Oops dept.

The lead plaintiff in Alli v. Decker, an ACLU-led class action lawsuit aimed at preventing the deportation of various aliens who commit crimes, turns out to be a conman who played a role in a huge Nigerian-led identity theft scam. Reports the Times:

The news media campaign was all set to go. There was even a Web site ready with a sympathetic profile of Alexander Alli, 49, the man the American Civil Liberties Union had chosen as the lead plaintiff …Court documents tell the story of Mr. Alli’s life before his fall as a familiar tale of immigrant pluck, luck and hard work.

Well, yes, court documents prepared by his lawyers would tend to do that, while tending to downplay or omit the massive identity theft operation in which Mr. Alli was a participant, which extracted more than $50 million by impersonating and victimizing some 30,000 credit card holders: he “admitted to being personally responsible for $70,000 to $120,000 of the multimillion-dollar losses to banks and credit card companies”. Start deporting people like that, and where is our next generation of scam artists supposed to come from? [New York Times, Patrick at Popehat]

Filed under: ACLU, class actions, immigration law

Connecticut passes probate court reform

Gov. Jodi Rell has signed legislation reorganizing the long-criticized system, which handles child custody matters and conservatorships as well as wills and estates; Hartford Courant columnist Rick Green had made the cause a crusade with horror stories. More: Connecticut Law Tribune (cross-posted from Point of Law).

Filed under: child custody, Connecticut, wills and trusts

June 12 roundup

Judge in Van Buren County, Michigan won’t approve adoptions unless one parent promises to stay home [Ken at Popehat]
Critical view of proposed Performance Rights Act, under which radio would pay new fees to artists and copyright owners [Jesse Walker, Reason]
Student threatens to sue school district: “You can say she was an exotic dancer and she was 18, but it was not an equal relationship.” [Boston Herald, columnist Margery Eagan, Worcester Telegram]
More attention for U.S. Chamber’s movie trailers promoting awareness of lawsuit abuse [NY Times]
Train didn’t actually strike her car at dicey RR crossing after gate closed behind her, but New York woman’s suing Metro-North anyway for the bad scare [Westchester, N.Y. Journal-News]
Uh-oh: Defamation-and-privacy section of American Association of Law Schools keeps electing as leaders feminist lawprofs known for speech-restrictionist views [Greenfield, earlier]
Cows and vows don’t mix: Oregon county says weddings may not be held on farm-zoned land [KTVZ]
Paul Offit, author of noteworthy book Autism’s False Prophets, sued by anti-vaccine blogger [Confutata (scroll), Alyric, link to complaint (PDF) at Courthouse News]

Filed under: broadcasters, family law, free speech, land use and zoning, law schools, libel slander and defamation, music and musicians, schools, strippers and exotic dancers, train, vaccines

White Coat’s lawsuit story, cont’d

Installments 3 and 4 of the ER doctor’s saga deal with his preparation for being deposed, and the deposition itself (earlier).

Filed under: discovery, medical malpractice, on other blogs

“Former employee wins $4.1 billion”

Not a misprint: the arbitration award in Chester v. iFreedom Communications Inc., (PDF), in favor of a former chief marketing officer fired without cause, was really $4.1 billion with a b. [Dennis Westlind, World of Work via Ohio Employer’s Law; JAMS, Los Angeles]

P.S.: A commenter at an Alabama site: “So much for mandatory binding arbitration always favoring the big company.”

P.P.S.: More on how it happened, including serious lapses by the defendant in responding to the action, from AmLaw Litigation Daily, National Law Journal, and Daniel Schwartz.

Filed under: arbitration, damages, workplace

Background check — for your kid’s school party

At her great new site, Free Range Kids, Lenore Skenazy hears from a reader in suburban Texas who reports that parents wishing to attend their class holiday party are required to undergo a volunteer background check. Many of her commenters have similar stories — and worse.

Filed under: child abuse, schools

Rick Reilly on the Oakland Mother’s Day-stadium suit

By reader acclaim: ESPN’s Rick Reilly is righteously hacked off at California serial litigator Alfred Rava and his sex discrimination settlement over an Oakland A’s breast cancer promotion which gave out floppy sun hats on Mother’s Day to women attending the game but not (horrors) to men. (“Make $100 the sleazy way“):

So how many guys have lined up to get their rightful floppy-hat-equivalent payment that was stolen from them by those selfish Mother’s Day-manipulating women? “Well, I haven’t taken a single call so far,” said the 1-888 operator at the firm handling claims. “And I’m here just about every day.”

Earlier coverage of Rava’s Oakland suit here, and on his earlier suit over an Anaheim Angels Mother’s Day tote bag giveaway here, here, here, and here.

Filed under: baseball, California, ladies' nights, sex discrimination, Unruh Act

Bicycle smashup, of the regulatory sort

bikepostermichelin The Bicycle Product Suppliers Association has played a role (PDF) in the fight against CPSIA’s (presumably inadvertent) ban on kids’ bicycles; it’s also been dealing with a controversy in the New Jersey legislature over a proposed ban on quick release wheels. But now the legal bills are coming due: “In fact, the expenses associated with these issues could ultimately surpass the association’s entire annual budget of approximately $100,000,” said BPSA president John Nedeau [Bicycle Retailer].

Filed under: CPSIA, CPSIA and minibikes, CPSIA and toys, New Jersey

Match.com: your inactive profiles are breaking hearts

Sean McGinn of Brooklyn, and lawyers seeking class-action status, say Match.com left canceled profiles up, resulting in “humiliation and disappointment” suffered by paying members who sent love-struck missives to the old accounts. [New York Post, Obscure Store, Eric Turkewitz, Above the Law]

Filed under: class actions, emotional distress

FDA gains authority to regulate tobacco

Funny how Philip Morris, the biggest tobacco company, is the bill’s “most important ally“. [CEI “Open Market”] More: Jacob Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”, Jonathan Adler, Volokh (“the bill represents the marriage of big government and big business”).

Filed under: FDA, tobacco