In which the attractive principle behind the line-item veto goes deeply, seriously wrong (Althouse, Oct. 30). One commenter says that the law was previously changed to prevent letter-by-letter vetoes but that the legislature did not ban the practice for numerals.
Posts Tagged ‘Wisconsin’
Wisconsin Supreme Court follies: Heikkinen v. Archdiocese
Wisconsin blogger Jessica McBride reports that the Wisconsin Supreme Court, by virtue of a 3-3 decision, affirmed a lower court ruling on the ludicrous $17 million Heikkinen verdict (Feb. 21 and Feb. 27, 2005). Point of Law has previously documented the travails of the 4-3 liberal majority that has become one of the most activist state supreme courts in America.
September 25 roundup
- Picture of farmer with goose appears on greeting card, he wants $7.5 million [Roanoke Times; earlier]
- More class actions filed over Apple iPhone [Ars Technica on roaming and battery claims, O’Grady’s PowerPage, iPhoneWorld; earlier]
- L.A. Times quotes attorney Stephen Yagman on prison overcrowding, but forgets to mention that he was lately convicted of thirteen felonies [Patterico]
- Bad idea watch: compulsory national service [Somin @ Volokh]
- Doing well representing the little guy: Gerry Spence lists his Wyoming residence for sale at $35 million [WSJ/Chicago Daily Herald]
- “Appropriate”, not “perfect”, justice needed: “We simply have to stop killing litigants with kindness,” says chief judge of Australia’s largest state [The Australian]
- Toddler killed after wandering into heavy traffic, trucker should have been more on guard against such a thing happening [Salt Lake Tribune]
- Pennsylvania pro se litigant sues Google, says it spells his social security number upside down [Ambrogi] More: Coyote says “Up next, the owner of Social Security number 71077345 sues Shell Oil for the same reason.”
- Once billed as “King of Torts”, Miami asbestos lawyer faces fifteen years behind bars for stealing $13 million from clients [Sun-Sentinel]
- Groom sues bride, saying she took the ring and presents and never got the wedding paperwork straightened out leaving them legally unmarried [ClickOnDetroit]
- Surgical resident on the hook for $23 million in Wisconsin case; she was the only one of the docs involved not covered by damage limits [Journal Sentinel via KevinMD]
September 13 roundup
- Pearson Pants update: dry cleaners offered to drop their fee demand if Pearson would end case, but he declined [Marc Fisher, other Washington Post coverage, Beldar]
- Check your oil, ma’am? On second thought, if it’s going to get us sued, never mind [Reiland/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
- “Surprising and uncommon” resolution of med-mal case: Nebraska Methodist Health System admits error, cooperates with family on video memorializing victim and educating other hospitals about aortic dissection [Omaha World-Herald, Chamber reprint]
- Heated email exchange between perennial Overlawyered favorite Jack Thompson and Take Two game company exec [Ambrogi]
- Putting her image on a Hallmark card? Now that’s degrading and exploitative enough to make Paris Hilton want to sue [K.C. Star]
- Uncle sues nephew over season tickets to Chicago Bears at 40-yard line [Crain’s Chicago Business]
- Hurt her teeth on McDonald’s cherry pie, hurt her teeth on cheeseburger soon after — and what’s this about forged dental-work receipts? [Seattle Times]
- Wisconsin snuff users may soon be rolling in coupons following settlement of antitrust class action, lawyers to pocket $17 million [AP/Green Bay Press-Gazette]
- New at Point of Law: fiasco of UC Irvine’s withdrawn offer to Chemerinsky; judge says $500/hr is enough for lawyers in Northwest bankruptcy; law firm advertises for heart attack victims to sue over lack of defibrillators in public places; Astroturf detected in Washington-state insurance-suit referendum fight; NY Times takes skeptical look at Mount Sinai’s Selikoff Center; Jerry Brown sure fooled us, says San Diego paper; Ted expands his empire; and much more;
- A topic on which we’ve had a lot to say over the years — to what extent does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to websites? — may be heating up again [Corporate Counsel]
- Thanks for the incoming links from, among others, Instapundit (on Ted’s reclining-car-seat post, which has drawn a bodacious number of comments), Patterico (on Jarek Molski), Bainbridge (on animal welfare laws), and Adam Smith Institute (on lawyers suing each other: “Such a pity that only one side can lose”.)
August 27 roundup
- More critics pile onto new Medicare “we won’t pay for errors” policy [Orac, Chris Rangel, Universal Health, MedPundit; earlier; plus KevinMD]
- Wisconsin lawmaker wants to address perceived lawyer oversupply by cutting funding to the state’s law school [NLJ]
- What would great authors of Britain’s past have thought of pub smoking ban? [AN Wilson, Telegraph; one response; more]
- As Texas trial lawyer Mikal Watts gears up Senate run, his GOP critics turn for ammunition to a certain website [ChronBlog via Half Empty]
- Holder in due course? Pa. man has left fragrant ethical trail buying up bounced checks and demanding their payment in court [NJLJ]
- One reason for slow adoption of electronic medical records: docs’ fear of wider malpractice exposure [Medical Economics via KevinMD]
- “He knows there is irony in a criminal defense attorney being driven out of the city because of crime” [Baltimore Sun]
- More evidence that Endangered Species Act perversely encourages landowners to make their habitat inhospitable [Adler @ Volokh]
- If you recognize one of your hospital patients as a wanted fugitive, don’t let HIPAA keep you from calling cops [MedRants first, second post]
- Teenager may face year in jail for recording 20-second movie clip [Wired “Gadget Lab” via Harsanyi and Reynolds]
- Behind a judge’s order that GM pay $1.2 billion over a drunk driver’s crash [eight years ago at Overlawyered; case’s eventual settlement]
Podcast: The Role of State Attorneys General
The Federalist Society has posted a podcast of their recent panel:
Recently there has been growing discussion concerning the appropriate role of state Attorneys General. Some argue that state AGs have overstepped their boundary by prosecuting cases and negotiating settlements that have had extraterritorial effects, and sometimes even national effects. Others argue that state AGs are simply filling a vacuum left by the failure of others (for example, federal agencies) to attend to these issues. In light of this debate, the Federalist Society hosted a panel in Washington, D.C. featuring several state Attorneys General who discussed the proper role of state AGs.
