Overlawyered » Montana

Free speech roundup

Walter Olson — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:11:10 +0000

Berkeley: “Police chief sends sergeant to reporter’s home after midnight to demand article revision” [Poynter] In 1932, a New York Congressman convened a hearing to blast theater critics for harming the welfare of Broadway shows [Philip Scranton, Bloomberg]
“Blasphemy and free speech” [Paul Marshall, Hillsdale "Imprimis," PDF] “Egyptian Christian Imprisoned for 6 Years for Insulting Mohammed” [Volokh]
What is it about Montana and election free speech these days? [Volokh] Judge denies Ron Paul campaign request to unmask source of anti-Huntsman video [Paul Alan Levy, earlier] “Eliot Spitzer Bucks Liberal Orthodoxy: ‘Citizens United Was Correct’” [TheDC] If you rely on the NY Times for what you know about Citizens United, you’re probably misinformed [Wendy Kaminer, Atlantic]
“In which Ben Bagdikian, alleged scourge of media monopolies, frets at the possibility of more TV channels” [BBC via Jesse Walker]
Guernsey as a haven for libel tourism? [Annie Machon] “Someday I will commission a study of the relationship between defamation lawsuit threats and illiteracy.” [@Popehat on Gawker item]
“Key Techdirt SOPA/PIPA Post Censored By Bogus DMCA Takedown Notice” [Mike Masnick]
Overly aggressive trademark lawyers? “Their mothers love them too, in a prone-to-sudden-weeping sort of way.” [Popehat; earlier on Louis Vuitton v. Penn Law case]

Tags: Bay Area, broadcasters, campaign regulation, Eliot Spitzer, free speech, libel slander and defamation, Montana, police, trademarks

Free speech roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Environmental law roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:03:02 +0000

Peter Schweizer: “To RFK, Jr: I’m No Sock Puppet, But You Sir Are a Bootlegger” [Huffington Post; some background on America's Most Irresponsible Public Figure®]
Will legal campaign succeed in shutting down natural gas fracking? [WLF, David Oliver, CL&P, Abby Wisse Schachter/NYP]
Nice work if you can get it: key figure in dubious Chevron-Ecuador expert report slated for National Academy of Sciences reappointment [WizBang, earlier]
EPA’s move-cement-production-to-China plan runs into uncooperative judge [Josiah Neeley, Daily Caller]
Spare that tree? Environmentalists battle Montana underbrush clearance aimed at preventing catastrophic fires [William Perry Pendley, MSLF] More on trees and power outages in Connecticut [WSJ, related earlier]
New book on Endangered Species Act reform [James Burling, Federalist Society]
Rural property owners foot the bill for California green policies [Steven Greenhut]
“What are you in for?” “Backed-up toilets” [Shannen Coffin, NRO]

Tags: California, Chevron, Connecticut, endangered species, environment, Environmental Protection Agency, Montana, oil industry, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., trees

Environmental law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Montana: “Bicyclist Gets Nearly $100G After Fall on Icy Trail”

Walter Olson — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:37:03 +0000

“The president of the Florence Park District says he’s disappointed in a system that allows a man riding a motorized bicycle on a winter night on a trail that doesn’t allow motorized vehicles to receive an insurance settlement. Half of the settlement came from a Florence bar because snow was pushed onto the trail when the bar parking lot was plowed.” [AP]

Tags: deep pocket, Montana, personal responsibility, recreation

Montana: “Bicyclist Gets Nearly $100G After Fall on Icy Trail” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

On trial for vehicular homicide, sues family she killed

Walter Olson — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 05:40:27 +0000

Citing text messages she sent her boyfriend shortly before the incident, Montana prosecutors contend that Justine Winter’s crash at 85 mph into an oncoming vehicle was a deliberate suicide attempt. Winter, who faces trial on homicide charges in the deaths of Erin Thompson, the woman she ran into, and Thompson’s 13-year-old son, has now sued Thompson’s estate as well as the construction company that built the interstate overpass where the accident occurred. [Daily Inter Lake, Siouxsie Law]

Tags: Montana, personal responsibility, roads and streets, suicide

On trial for vehicular homicide, sues family she killed is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Bat maker found liable for player’s death”

Walter Olson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 01:05:34 +0000

A Montana jury decided that the aluminum baseball bat manufactured by “Louisville Slugger” maker Hillerich & Bradsby was not a defective product, but that the company should have warned of the dangers from its hitting balls at a higher speed, and awarded a family $850,000 for the 2003 death of their son at a baseball game. [Helena Independent Record, AP] Early commentary: Russell Jackson (doubting that a warning would actually have altered the behavior of those in the game) and Eugene Volokh (before verdict). Earlier here. More: Jim Copland discusses on CNN; Above the Law.

