Those mean old appeals judges: now they’ve gone and reversed a Texas jury’s $10.5 million award against the city of Galveston and the lessee of its Flagship Pier on behalf of the survivors of a couple whose car, rolling backwards, broke through railings and plunged into the water one night in 1996. The court ruled that the defendants, by failing to erect a stronger guardrail, had not injured the couple willingly, wantonly or through gross negligence as specified under state law dealing with recreation facilities. “Medical evidence presented at the trial showed that [Kenneth Wayne] Garza, who had been convicted on numerous occasions for drunken driving, and [passenger Dorey] Fabian were legally drunk, but the jury found Garza only 10 percent accountable for the accident.” (Carter Thompson, “Flagship accident verdict reversed”, Galveston County Daily News, Aug. 26).
Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
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Point of Law- Medical malpractice reform omitted from House health care billThe lack of medical liability reform in the House health care bill and the political power of trial lawyers were two points argued late Saturday when Republicans moved to recommit the health care bill, H.R. 3962, to committee. A motion... […]Carter Wood
- House passes chemical facility security bill, welcomes litigationThe U.S. House of Representatives on Friday voted 230-193 to pass H.R. 2868, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Act. (Roll call vote.) All but 21 Democrats voted in favor; Republicans all opposed. With the announcement yesterday of October's 10.2 percent unemployment,... […]Carter Wood
- "Spano's Suicide: Housing Plan Doomed County Exec"The New York Post has now picked up a slightly shortened version of my City Journal piece on the housing lawsuit that contributed to a voter revolt in Westchester. P.S. The Weekly Standard "Scrapbook" feature discusses the piece, as does... […]Walter Olson
- "Chloroform for tort reform"The Washington Times assails as "dishonest" and a "poison pill" the House health bill's provisions bribing states not to enact limits on malpractice awards and attorneys' fees.... […]Walter Olson
- Federal paid sick leave mandate?The H1N1 virus could provide a foot in the door, observes Daniel Schwartz.... […]Walter Olson
- Medical malpractice reform omitted from House health care bill
- Volokh
- The Psychology of a TerroristThere seems to be a strange subtext in some press stories hinting that the suspect in the Fort Hood shootings, Nidal Malik Hasan, had psychological problems or motivations of a kind that would somehow render his acts inconsistent with terrorism or with Islamic terrorism. Does the press realize that the psychological profile of a [...] […]Jim Lindgren
- More Evidence for Christina Hoff Sommers’ “War Against Boys” Theory?The L.A. Parks Department offers an after-school day care program that provides a “neutering fun and safe environment.” Copyright © 2008 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. The use of this feed on other websites breaches copyright. If this content is not in your news reader, it makes the page you are viewing [...] […]Eugene Volokh
- Private Equity Law Textbook? Desperately Seeking ...I’m late ordering books for my spring class on private equity and venture capital, and am desperately trying to figure out if there might finally be a law school text on this topic. The constraints are the following.... below the fold. (ps. The advice folks gave me on my earlier question re law and econ [...] […]Kenneth Anderson
- Against Climate McCarthyismMichael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus have had enough of efforts to stifle debate over climate change policy, particularly by those who solicit quotes to “trash” those who don’t toe the party line. Roger Pielke, Jr. would add those who selectively edit their comment threads. Copyright © 2008 This feed is for personal, non-commercial use only. [... […]Jonathan H. Adler
- UN Budgets and Follow the MoneyThe New York Times reports on budget season at the UN and various battles hotting up. It’s a good piece by Neil MacFarquhar, dated November 7, 2009. As the article says, that fact that it costs the United Nations an average of $2,473 per page to create every single document in its six official languages, while outside [...] […]Kenneth Anderson
- The Psychology of a Terrorist
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