Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

“Entering the U.S. illegally”

One way that can happen to you is to be traveling the Canadian side of the Niagara River on your Sea-Doo jet ski, get caught in the rapids and swept over to the U.S. side. Jason Haist of Toronto was knocked unconscious and nearly drowned in the process, but his legal troubles were only beginning, as U.S. Border Patrol agents filed charges against him. They also arrested his cousin Edward, who tried to help him, for not reporting immediately on entry. After a press outcry, the two were released from their jail cell and returned to Canada. (Toronto Star, Aug. 25; Inside Toronto, Aug. 26).

P.S. Commenter “Buffalo” says the facts are more complicated than would appear from the Canadian press coverage and that “before the accident/injury, there was reportedly evidence that they landed on the US side without reporting in”.

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Palin and jury nullification

Expect some controversy over hints that the Alaska Governor may have expressed sympathy with the argued right of criminal juries to decide on matters of law as well as fact, perhaps in the process acquitting some violators of unjust laws. Despite its extensive pedigree in Anglo-American legal history, that position has become highly unpopular with most authorities in bench and bar, even as it remains popular with many Americans at the grass roots. (Eugene Volokh, Sept. 3). Some blog background on the subject: Randy Barnett, Dan Markel, Anne Reed, Eric Muller, Tim Lynch.

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Palin: about that “Fire my abusive trooper in-law” furor

Perhaps a candidate for the “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” files? From Gov. Sarah Palin’s ethics disclosure form to the Attorney General of Alaska concerning allegations that she improperly sought the removal of Alaska state trooper Mike Wooten, an estranged brother-in-law who’d made threats against her family:

It was a matter of public importance that some Alaska State Troopers seemed to feel themselves above the law. Beyond the governor’s own personal experience, the state was sued for troopers’ violations of constitutional rights, occasionally losing jury trials that would cost the taxpayers substantial money. And, of course, such abuses of power by troopers are exactly the kind of corruption that the governor has long opposed. On occasion, Governor Palin would let Monegan know that she felt this was a problem within the Department of Public Safety; Monegan has told the press that at least once the Governor included mention of Wooten as a prime example of someone who was a problem within the department. Monegan himself told the Washington Post about an e-mail Governor Palin sent him after he informed the governor about one such jury trial loss.

(courtesy Anchorage Daily News, PDF — see p. 9, paragraph 45)(background: WaPo, CNN). More: Beldar.

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Police macing victim: sorry I sued for $5 million

Championship bodybuilder Doug Burns, who sued the government of Redwood City, Calif. over an incident in which police scuffled with him not realizing that his erratic behavior was the result of insulin shock, defended his decision to file a suit but agreed that the dollar amount assigned was over the top. “The lawyers jacked up the amount, because they always expect to settle for less. ‘Something like this shouldn’t have a $5 million dollar price tag on it. I should have had a better look at the amount. It’s my fault,’ Doug told [blogger Amy Tenderich]”. (Diabetes Mine, Jun. 22).

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“Woman Wins $1.5M Award in STD Transmission Case”

The plaintiff in the Muscatine County, Iowa case said her former boyfriend had assured her he was free of sexually transmitted disease even though he should have had reason to know this wasn’t the case. She was later “diagnosed with both strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV), one of which causes genital warts and the other cell abnormalities that can lead to cervical cancer.” [OnPoint News] Marc Randazza at Legal Satyricon says the jury’s $1.5 million award “seems like a fair decision” (Aug. 15). Reader Scott M. isn’t so sure, writing in email, “One has to wonder how the other hundreds of millions of Americans manage to get by without compensation, since according to WebMD ‘HPV virus is common and infects at least 50% of all people who have sex at some time in their lives.'” (more).

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September 3 roundup

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Ways of collecting legal fees

They shouldn’t include hiring a felon to put the strong arm on deadbeat clients. Attorney Mark Blevins of Wheeling, W.Va., a Republican candidate for county prosecutor, denies the charges. [Lawrence Smith, “Wheeling attorney faces suspension for using felon to collect debts”, West Virginia Record, Aug. 22; Joselyn King, “Lawyer faces license suspension”, Wheeling Intelligencer, Aug. 26) (via ABA Journal).

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San Francisco’s North Beach, curbed

Many small businesses in the historic and much-visited neighborhood have been hit with ADA complaints, often from the law offices of famed serial ADA filer Thomas Frankovich. (Carol Lloyd, “Surreal estate: ADA accessibility lawsuits causing headaches for small business owners”, San Francisco Chronicle, Jun. 13). “I’ve seen the ADA racket threaten businesses in other towns, and they ended up closing. The owner [of a small chocolate shop that has now laid off three workers] has never gotten a formal complaint from a wheelchair-bound person, except for this suit.” (“SF_Anna”, “North Beach Block Threatened by ADA Suits”, MetBlogs, Aug. 20).

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Bid to stop suicide fails, San Francisco will pay

“The family of a 26-year-old man who died two years ago after an off-duty firefighter tried to rescue him from the edge of a roof will receive a financial settlement from The City, after claiming the firefighter was at fault.” Fire Lt. Victor Wyrsch tried to grab the suicidal Nick Torrico from the roof, but Torrico tore himself loose and fell to his death, and now the city’s taxpayers will pay Torrico’s family based on their contention that Wyrsch should have held back. (Beth Winegarner, “San Francisco pays up for failed rescue”, San Francisco Examiner, Aug. 26).

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