Overlawyered » Idaho

“Lack of Minorities Closes Boise Bone Marrow Center”

Walter Olson — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:05:30 +0000

So now everyone will be happy dept.: The only bone-marrow donor program in Idaho’s capital of Boise is closing down. It seems the National Marrow Donor Program has enacted regulations requiring local programs either to recruit at least 1,000 minority donors a year or to hire a full-time recruiter by way of showing a good-faith effort toward that goal. But there aren’t enough minorities in the Treasure Valley to hit the numerical target and the program at St. Luke’s Mountain States Tumor Institute isn’t big enough to support the full-time hire, so now the nearest local option for potential donors will be an institution in Spokane, Washington. (Idaho Statesman and more, Idaho Business Review, Seattle Times) (via Taranto).

More: The national program, however, denies that its regulations require the hiring of a recruiter and says its local minority recruitment goal is 575, not 1,000: Taranto, Aug. 11.

Tags: hospitals, Idaho, racial quotas

“Court Says You Can Copyright A Cease-And-Desist Letter”

Walter Olson — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:03:39 +0000

We and many others criticized a law firm in October for taking the position that its cease and desist letters, also known as nastygrams, were copyrighted and thus could not be posted intact on the web by its targets. However, if a press release from that law firm is correct, a federal court in Idaho has just indeed taken the position that cease and desist letters may be covered by copyright law. Such a ruling, if upheld, would make it more difficult for the targets of bullying tactics by lawyers to rally online support for their cause. (TechDirt, Jan. 25; Slashdot, Jan. 26; Dozier Internet Law press release, PRWeb, Jan. 24).

More: “if a press release from the law firm is correct” turns out to be a big if: according to Ron Coleman at Likelihood of Confusion, as well as our own commenters, the Idaho federal court ruling falls far short of establishing any such proposition about these letters’ being copyrightable. See also: Victoria Pynchon, IP ADR blog, TechDirt later post, Paul Alan Levy @ CL&P. And yet more: Marc Randazza, Eugene Volokh.

Tags: copyright, Idaho, nastygrams

“Wetzel Law Firm: Retract ‘Weasel’ or Else”

Walter Olson — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:18:53 +0000

“Threatened with a potential defamation suit, two individuals have apparently retracted their claimed characterization of a Spokane, Wash.-area law firm formerly known as ‘Wetzel & Wetzel’ as ‘Weasel & Weasel.’” Jim MacDonald, president of the Bayview, Idaho Chamber of Commerce, “read a letter of contrition” at the chamber’s regular monthly meeting “as demanded” by the offended lawyers. Does this mean we’re going to get in trouble with our earlier references to Cruel & Boring, We’ll Getcha & Mangle Ya, Huge Cupboards of Greed, etc.? (Martha Neil, ABA Journal, Oct. 25; Herb Huseland, “Bayview News: Law firm claims slander”, Spokane Statesman-Review, Oct. 25).

P.S. Australian lawyer Stumbling Tumblr adds, “there’s no indication in the story whether weasels had also threatened proceedings”.

Tags: Australia, free speech, Idaho, libel slander and defamation, Washington state, watch what you say about lawyers

Government pays for prosecutions

Ted Frank — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 13:26:24 +0000

In two cases in the last few months, federal judges have ordered the government to pay the defense costs of failed health care fraud prosecutions.

In Nevada, Judge Robert C. Jones awarded about $300,000, about 30% of the defense costs, to an Idaho doctor, finding that the losing case was frivolous because, the American Medical News reports, the government’s experts contradicted other experts in the case. (There is presumably more to the story than this, as the same is true in nearly every criminal trial involving expert testimony.) Half the claims were dismissed before trial, and the others were adjudged not guilty by a jury. The government has appealed. (Amy Lynn Sorrel, “Judge rules criminal fraud case against Idaho doctor is frivolous”, Aug. 20) (h/t P.N.).

And, in Texas, Judge Lynn Hughes awarded $391,000 to an Oklahoma attorney to cover part of his defense costs after being wrongly prosecuted on 54 counts of health insurance fraud. The court criticized prosecutors for misleading the grand jury and a “reckless disregard for the truth.” Again, the government will appeal. (AP/Tulsa World, “U.S. ordered to pay OKC attorney”, Aug. 13).

Tags: Idaho, loser pays, Oklahoma

Depends on what the meaning of justice is

David Nieporent — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:12:16 +0000

It takes a hard person to pick on the family of a dead child — but that’s why I’m here. In 2001, Tegan Rees, a 2-year old boy living in Idaho, was beaten to death by his mother’s fiance. The boy’s father had previously reported to Idado child welfare authorities that he saw bruises when he picked up his son from his ex-wife, but when they investigated, they decided it wasn’t abuse. That was just a few weeks before the boy was murdered. So, naturally, he sued the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare for $1 million.

Last week, the jury ruled 10-2 in favor of the state agency (AP, Mar. 11). The grandmother’s reaction?

“I’m just sickened,” Christie Rees told the Post Register. “I’m embarrassed that I live in Idaho. I thought finally Tegan would get justice.”

Justice? Keep in mind that the person who actually killed the boy was convicted of first degree murder, and sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.

I guess sometimes it really is about the money.

