Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
Posts tagged as:
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Los Angeles appears to be proceeding on the theory that city and redevelopment officers committed potential “fraud” by accepting federal money for housing projects but omitting to run the projects in compliance with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requiring that accommodations be offered for disabled patrons. At Cato at Liberty, I wonder whether we’re in for another venture into criminalization of an area best left to civil law.
{ 0 comments }
Members of an L.A. group devoted to darts, the bar sport, are among those plunged into litigation by a fellow enthusiast. “Says one well-known bar owner who did not wish to be identified for fear of retribution, ‘I’m weary of being involved with this guy because he’s just been firing off lawsuits. Some of us wanted to fight, but these things can be very expensive.’” [L.A. Weekly]
{ 3 comments }
Kids at a Long Beach preschool had enjoyed it for thirty years without incident, but a state inspector said no. Headline on the resulting article: “Obsession with safety is ruining our playgrounds.” [Gale Holland, L.A. Times]
{ 35 comments }
How often does Los Angeles County throw people in jail due to mistaken identity? In some years “an average of once a day.” [L.A. Times]
{ 8 comments }
{ 2 comments }
The Los Angeles suburb claims it adopted the ban because of dangers posed by chemicals, toxins and plastics present in artificial turf. Might there perhaps be an alternative motive, that of policing residents’ aesthetic taste in landscaping? Well, the ban applies only to front yards: “When asked why the fake grass would continue to be allowed in backyards, officials had no answer.” [CBS Los Angeles]
{ 7 comments }
The teenage girl’s family has now sued the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission, the event company Insomniac, a former events manager, and other parties alleging negligent staffing and supervision, inadequate security, slow emergency response and other deficiencies [L.A. Times]
{ 8 comments }
{ 4 comments }
Gideon Kanner recalls how the forcible 1950s displacement of a modest Mexican community made way eventually (after the dropping of a public housing scheme) for the construction of L.A.’s baseball stadium. Some of the residents resisted: “Their principled fight became a footnote in the wretched history of eminent domain law which holds that once a condemnor acquires title to private property by eminent domain, it is not bound to put it to the ‘public’ uses for which it was taken.” ["The Curse of Chavez Ravine"]
In other eminent domain news, voters in the Indian state of West Bengal have ousted the long-ruling Communist party; a rival party “began to gain momentum when angry farmers erupted in protest against the Communist government in 2007 and 2008 after it seized farmland to set up an automobile factory.”
Not for the first (or fifty-first) time, the California paper acts as an uncritical stenographer of Litigation Lobby claims — then waits until paragraph 13 to advise readers that NHTSA, not exactly the friendliest witness these days, backs the automaker’s position on the question of the “black box” data. More: AP.
{ 1 comment }
Urbanites appreciate the food, but restaurants don’t like the competition (Reason.tv).
See also related item from last summer (nearby Orange County).
{ 2 comments }
Los Angeles has trouble getting rid of problem teachers too [L.A. Weekly, Brian Doherty/KCET] Our post a couple of weeks ago about New York City’s “rubber room” stirred considerable comment.
A “celebrity attorney” is offering a gig on L.A. Craigslist [Virginia Postrel]
{ 1 comment }
A “rags-to-riches-to-rags-because-of-too-much-litigation story”; the entrepreneur famous for Guess jeans insisted on pursuing lawsuits against former employees even when his own forensic accountants failed to back up his charges against them. [WSJ Law Blog, Los Angeles Times]
“The novel legal claim was filed by Lucie J. Kim in a class action suit against the singer earlier this year that sought $4,000 in damages for each Asian and Pacific Islander living in Los Angeles County.” Kim complained that Cyrus was photographed with an Asian friend and other friends pulling back their eyelids; Cyrus apologized when the photo became public in February. Cyrus sought tens of thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees for what she felt was a frivolous claim; the request was denied. “Henry M. Lee, Kim’s attorney, said his client is considering appealing the case.”
{ 6 comments }
Yet another interesting food that may never be the same following a safety crackdown, in this case by the Los Angeles health department [L.A. Times via Katherine Mangu-Ward, Crispy on the Outside]
Paternalism under the palms [Future of Capitalism]:
The Los Angeles City Council, having already established “a moratorium on new openings of fast-food restaurants” within a 32-square-mile area of South Los Angeles, is now preparing a crackdown on convenience stores that “would prohibit such small neighborhood markets from being closer than one-half mile from one another unless they sold fresh fruit and vegetables,” reports the Los Angeles Times. Link via the American Council on Science and Health.
{ 4 comments }
And their many legal headaches (via Sullum, “Hit and Run”).
{ 1 comment }
Get your copy today! My new book tackles the question of why so many bad ideas come from the law schools. "Cutting-edge commentary, hard-hitting, witty, astute." -- Publisher's Weekly. "Excellent... A fine dissection of these strangely powerful institutions" -- Wall Street Journal.
Individual liberty, free markets, and peace: the world's premier libertarian think tank. Publishes Cato at Liberty, where I blog on contemporary policy issues.