Lawsuits against bars and businesses under Dram Shop laws have become routine, though still somewhat controversial when owners are sued for the excessive drinking of third parties, here and here and here. We have seen a few cases where parents or home owners have been sued, though those cases are far more controversial, here. A case in New York, however, pushes this line of cases to the farthest extreme. The parents of Robert Ogle, 16, have sued the people who they say are responsible for their son’s death by a hit-and-run driver: the people who threw a birthday party where Robert became intoxicated and the owner of the car that was stolen by the hit-and-run driver.
Continue reading “Teenager Killed on His Way Back From a Birthday Party By a Drunken Ex-Con Driving a Stolen Car — Parents Sue Parents of the Birthday Boy and the Owner of the Stolen Car”
Month: September 2009
Given our evolution stories this week, this picture was apropos.
Continue reading “Simian Sensibilities”
There is an interesting debate going on in St. Petersburg where mayoral candidate Bill Foster is being attacked for his belief in creationism. As Florida’s fourth-largest city, St. Petersburg has tried to attract businesses and industry. His critics claim that high-tech companies are going to get the wrong impression if the Mayor believes that the Earth was created in six days and that man walked with dinosaurs.
Civil libertarians have been objecting that liberals are ignoring the Obama Administration’s continuation of a number of Bush programs and policies — in contradiction to President Obama’s presidential campaign promises. From torture to unlawful surveillance, Obama has continued the positions of President Bush in federal courts in seeking to dismiss lawsuits and claim sweeping executive privilege authority. Now, the Obama Administration is seeking to get a court to dismiss a lawsuit by gay married couples from Massachusetts who are challenging the denial of federal marriage benefits.
Continue reading “Obama Administration Moves to Dismiss Lawsuit By Gay Married Couples Over Federal Benefits”
In his video, former schoolteacher Deborah Parish shows the value of a good day planner. Parish speaks passionately about what she believed was a sex education proposal and goes at great lengths to explain her own status as a 56-year-old virgin and how she still “technically” maintains this status . . . before being told that the Texas Education Agency was discussing some mundane matter. The proposal had been on the agenda the previous day.
Continue reading “Texas Woman Speaks At Length About a Sex Ed Proposal and Her Own Virginal Status . . . Only To Be Told That The Board Addressed the Issue The Day Before”
Pastor Jessica Banks, 65, has been sentenced to life in prison for drugging, beating, and locking up her five adopted daughters. The conviction includes counts of sexual abuse for two of the girls.
Continue reading ““Suffer Little Children . . . and Forbid Them Not”: California Pastor Gets Life Sentence For Abuse of Adopted Daughters”
During the controversy over the gender of Caster Semenya, one person was absolutely clear in denying rumors that Semenya was a man or hermaphrodite: the president of Athletics South Africa Leonard Chuene. Chuene now admits that he lied to the international sporting officials and the public. He knew all along about tests that indicated that Semenya was a hermaphrodite. Where is Joe Wilson when you need him
Continue reading “South African Sports Head Apologizes for Concealing Semenya’s Gender”
The city of Wellford, South Carolina may be a felon’s dream come true. Mayor Sallie Peake has banned police officers from chasing suspects on foot or in a car.
Continue reading “I Walk The Line: Town Mayor Bans Police From Chasing Suspects”
For most personal injury lawyers it does not get better than this. Your client has suffered from two years of poor health, vomiting and stomach pain. Doctors finally use an endoscope and find the culprit: a spoon bearing the clearly marked name of Wendy’s. That is what happened to John Manley of Wilmington, North Carolina.
Continue reading ““It’s Waaaay Better Than Fast Food”: Man Finds Wendy’s Spoon Lodged in Lung”
This week, prosecutors charged a mother with holding a six-year-old boy down while ordering her five-year-old son to beat him in the face, here. Now, a Maryland mother, Kimberley Lyn Cudanin, 34, is accused of telling her 16-year-old son Audre and at least four friend to attack a 14-year-old boy, Malaki Malloy. Malloy was stabbed and beaten.
Continue reading “Baltimore Mom Accused Telling Son to Attack Teenage Boy”
There is a growing controversy in Jerusalem’s Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood where groups of Jewish men are regularly patrolling the streets to prevent Jewish women from dating and socializing with Arab men. The group called Eish L’Yahadut (Fire for Judaism) is composed of roughly 40 men who have been accused of some violent encounters as they seek to break up such socialization. They deny that they use force, but admit that sometimes confrontations have turned violent.
Continue reading “Jewish Patrols in Jerusalem Are Targeting “Mixed” Jewish and Arab Couples in Campaign for Religious Separation”
At the request of some of our regulars, I am posting two pictures from the recent paint war battle referenced earlier. To avoid embarrassment to my fellow soldiers, I have not posted their own battle-scared images.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave his traditional Rosh Hashanah speech — effectively wishing Jews a Happy New Year by saying that they may not see another.
The White House was the scene of a bio-hazard attack today when NBC White House reporter Chuck Todd sneezed into his hand rather than into his government-approved, network-supplied sleeve. The shocking violation of health security rules was captured on the video below and immediately caught by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius who called for Purell and police (Ok, just the Purell).
Continue reading “Sneezegate: Chuck Todd Contaminates White House With Unguarded Sneeze”
Generally, the law distinguishes between casual buyers and commercial sellers in tort and criminal law. For example, product liability for defects does not extend to garage sales and transactions between private individuals. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning that the government will now be enforcing rules under the “Resale Round-up” program that can result in fines of $15 million for that Easy-Bake Oven that you want to unload.
Continue reading “Seller Beware: New Federal Program Allows for Casual Sellers to Be Fined for Up to $15 Million”