Compensation awards to soldiers in the UK: £161,000 for losing leg and arm, but £186,896 for sex harassment? [Telegraph]
Judge in banana pesticide fraud case says threats have been made against her and against witnesses [AP, L.A. Times]
Teacher plans to sue religious school that fired her for having premarital sex [Orlando Sentinel]
Now sprung from hoosegow, class-actioneer Lerach on progressive lecture circuit and “living in luxury” [Stoll, Carter Wood at PoL and ShopFloor (Campaign for America’s Future conference), San Diego Reader via Pero]
Connecticut law banning “racial ridicule” has palpable constitutional problems, you’d think, but has resulted in many prosecutions and some convictions [Volokh, Gideon]
Gone with the readers: newsmagazines, metro newspapers facing fewer libel suits [NY Observer] More: Lyrissa Lidsky, Prawfs.
Having Connecticut press comfortably in his pocket helped Blumenthal turn the tables against NY Times [Stein/HuffPo] Must not extend to the New Britain Herald News, though;
Interview with editor Brian Anderson of City Journal [Friedersdorf, Atlantic] I well remember being there as part of the first issue twenty years ago.

One Comment

Without suggesting that maimed soldiers don’t deserve substantial compensation, the case of the lesbian soldier awarded £186,896 for sexual harassment may not be as egregious as it sounds. A subsantial part of that award consisted of punitive damages, which are not a component of compensation for war-related injuries. Perhaps punitive damages should go to someone other than the victim, in the way of a fine, but the purpose is to punish the tortfeasor. I suspect, though I do not know the details, that badly injured soldiers receive compensation other than the awards mentioned, which is not factored into the comparison here, such as free medical care and a pension.
- June 10, 2010 3:34 PM
- By Bill Poser