A Charleston, W.V. defendant said it would be OK for the victim of his alleged petty larceny to give him a slap by way of punishment. A prosecutor conveyed the offer, subsequently dropped the charges, and got into a bit of hot water as a result. [AP/WSAZ, Greenfield]
LAPD hassles food trucks
Urbanites appreciate the food, but restaurants don’t like the competition (Reason.tv).
See also related item from last summer (nearby Orange County).
Bank of America disclosure controversy
No good deed goes unpunished, suggest the editorialists at the Washington Post of an aggressive enforcement action by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo over the bank’s Merrill Lynch deal. “Dishonest dealing in the securities markets is a problem. So are duplicative state and federal laws that can make companies repeatedly liable for the same conduct under different legal standards.”
U.K.: study finds jurors “fail to understand judges’ instructions”
“Two thirds of jurors sitting in British courts fail to understand what a judge tells them about important aspects of the law, risking serious miscarriages of justice, a study [based on 69,000 verdicts] concludes.” One possible response is a greater shift to written instructions from judges. [Telegraph] Among other conclusions of the Ministry of Justice study: “all-white juries do not discriminate against black defendants” and “men sitting on juries are less likely than women to listen to arguments and change their minds.” [Times Online]
Government-created risk
“How the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition, with deadly consequences.” [Blum/Slate] A little while back I did an article for Reason on the surprisingly frequent role government has played in promoting and furthering products that pose a risk to life and limb.
P.S. It’s still going on, though with a lower toll: ethanol sold for nondrinking use is “denatured” and made poisonous by law (h/t James Fulford in comments, Alex Tabarrok)
New at Point of Law
Things you’re missing if you aren’t checking out my other site:
- Iowa federal judge hits EEOC with $4.5 million attorney fee award over “sue first, ask questions later” litigation strategy;
- Jim Copland continues his weeklong blogging of Trial Lawyers Inc.: K Street with posts on the plaintiff’s bar’s Washington, D.C. presence (with discussion of CPSIA, employment litigation, qui tam, and arbitration, among other topics); state lobbying; and public relations, including legal academics, the media, and consumer groups;
- Hmm: House committee conveniently subpoenas Toyota defense documents that plaintiffs had been seeking to unseal (and more on Toyota);
- Obama administration plans crackdown to make more employers reclassify independent contractors as employees;
- Trial bar stirs pot in Florida politics;
- Feds swoop down on 2003 settlement to demand that parties reimburse Medicare as provided by retroactive law.
Update: $4.5 million for NYC cop who fell off chair, shot self
We covered this case a little more than a year ago, and now it’s slated for the city’s appeal, per an update last fall by John Hochfelder at New York Injury Cases. Jury Verdict Review has a version with some details redacted for nonsubscribers.
“Judge Jails Litigant for Provoking Supportive Emails to the Judge”
A federal judge in Chicago got irritated, maybe too much so, at emails from infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau’s supporters. Trudeau isn’t actually being jailed yet, as an appeals court has stayed the order pending its review. [Paul Alan Levy, Consumer Law & Policy]
Australia: “Bosses rapped for valid sacking”
“The nation’s industrial umpire has ruled that a long-term employee who was legitimately sacked for repeated safety breaches must be reinstated and paid compensation because of his poor education and poor job prospects.” [The Australian]
“Blonde we like wins Downhill (Last name rhymes with Bonn’)”
A gear seller says it got a stern letter from an IOC lawyer against even mentioning a famous Olympian who has used its wares [UVEXSports]