Given that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the Eastern mountain lion extinct, Connecticut environmental officials are assuming the animal killed by a motorist in Milford “may have been released or escaped from a local handler.” [Greenwich Time] Or was it? Chris Fountain: “There’s an idea floating about, going back at least fifteen years, that the Eastern Mountain Lion is not extinct but has been declared so so as to avoid the annoyance and inconvenience of complying with the Endangered Species Act.”
U.K.: “Butlins bans bumping on the bumper cars”
The best-known operator of British amusement parks has ordered its staff “to ban anyone found guilty of bumping into each other in the electric cars equipped with huge bumpers. Bemused customers who assume that the ‘no bumping sign’ is in jest are told to drive around slowly in circles rather than crash into anyone else for fear of an injury that could result in the resort being sued.” [Louise Gray, Telegraph via Free-Range Kids]
Also: California appellate court rejects assumption of risk defense and denies summary judgment to bumper car injury claim [Bill Childs, MassTort.org]
Dry Max diaper class action settlement
Its terms are fluffy and very fee-absorbent [Russell Jackson]
“Dead kids make bad laws”
“Kyleigh’s Law,” which imposed an 11 p.m. curfew on younger drivers and required them to affix red reflective decals on their vehicles, was really not a very good idea, but New Jersey lawmakers figured that not voting for it might seem to insult Kyleigh’s memory. Much could be said as well against Megan’s Law, Hannah’s Law, Jessica’s Law, Chelsea’s Law … might one discern a pattern here? [Michael Tracey, Reason]
New at Cato: case “never should have been prosecuted”
I posted briefly on the Lauren Stevens acquittal last month, and now I’ve got a longer treatment up at Cato at Liberty:
…U.S. District Court Judge Roger Titus ordered the acquittal of Lauren Stevens, a former in-house lawyer for drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, who had been charged with obstructing a federal investigation. In strong language, Judge Titus said Stevens “should never have been prosecuted” and that allowing the case to go forward to a jury “would be a miscarriage of justice.” …After the stunning dismissal, the U.S. Department of Justice was quite unapologetic, a top official suggesting that its prosecutors intended to do nothing differently in future.
The full post is here. P.S. Scott Greenfield has some additional thoughts that should not be missed.
“There is money to be had when the right kind of book scandal comes along.”
“The phenomenon of lower extremity impacts into furniture is not unusual”
Thanks to Ben S., discussing the CPSC product-safety database, for the week’s drollest comment.
Margaret Little reviews Lester Brickman
In the new issue of the Federalist Society’s Engage, Margaret Little reviews Lester Brickman’s Lawyer Barons: What Their Contingency Fees Really Cost America, one of the most important new books on tort law in years (review, PDF). Excerpt:
No scholar has studied the role of the contingency fee in America more comprehensively than Professor Lester Brickman. He has now published a definitive book that examines the historic, economic, and political legacy of this American means of financing the always elusive quest for justice. …
Litigation, while public in name, takes place out of the public eye. … the defense bar is up to its elbows in preserving these arrangements because of the mirror image benefits they derive from the expansion and complexity of tort liability.
June 10 roundup
- The appalling reign of California’s prison guards union [Tim Kowal, League of Ordinary Gentlemen via Tim Cavanaugh; Steven Malanga, City Journal; earlier]
- Defense side, including dozens of sued bloggers, begins to respond in “Rakofsky v. Internet” case [Turkewitz, Popehat, earlier]
- Point/counterpoint on class action arbitration clauses [Karlsgodt]
- Group plans to Twitter-fy the novel Ulysses via crowdsourcing in time for Bloomsday, but let’s hope nobody tells litigation-prone Joyce heir [Ulysses Meets Twitter 2011 via BoingBoing]
- Battle over reform of joint and several liability continues in Pennsylvania legislature [Wajert]
- From Miami, latest dramatic tale of cops vs. citizen video-taking [David Rittgers, Cato at Liberty] New Jersey bill would criminalize taking photos of kids in many circumstances [Nicole Ciandella, CEI, see also]
- Australia: “Man Gets Workers’ Comp for Injury Sustained When Punching Customer” [Lowering the Bar]
Baltimore’s “Injury LawMobile”
The Maryland Daily Record (sub) has a Google-accessible pic of this lawyerly venture into street advertising (via Miller). Compare this 2004 NYC story, where the van actually contained a mobile law office, and its followup.
