- Upside-down logic of Supreme Court’s Comstock, Graham cases: imprison youthful offenders for life only if they haven’t had protections of formal trial [Popehat, Pilon, Shapiro, Volokh, Pattis] Kennedy returns to use of international “consensus” as guide in constitutional interpretation [Shapiro, Bader]
- Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal, noted scourge of misleading ad promotion (as in the Sony ghost blurber case), falsely claimed Vietnam service [Raymond Hernandez, NY Times] Cf. the curious “Harvard swim captain” claims investigated by Chris Fountain. More: AllahPundit.
- Louisiana politico Theriot: my suit against online critics is meant not to shut anyone up but to pick up useful tips on governance [Times-Picayune, Jefferson Report, Volokh, NY Times]
- South Carolina juries not allowed to hear evidence about seat belt use in car crashes [Pero]
- More links on “Lady KaGa” Supreme Court nomination [Cato at Liberty, Ted at PoL]
- Risk of “minor” injuries may result in end to Naval Academy tradition of stunt climb [John J. Miller, NRO]
- “Art of the Steal,” documentary on epic battle over donor intent in case of suburban Philadelphia Barnes collection [Kauffmann/TNR, L.A. Times, CultureGrrl/ArtsJournal]
- “Why Good Intentions are Often Not Enough: The Potential for Ethical Blindness in Legal Decision-Making” [Kath Hall (Australian National University), SSRN via Andrew Perlman, Legal Ethics Forum]
Filed under: art and artists, crime and punishment, ethics, libel slander and defamation, Philadelphia, Richard Blumenthal, seatbelts, South Carolina, Supreme Court
5 Comments
You also can’t present evidence that the plaintiff wasn’t wearing his seatbelt in Virginia. I once had a plaintiff whose head and neck injuries were 100 percent preventable had he been wearing a seatbelt. He basically flew from one end of a truck cab to the other, striking his head on the passenger window. But we settled the case for $50,000.
This rule smacks of total hypocrisy by the plaintiff’s bar. First, they’re the ones always getting pious and righteous over “those few steps” that a defendant didn’t take, thus causing injury.
Second, it goes against the very basic notion of fairness to the civil defendant — he shouldn’t have to pay for that portion of the damage caused by the plaintiff himself.
And third, everybody knows you’re supposed to wear your damn seatbelt. It’s negligence per se, really, since it’s legally required in most places.
In states in which evidence about seatbelt use is not admissible, where is the prohibition? State law? Court rules? Decisions of the state apellate courts?
It’s generally statutory, but not codified into the Rules of Evidence Bill. In states where the rule stems from case law, courts deem the use of seatbelts to be irrelevant to liability as the accident would surely have happened anyway, and too speculative to be admissible on mitigation of damages.
I can also see plaintiffs making the argument — not crazy — that evidence of no seatbelt would be highly prejudicial. That is, once the jury hears that, they won’t listen to anything else. In my case above, the other driver might still have been negligent — but I would argue that I should be able to mitigate damages.
In Virginia, I think the ban is statutory.
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