Tags: Idaho, Seattle

Airport wouldn’t land his personal jet

Walter Olson — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 11:18:42 +0000

From “Decision of the Day: A daily summary of the best (and worst) of federal appellate decisions” (Jul. 3):

Money Can’t Buy Love, Or Permission to Land Your Personal Jet
Tutor-Saliba Corp. v. Hailey, 04-34524 [PDF](9th Cir., July 3, 2006)

Poor Ron Tutor. All he wanted to do is land his personal jet at an airport in Hailey, Idaho. The airport wouldn’t let him due to weight restrictions, so he was forced to fly in a less comfortable private jet. As a result, Tutor’s vacation at his Sun Valley home got off to a very bad start. Tutor sued the airport and the City of Hailey on various grounds, including under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for allegedly violating his rights to due process, equal protection, and interstate travel. The district court predictably found these claims were frivolous and awarded partial fees to the defendants, totaling $88,000 (in addition to costs of around $70,000). On appeal, the Ninth affirms the decision to award fees but remands to the district court for recalculation. Am I the only one who hopes the district court finds a way to increase the fee award on remand?

“Decision of the Day”, incidentally, was launched by “Robert Loblaw” in October, and can be found here.

P.S.: In email, Prof. Childs advises that site author “Robert Loblaw” quite possibly may have borrowed that screen name from a similarly named lawyer-character on “Arrested Development”, who can be viewed here.

Tags: airlines, Idaho

Watch what you tell your hairdresser, cont’d

Walter Olson — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:29:08 +0000

The official recruitment of cosmetologists as informants (and as intermediaries steering customers to approved “domestic-violence” programs) continues, with programs reported in Florida, Idaho, Oklahoma, Virginia, Ohio and Maine, as well as Nevada and Connecticut (see Mar. 16 and Mar. 29, 2000). It’s not just black eyes or lacerations that the salon employees are supposed to be on the lookout for, either. A customer’s protestation that “he would not like that”, as a reason to turn down a new hairstyle, might be a sign of “controlling behavior” that needs watching. (”Salons join effort to stop violence”, Bangor Daily News, Jun. 15) (via van Bakel).

Tags: Connecticut, domestic violence, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia

Drunk driver: cops should have stopped me earlier

Walter Olson — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 00:16:19 +0000

Chutzpah champion of the Northwest? “Three years after getting drunk, blowing through a stop sign and triggering a wreck that left her passenger critically injured, a former Idaho resident has filed a $1.5 million claim against Washington’s Pend Oreille County for not detaining her before she caused the crash.” Ashlen Lee, 17 at the time of the accident, says in her claim that a county sheriff’s deputy let her off with a warning in the wee hours although he could see she’d been drinking and neither she nor her passenger was wearing a seat belt. (Richard Roesler, “Driver says her accident deputy’s fault”, Spokane Spokesman-Review, Aug. 5).

Tags: Idaho, personal responsibility

Florida’s legislature inviting plaintiffs’ lawyers to re-enact Scopes?

Ted Frank — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 03:55:21 +0000

Two bad ideas in one: A Florida state House committee voted 6-2 to forward on H-837, a bill some legislators say will give university students a legal cause of action to sue universities and professors who “ridicule” their beliefs.

“Some professors say, ‘Evolution is a fact. I don’t want to hear about Intelligent Design, and if you don’t like it, there’s the door,’” [Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala] said, citing one example when he thought a student should sue.

The bill is expected to pass the Florida House. It’s not quite clear that the bill will have the effect of opening the courtrooms to every crackpot student offended by a professor’s lecture, but it’s not comforting to see the absence of a denial. (James Vanlandingham, “Capitol bill aims to control ‘leftist’ profs”, Independent Florida Alligator, Mar. 23; Joe Follick, “House OKs Student `Free Speech’ Bill”, Lakeland Ledger, Mar. 23; James Vanlandingham, “Pending academic freedom bill comes under fire”, Independent Florida Alligator, Mar. 24).

Tags: free speech, Idaho, schools

“Court overturns damages award for van full of mice”

Ted Frank — Sun, 26 Oct 2003 09:29:49 +0000

“Boise attorney Gale Merrick, who represented the automaker, said the Supreme Court ruling reinforced the company?s contention that there was no evidence that mice got into the van because of some manufacturing defect. ‘They could have left the windows down or a door open,’ Merrick said.” An Idaho jury had held Honda liable for $10,250 because of the smell of mouse droppings in the vehicle. (Idaho Statesman, Oct. 24; Powers v. American Honda Motor Co.; “Of mice and men: Honda damages are overturned”, AP, Oct. 23; see also Julie Pence, “Mouse tales … Little critters can cause problems in your car”, Twin Falls Times-News Online, Oct. 24 for a story about the problems of mice in cars in the area).

Tags: autos, Idaho, Seattle

Overlawyered » Idaho

“Lack of Minorities Closes Boise Bone Marrow Center”

Related posts

“Court Says You Can Copyright A Cease-And-Desist Letter”

Related posts

“Wetzel Law Firm: Retract ‘Weasel’ or Else”

Related posts

Government pays for prosecutions

Related posts

Depends on what the meaning of justice is

Related posts

Airport wouldn’t land his personal jet

Related posts

Watch what you tell your hairdresser, cont’d

Related posts

Drunk driver: cops should have stopped me earlier

Related posts

Florida’s legislature inviting plaintiffs’ lawyers to re-enact Scopes?

Related posts

“Court overturns damages award for van full of mice”

Related posts