Tags: baseball, baseball bats, Montana

“Bat maker found liable for player’s death” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Mom left two girls, 12, in charge of three younger ones at mall

Walter Olson — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:26:26 +0000

And soon Bridget Kevane, a professor of Latin American and Latino literature at Montana State in Bozeman, found herself fighting a child endangerment rap. [Free Range Kids via Amy Alkon; Judith Warner, NYT]

Tags: child protection, Montana, prosecutorial abuse

Mom left two girls, 12, in charge of three younger ones at mall is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

July 6 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:42:35 +0000

U.K.: “Families told doormats are health and safety risk” [Telegraph]
Montana judge holds onto case for 34 years before finally issuing ruling [Popehat]
Free speech and the web: panel from American Constitution Society convention [Above the Law]
“Driver with ’0′ license plates wrongly issued dozens of tickets” [Chicago Tribune, Obscure Store]
Florida judge who presided over Anna Nicole Smith custody case accused in civil suit of looting elderly widow’s assets; probe however led to no criminal charges [Miami Herald, Bob Norman/Broward Palm Beach New Times]
Economist/YouGov poll finds public supportive of limiting medical malpractice payouts [Point of Law]
Someone writing San Francisco docket reports may have pawkish sense of humor [Lowering the Bar; Arcata, Calif. Eye's famously droll police blotter, mentioned in this space five years ago]
Suing over co-worker’s perfume [two years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: humor, medical malpractice, Montana, nanny state, online speech, San Francisco, traffic laws, United Kingdom

July 6 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Jury acquits W.R. Grace and execs in Libby, Mont. asbestos case

Walter Olson — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:20:20 +0000

A high-profile federal environmental prosecution has struck out following charges of prosecutorial misconduct as well as disputes over the quality of the evidence [Montana's News Station, Van Voris/Bloomberg] Carter Wood and others have been blogging the case at Point of Law, and a joint blog effort of the University of Montana’s law and journalism schools has given the case extensive coverage. See also Kirk Hartley.

Tags: asbestos, crime and punishment, Montana

Jury acquits W.R. Grace and execs in Libby, Mont. asbestos case is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“The Last Best Place”: not a trademark yet

Walter Olson — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:02:52 +0000

For years controversy has raged over a Las Vegas businessman and resort owner’s efforts to trademark the phrase, widely used as a description of Montana. (Missoula writer William Kittredge says he remembers coming up with the phrase himself.) Now, per TTA Blog, Montana Sen. Max Baucus has again included language in an appropriation bill to direct that (for the time being) no funds be expended by the PTO to register such a trademark.

Tags: Montana, trademarks

“The Last Best Place”: not a trademark yet is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:02:11 +0000

“Texas Judge Orders 178 Anonymous ‘John Does’ Who Posted on Topix Be Revealed” [Citizen Media Law]
$4 billion lawsuit over racially insensitive Miley Cyrus eye gestures [Michelle Malkin, TMZ.com]
Update: “Tulsa World drops lawsuit after writer apologizes” [Romenesko/Tulsa World, earlier]
Also update: “Seventh Circuit Affirms Dismissal of John Lott’s Libel Lawsuit Against Steven Levitt” [Volokh, earlier]
“M-I-C — Cease and desist! K-E-Y — Why? Because we caught you! M-O-U-S-E” [Ron Coleman]
California: “Another Step Toward Shielding Good Samaritans From Civil Damages” [Calif. Civil Justice Blog, more]
Montana lawmakers consider bill saying hazardous recreation goes on at your own risk [PoL]
Senior writer at Wired decides to go work for Wal-Mart, what he found departed from the Barbara Ehrenreich formula [BoingBoing]

Tags: assumption of risk, California, Good Samaritan, Lott v. Levitt, Montana, online speech, recreation, Wal-Mart

February 16 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system