…they do things very differently than we do in the U.S. when it comes to civil litigation. (But then every other country does things very differently than we do.) Ilkka Kokkarinen (Sixteen Volts) says kind things about The Excuse Factory — thanks (Jun. 9).
Archive for June, 2006
“New Year’s Eve party from Hell”
On TuckerMax.com, anonymous participants used harsh language in deriding a holiday party thrown by a Philadelphia-based publicity firm. Its operator sued for defamation, and U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell ruled that under federal law a blogger cannot be held legally liable as the “publisher” of anonymous comments. And no, this does not mean that participants in our comments section should from now on assume that anything goes. (Shannon P. Duffy, “Judge: Bloggers Entitled to Immunity Under Communications Act”, Legal Intelligencer, Jun. 2).
Lott v. Levitt V
Steven Levitt and his publisher Harper Collins filed straightforward motions to dismiss Count 1 and Count 2 of Lott’s complaint, pdf files of which are available on Overlawyered. (Please don’t deep-link.) Elsewhere, Jon Weiner and John Lott battle in the LA Times op-ed pages.
Update: Jim Lindgren analyzes the case.
It’s only fair, the GOP had Enron
“The embattled securities class-action law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman received some political backing last week with the release of a statement signed by four Democrats from the House of Representatives condemning last month’s indictment in Los Angeles of the firm on criminal charges. … The statement was signed by three representatives from New York — Charles Rangel, Carolyn McCarthy and Gary Ackerman — and Robert Wexler from Florida. One of the founders of the law firm, Melvyn Weiss, is a high-profile fund-raiser for the Democratic Party.” (Julie Creswell, New York Times/Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News, Jun. 12).
TheLawyer.com, based in the United Kingdom, fumbles the story badly by reporting that Milberg “has picked up a powerful ally in the shape of the US Congress”. (Joanne Harris, “US Congress slams Milberg Weiss indictment”, Jun. 13, note the equally erroneous headline). In fact, the four representatives who signed the letter are hardly typical members even of the Democratic caucus in the House, let alone of the Congress as a whole (which, someone should tell TheLawyer.com, is controlled by Republicans). See, for example, Jeremy Pelofsky, “Democrats returning money to two Milberg lawyers”, Reuters, Jun. 9 (Democratic National Committee, perhaps wiser than Reps. Rangel, McCarthy et al., seek to distance themselves from firm by returning some of its donations, a step already taken by New York’s Eliot Spitzer). More: Prof. Bainbridge, Jun. 12.
“Don’t let lawsuits turn you off sunscreen”
By reader acclaim: foiled robber sues store employees
“A man who was beaten by employees of a store he was trying to rob is now suing.” Dana Buckman “pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a repeat violent felon” after police say he pulled a semi-automatic pistol and demanded cash from workers at an AutoZone in Rochester last July. Instead, “employees Eli Crespo and Jerry Vega beat him with a pipe and held Buckman at bay with his own gun. …Now Buckman is suing the auto parts store and the two employees who beat him, claiming they committed assault and battery and intentionally inflicted emotional distress.” (“Man who tried to rob store sues for ’emotional distress'”, AP/WAVY, Jun. 12; Michael Zeigler, “Foiled robber claims he’s the victim”, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Jun. 10).
Canada’s hate speech law
Selective enforcement is one of the many problems with a law that can reach out to ensnare David Ahenakew, an elderly aboriginal leader in Saskatchewan, but seems to pass right over preachers of violent jihad. “But hate laws aren’t really about hate. They’re about abusing and stretching the criminal code to criminalize political dissidents.” (Ezra Levant, “Abolish foolish law”, Calgary Sun/Canoe, Jun. 12).
Duke rape charges
English-only cheesesteak ordering? Tell it to the judge
“An English-only ordering policy at one of Philadelphia’s most famous cheesesteak joints has prompted a city agency to pursue a discrimination complaint. The city’s Commission on Human Relations plans to file the complaint Monday, alleging the policy at Geno’s Steaks discourages customers of certain backgrounds from eating there, said Rachel Lawton, acting executive director.” Owner Joseph Vento, who posted the now-famous signs telling customers, “This is America: When Ordering ‘Please Speak English'”, says “he has no plans to budge. ‘I would say they would have to handcuff me and take me out because I’m not taking it down.'” (Patrick Walters, “City agency: Cheesesteak shop’s English-only policy discriminates”, AP/PennLive, Jun. 12; BizzyBlog; Bainbridge, Jun. 10). P.S. At XRLQ, commenter “Doc Rampage” writes, “If this suit goes forward, I’m going to sue Starbucks for making me say ‘Venti’ instead of ‘large.'” Update Feb. 18, 2007: city commission finds probable cause for discrimination complaint.
Welcome Reader’s Digest readers
“There’s big money in blaming others for your own bad luck. Too bad it costs all of us.” Roundup of numerous baffling/colorful cases most of which will be familiar to readers of this site; yes, I helped, and yes, reporter Michael Crowley generously quotes me and cites this website (“That’s Outrageous: Lawsuit Lunacy”, Jul.).
More: in a sidebar, the Digest’s Dan O’Connor lists us among three sites it recommends that “can help you learn more and speak up”.