences and office supplies. Judges themselves help determine the volume of inflow to the fund by their rulings in cases. Now a unanimous Fifth Circuit panel has ruled that given the fund’s substantial dependence on such revenue, the parish “failed to provide a neutral forum” and thus violated defendants’ constitutional right to due process [Nick Sibilla/Forbes, ABA Journal; opinion in Cain v. White]

Tags: Fifth Circuit, judges, law enforcement for profit, Louisiana, New Orleans, petty fines and fees

Fifth Circuit: basing judges’ fund on fines and fees violates due process is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Pharmaceutical roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 09:59:28 +0000

Starting in mid-1990s German doctors began writing many more opioid prescriptions. But addiction and overdose rates did not skyrocket. What made Germany different? [Jeffrey Singer, Cato; Jacob Sullum, Reason]
Will the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Merck v. Albrecht manage to clarify preemption law? [Beck, Drug & Device Law and more; Jonah Knobler, Washington Legal Foundation]
Money didn’t go into state treasury: “Oklahoma Lawmakers not so Happy About Purdue Pharma Settlement” [Sean Murphy, Insurance Journal, more] “Nevada AG’s old law firm can make up to $350 million on his opioid lawsuit” [Daniel Fisher, Legal Newsline] “List of firms handling Louisiana’s opioid lawsuit balloons to 17, including politically connected ones” [Sam Karlin, The Advocate] Richard Epstein on opiate litigation [Ricochet]
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: “Where Calls for Overturning Bruesewitz v. Wyeth Go Wrong” [Dorit Reiss, Petrie-Flom “Bill of Health”]
“Drug lawsuit ads are scaring seniors to death” [P. Roosevelt Gilliam III and Susan Peschin, STAT]
Senate Republicans file bill to fast-track FDA consideration of over-the-counter birth control pill [Elizabeth Nolan Brown]

Tags: FDA, Germany, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma, opioids, pharmaceuticals, preemption, Supreme Court

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