Panelists included:
* Hon. Bob McDonnell, Attorney General of Virginia
* Hon. Donald Stenberg, former Attorney General of Nebraska; Erickson & Sederstrom
* Hon. John Suthers, Attorney General of Colorado
* Hon. J. B. Van Hollen, Attorney General of Wisconsin
* Ms. Peggy Little, Little & Little; Director, Federalist Society Pro Bono Center, Moderator
First let’s kill all the law schools
Laurie Lin reports on one way to cut down on lawsuits, being mooted in Wisconsin — close down the University of Wisconsin’s law school.
It is to laugh, no? And yet, considering that it is a publicly-funded institution, the “need” for more legal education, in a situation of glut, is a reasonable factor for the legislature that does the funding to consider, isn’t it?
Guestblogger thanks
Thanks to Christian Schneider of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute for tending the fires over the past week. Check in to the WPRI blog and Atomic Trousers to read more of his work. We’ll be welcoming more guestbloggers as the summer continues.
Your Prisoner Sex Change Update
A Massachusetts inmate serving life in prison for murder is in court demanding the state pay for a sex-change operation:
The case of Michelle — formerly Robert — Kosilek is being closely watched across the country by advocates for other inmates who want to undergo a sex change.
[…]
Kosilek, 58, was convicted of strangling his wife in 1990. He claimed he killed her in self-defense after she spilled boiling tea on his genitals.
…
Naturally, expert witnesses are lining up to defend Kosilek, and a law firm is representing him pro bono:
Two other doctors retained and paid for by the department’s outside health provider, the University of Massachusetts Correctional Health Program, at a cost of just under $19,000 said they believe the surgery is medically necessary for Kosilek. Two other doctors who work for the health provider agreed with that.
In addition, two psychiatrists who testified for Kosilek recommended the surgery. A Boston law firm representing Kosilek for free paid for those experts but would not disclose the cost.
Aside from the propriety of taxpayers paying for a sex change operation (which Kosilek may or may not have been able to pay for himself had he not been in prison), corrections officials are correct that having a (now) woman in a male prison could pose significant problems. It is almost a given that should the operation be performed, Kosilek would petition to be moved to a women’s prison to protect his own safety.
Also, note the interesting correction at the bottom of the story:
(This version CORRECTS `himself’ to `herself.’)
Kosilek hasn’t had the sex change yet, so technically he is still a man – apparently the newspaper thought so, too. It would be interesting to find out who compelled them to change the story to portray Kosilek as a female – and in the process perhaps avoid their own lawsuit.
As noted in the story, Wisconsin went through a similar situation in 2004 when inmate Scott (now Donna Dawn) Konitzer was denied genital gender reassignment surgery by the Department of Corrections and sued the state. Department policy had been to provide hormone therapy to those who had been receiving it for a year before their incarceration, but surgery was not provided as an option. As Kosilek now has, Konitzer claimed denial of the procedure constituted “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
As a result of Konitzer’s lawsuit, the Wisconsin Legislature actually passed into law a ban on both hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery. Naturally, that new law has been challenged in U.S. District Court in Milwaukee.
FEC v. WRTL
Yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life is of special importance to those of us in Wisconsin, since we have watched the case unfold before our eyes since its inception. As you’ve probably heard by now, the Court, in a 5-4 vote, struck down a portion of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law which prohibited so-called “issue advocacy” by unregistered groups in a period of 60 days before a general election. Wisconsin Right to Life had run advertisements critical of Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl for their perceived role in holding up judicial appointments, but these ads were deemed to be illegal under McCain-Feingold, despite not advocating for the electoral defeat of either. Yesterday’s decision upheld WRTL’s right to run the ads, as the Court determined they were not “express advocacy.”
The culture of speech restriction with regard to campaigns has been prevalent in Wisconsin for some time, and produces some fairly odd applications of the law. This was demonstrated during last November’s elections, when the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign (a pro-campaign finance reform group) actually filed a complaint to bar a Catholic diocese from urging its parishoners to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. (Church Accused of Illegal Lobbying, Madison Capital Times, Oct. 18, 2006) At the same time they were attempting to use state law to block the Catholic Church’s right to support the constitutional amendment, the WDC was actually publicly lobbying against the amendment – yet they didn’t see their own activities as “express advocacy.”
So while it is clear yesterday’s decision represented a marginal victory for free speech rights at the federal level, there are steps states can take to ensure political speech isn’t muzzled come election time. When churches break the law by teaching their beliefs, it should alert states to dangerous path campaign finance restrictions are taking us.