A study by University of South Florida researchers will give critics new ammunition (USF via Balko; earlier).
Archive for 2008
We’ve come for your BlackBerries…
…as well as your keychain drives, backup tapes, laptops and network servers. New rules of federal procedure will make it more likely that a litigation opponent will show up on your doorstep with such a demand. (Martha Neil, “Opponent Computer Searches Likelier Under Revised Civ Pro Rule”, ABA Journal, Mar. 12; Nolan M. Goldberg, “Is Your Data Wide Open to Your Opponent?”, National Law Journal, Mar. 12).
Global positioning systems liability
I’m pretty sure I know which intersection in Bedford Hills, N.Y. is being referred to in this account; it’s a badly confusing intersection, for sure, but I don’t think I’d blame the GPS if I took a wrong turn onto the train tracks. (Peter C. Neger, “The Legal Landscape of GPS Devices”, New York Law Journal, Mar. 5)(via Elefant).
$46,000 attorney fee request in $44.63 dispute
“Police officer Michael Harrington sued after getting snookered out of $44.63 in overtime pay. He later settled for $10,500 and sought about $46,000 in attorney fees. If that seems out of proportion, Los Angeles’ 2nd District Court of Appeal agrees with you. The court reduced the fee award to $500. ‘At the risk of understatement,’ Justice Miriam Vogel wrote last week, ‘there is no way on Earth this case justified the hours purportedly billed by Harrington’s lawyers.'” (Mike McKee, The Recorder, Mar. 5).
Contraband candy student reinstated
New Haven, Ct. honors student Michael Sheridan, suspended and removed from his elected class post after being caught buying a bag of Skittles candy from a fellow student in violation of his school’s policy against empty-calorie food, will be reinstated, the school says. (AP/Google). Ohio law blog The Briefcase (Mar. 13) has more, along with a link to this PTO Today article detailing how a federal law mandating school “wellness policies” has increased the pressure on states and local schools to adopt anti-snack measures.
Poodle-dyer nabbed by animal welfare cops
In Boulder, Colorado, hair salon owner Joy Douglas “received a $1,000 ticket from an animal-control officer for coloring her white poodle, Cici, pink by using organic beet juice.” Everyone seems to agree that the dye job is not physically harmful to the pooch, who is well cared for in other ways, but Boulder has a town ordinance against animal-dyeing, aimed at Easter-season tormentors of bunnies and chicks, and several residents ratted Douglas out. She says the idea of the pink fur was to raise awareness for breast cancer. (“Boulder’s pink poodle owner preps for legal fight”, Denver Post, Mar. 11).
Fled home, rode bus to end of the line
The Hampton Roads Transit bus driver told the 13-year-old girl, who was “upset about a family situation” and had gone out after curfew, that she had to get off the bus at the end of the line. A man approached, befriended and later allegedly assaulted her. Her mother has now filed a $10 million suit against the transit system. Plaintiff’s lawyer Jason Roper says “someone” should have “call[ed] someone… You can’t tell me that no one could foresee this happening.” (Duane Bourne, “HRT, driver sued over sexual assault on teen”, Virginian-Pilot, Mar. 2)
The case of the traveling grape
Suits over slips attributed to fallen produce in grocery aisles are routine, of course, and grapes are among the most commonly named food items. The distinctive aspect of this British case seems to be the plaintiff’s theory that the grape might have gotten stuck to his shoe while in the store and then caused his mishap later, in the parking lot. (“Man sues M&S for £300K over grape”, BBC, Mar. 11).
More: Judge rules for defendant Marks & Spencer (BBC, Mar. 12, h/t commenter David Townsend).
Whited sepulchre watch
Client #9, also known as Eliot Spitzer, enthusiastically enlisted in a crusade for tougher anti-prostitution laws and specifically for steps to raise the penalties for “johns” who patronized the women involved. The campaign bore fruit, and in his first months as Governor Spitzer signed into law what advocates call “the toughest and most comprehensive anti-sex-trade law in the nation”. Among other provisions, the law “lays the groundwork for a more aggressive crackdown on demand, by increasing the penalty for patronizing a prostitute, a misdemeanor, to up to a year in jail, from a maximum of three months.” (Nina Bernstein, “Foes of Sex Trade Are Stung by the Fall of an Ally”, New York Times, Mar. 12).