“A lawsuit many called frivolous because it sought more than $41 million from the U.S. government for the relatives of 11 Mexican nationals who died trying to cross illegally into the United States has proven to have more staying power than predicted. A federal court in Tucson has given the relatives another two months to prove accusations that their family members died in the treacherous southern Arizona desert in May 2001 because the Interior Department failed to approve the installation of water stations ‘in the exact area’ of the desert where the Mexicans were found dead. … [The] suit said the illegal aliens died in the Interior Department-managed Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge north of Yuma after department officials denied a request by Humane Borders, a Tucson-based social-welfare organization, to place water stations in the area. The suit seeks $3.75 million for each of the victims.” (Jerry Seper, Washington Times, May 17; “Dead illegal aliens’ lawsuit to continue”, UPI/Washington Times, May 17). We originally covered the case May 10-12, 2002.
Posts Tagged ‘personal responsibility’
Prison builders sued after serial killer’s suicide
“The mother of accused serial killer Maury Travis, whose bizarre hanging death in the St. Louis County Justice Center was ruled a suicide, filed a suit Friday against the county, the architects who designed the jail and the contractors who built it.” Authorities believe Travis committed as many as twenty murders; he hanged himself in his prison cell after leaving a note. (Peter Shinkle, “Mother of accused serial killer sues over death in jail”, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 15)(via Brian Noggle)(& letter to the editor, Jun. 22).
Oz: prisoner takes drug overdose, sues
Australia: 28-year-old James Samuel Steward, who “was serving a three-year sentence at Goulburn jail when he overdosed on illegally acquired methadone in May 1998”, is now “suing the state for more than $4 million. … His barrister, Barry Hall, QC, … argued that among the department’s breaches of duty of care was its failure to adequately manage the jail to prevent the entry of illegal drugs.” (Leonie Lamont, “Ex-prisoner sues over drug disablement”, Sydney Morning Herald, May 11). For a case in which a woman sued an American hospital for not preventing the smuggling of the illegal drugs on which she overdosed, see Jun. 27, 2003.
“Lawsuits target alcohol industry”
“String Of Fast-Food Suits Expected By End Of Year”
The plaintiffs’ bar regularly pooh-poohs efforts at legal reform (Mar. 11, Mar. 13) to prevent a shakedown blaming the food industry for obesity by noting that no anti-obesity lawsuit has succeeded yet. (For example, blogger-lawyer Evan Schaeffer claims that the publicity of obesity litigation is really a conspiracy of the defense bar to generate fees.) A Lawyers Weekly USA puts the lie to this by talking to the plaintiffs’ bar; Trial Lawyers Inc. clearly thinks that obesity lawsuits are a profitable new business opportunity. (Elaine McArdle, “String Of Fast-Food Suits Expected By End Of Year”, Lawyers Weekly USA, May 10 (and can temporarily be found here); Laura Parker, “Legal experts predict new rounds in food fight”, USA Today, May 6; Alex Beam, “A super-size portion of half truths”, Boston Globe, May 11). As with the tobacco lawsuits, the strategy is to keep filing frivolous lawsuits until random chance assigns a sympathetic judge who writes an opinion that creates a precedent that opens the doors for future lawsuits–and John Banzhaf and other plaintiffs’ lawyers claim that has already happened.
“Gatekeeper awards” from Common Good
Common Good, the advocacy group chaired by author Philip K. Howard (The Death of Common Sense, The Collapse of the Common Good) and whose motto is “Reforming America’s Lawsuit Culture”, on Apr. 8 announced its first “Gatekeeper Awards” honoring judges who throw out lawsuits that would better never have been filed. Among the cases praised: a Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion excluding scientific testimony to the effect that Doritos, the snack food, is intrinsically unsafe in texture; a Virginia high court ruling upholding assumption of risk in the case of a baseball spectator hit by a ball; a Third Circuit decision holding that a “public school third-grader cannot sue for being prevented from soliciting classmates’ signatures for a petition opposing a voluntary class trip to the circus”; an Eighth Circuit opinion excluding punitive damages in the case of a patently accidental air crash; and the Nevada Supreme Court’s ruling (see Nov. 7) that a passenger cannot sue a homeowner over injuries sustained when a car crashed into a flowerbed.
“Stoned Skater Can Sue County”
Via Legal Reader (May 3): a California court of appeals has reinstated 17-year-old Angelo Seaver’s suit against Santa Cruz county, which a trial judge had thrown out. While stoned on pot one moonless night Seaver had gone skateboarding in a public park after closing and crashed into a gate. The “panel found that because there were no signs, reflectors or lighting to help Seaver see the gate, the county created a ‘dangerous condition of public property.'” The county could not rely on the defense of assumption of risk, the court ruled, “because Seaver was riding his skateboard for transportation, not to perform stunts”. (Peter Blumberg, San Francisco Daily Journal, May 3, not online; Angelo M. Seaver v. County of Santa Cruz, unpublished opinion, Apr. 30 (PDF))(more personal-responsibility cases).
“Long-shot legal tactic”
“Addicted gamblers who voluntarily bar themselves from casinos are beginning to pursue novel theories of liability against the betting establishments.” As we reported last Sept. 7, however, the new claims have not been faring well in court. (Dee McAree, National Law Journal, Mar. 17). For more on you-didn’t-throw-me-out suits, see Nov. 6, Aug. 1.
Indiana non-getaway leads to suit
Latest motorcyclist to try to outrun police cars in a high-speed pursuit: Brandon S. Hilbert, in Portland, Ind., who was driving on a suspended license with no motorcycle endorsement. He failed to make it around a curve after a chase that reached 130 mph, and his survivors are suing the city and two police officers alleging civil rights and tort causes of action. (“Family Sues Over Fatal Police-Chase Crash”, TheIndyChannel, Apr. 21).
Signed a waiver? Doesn’t matter
Courts stoking the litigation explosion: “For years, companies that sponsor higher risk activities such as scuba diving and skydiving have asked participants to sign waivers designed to absolve them from lawsuits if injury or death results. Yesterday, a [New Jersey] state appeals court declared those release forms do not bar relatives from filing a wrongful death lawsuit. … The court said while [Eugene J.] Pietroluongo [who died in a scuba diving accident at age 44] had the power to sign away his right to sue, the law did not allow him to sign away the rights of his survivors to bring a wrongful death lawsuit.” The court declared the waiver, voluntary or no, to be unenforceable as a policy matter. Attorneys, presumably deadpan, said the decision “could result in more lawsuits”. (Kathy Barrett Carter, “Survivors can sue despite a waiver”, Newark Star-Ledger, Apr. 13)(& letters to the editor, Jul. 26: first, second).