Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has turned to humor and an amphibian advocate to make her case to Arizona voters — making fun at critics who have been denouncing the Arizona law without reading it. The video has become a hit and pushed Brewer ahead of her Democratic opponent in the race, Terry Goddard.
Continue reading “Hopping Mad: Politics in Arizona Goes To The Frogs”
Now this would make for an interesting foreseeable misuse case. Federal authorities are reporting a toy pellet gun is being converted into a semi-automatic weapon for gang members.
Continue reading “Federal Agents Seize Toy Gun That Can Be Converted Into Semi-Automatic Weapon”
We have seen a rash of census workers accused of wrongdoing this month. In Indiana, Daniel Miller, 39, (left) is accused of raping a 21-year-old disabled woman after forcing his way into her home during a Census visit, here. In New Jersey, Frank J. Kuni was arrested after a woman recognized him as a sex offender. In St. Louis, a citizen was bitten in the stomach by a Census worker’s dog.
Continue reading “Census-less Crimes: Census Workers Accused of Wrongdoing”
Now this is an interesting torts case. Gabriella Nagy in Toronto is suing Rogers Wireless Inc. over its billing practices. This is not some dispute over over-charges or late penalties. Nagy is accusing the company of exposing her affair to her husband by allowing him to see her call records to her lover. He promptly left her. She is demanding $600,000 for invasion of privacy and breach of contract.
Continue reading “Interrupted Service: Woman Sues Telephone Company After Billing Records Exposed Her Affair”
If you thought that Neapolitan pizza on your last vacation to Italy was to die for, you were more right. Italian prosecutors allege that pizzeria owners in Naples have been using coffin wood to make their pizzas and save on the cost of combustible material.
Continue reading “Pizza to Die For: Italian Prosecutors Allege Pizzerias in Naples Have Been Using Coffin Wood”
Houston teacher Sheri Davis has attained a degree of infamy after the release of a videotape showing her beating a 13-year-old student in front of her classroom.
She has been terminated from employment.
Continue reading “Houston Teacher Fired After Release of Beating Video”
Various Internet sites are claiming to “out” Rev. George Alan Rekers, a Baptist minister with a long anti-homosexual history of writings and sermons. For his part, Rekers is threatening a defamation lawsuit after stories appeared that he had hired a 20-year-old young man to travel with him from a gay escort site.
Continue reading “Anti-Homosexual Minister Threatens Lawsuit After Papers Reveal Trip With Gay Male Escort”
New Jersey Superior Court Judge Joseph L. Foster has rejected an effort to dismiss a lawsuit involving MTV’s hit reality show “Jersey Shore” — known for its “Get Crazy” theme song. The lawsuit alleges that the producers engaged in a “criminal enterprise” by profiting from showing fights that they provoked between cast members.
Continue reading “Get (Somewhat) Crazy: Court Dismisses Counts in “Jersey Shores” Lawsuit But Allows Case To Continue”
Melanie Shaker had gone out to dinner and had been drinking with her husband when she became angry with him on the walk home. She tried to kick her husband, lost her footing, and fell through the front window of Fases Salon. She is now suing the salon for failing to anticipate falling drunken and clumsy people by installing safety glass. She is also suing the hospital that treated her and the trust that owns the property.
Continue reading “Shaker Down: Chicago Woman Sues Salon After Falling Through Its Front Window After Trying To Kick Her Husband”
The White House is under attack on its plan to open up areas for drilling off the East Coast — a plan long opposed by environmentalists and now attracting renewed criticism with the growing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pope Benedict XVI is named in a new lawsuit on child abuse in a case that will test the claims of diplomatic immunity claimed by the Vatican’s lawyers, here. The claims stem from the alleged cover-up of abuse by a priest at a Catholic school in Wisconsin, Father Lawrence Murphy. The lawsuit seeks the names of potentially thousands of similar priests facing “credible allegations of sexual misconduct” against them.
Continue reading “Pope on a Rope: Benedict XVI Named in New Abuse Lawsuit”
There is an interesting discrimination lawsuit filed in Seattle where three bisexual men –Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles and Jon Russ — say that were barred by the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance from participating in the Gay Softball World Series because they were insufficiently gay. According to the lawsuit, the men are playing center field in their private life and need to pick a team — totally gay or straight.
Rep. Henry C. “Hank” Johnson Jr., chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy, has taken on an important and worthy cause — reforming the federal rules to remove barriers to average citizens and public interest groups in the forms of financial costs and penalties. It is a move that should be supported by lawyers and lay persons alike — who should contact other members of the subcommittee and committee to convey their support. This is a bill that does not have any headline grabbing elements and, unlike Chairman Johnson, members may not see the value in supporting its passage. For that reason, civil libertarians and citizens need to rally behind Chairman Johnson.
Continue reading “H.R. 5069: Chairman Johnson Introduces Bill To Remove Barriers To the Courts”
In a torts case, the chain of causation is rarely captured on videotape, but this film shows a runaway street blade looking for a tort.
Continue reading “Video: Runaway Saw Blade Damages House”
There is an interesting lawsuit filed over Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold who is suing the Plain Dealer over disclosing her identity and that of her daughter after the posted anonymous comments on articles. They are seeking $25 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages for alleged breach of contract and invasion of privacy. Her lawyer admitted that the judge may indeed have posted under the pseudonym “Lawmiss.”
Continue reading “Lawmiss: Judge Refuses to Recuse Herself While Suing Newspaper For Revealing Her Identity in Anonymous Postings”