John Doe A v. Penn State
First Penn State scandal lawsuit says Coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abused a boy more than 100 times and the abuse was enabled by the school's "negligent oversight."
Bradley v. Lohan
Former Betty Ford Center employee sues Lindsay Lohan for assault, alleging the actress threw a phone at her and yanked her wrist while refusing to be breathalzyed.
N.D. v. New York Post
Hotel maid allegedly raped by French politician sues the New York Post for falsely reporting that she is a prostitute who "routinely traded sex for money" with male guests.
Reinhart v. Mortenson
Two Montana residents allege the author of "Three Cups of Tea" "fabricated material about his activities and work in Pakistan and Afghanistan" to sell the book.
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• Roommate referral website does not discriminate by allowing users to list their preferences for roommate characteristics. "Holding that the [Fair Housing Act] applies inside a home or apartment ... would be a serious invasion of privacy, autonomy and security."
Fair Housing Council v. Roommate.com

• Student alleges a prank involving a bottle rocket and another student's anus backfired, causing him to fall off the deck of a frat house.
Helmburg v. Alpha Tau Omega

• 5th Circuit reinstates a jury verdict finding a man employed by an engineering firm was sexually harassed by a male supervisor. "The text message 'I want cock' could be taken as an explicit sexual proposition." 
Cherry v. Shaw Coastal

• The ex-wife of a man who fatally shot himself with a gun he had stolen cannot sue the gun's owner for wrongful death. "We conclude that public policy dictates that [Charles] Milot's criminal conduct acts as a bar to recovery."
Ryan v. Hughes-Ortiz

• Pennsylvania woman alleges her former employer discriminated against her because she wore a fake penis to assist her in her female-to-male transition. "Plaintiff's use of the prosthetic device was concealed and in no way interfered with the ability of Plaintiff to do her job." Davis v. J&J Snack Foods

• Son of a woman charged with murdering her husband cannot use the proceeds from the victim's life insurance policy to fund his mother's criminal defense. "[A]llowing the distribution of these proceeds to a third party who has clear intentions to transfer part of these proceeds to her, undermines the principles underlying the Slayer’s Act and federal common law."
In Re: Estate of Michael Burkland

• Seattle judge says an actress cannot proceed anonymously in her suit against the IMDb.com website for publishing her age. "[W]hile Plaintiff may face public ridicule and embarrassment if she elects to go forward under her real name, the injury she fears is not severe enough to justify permitting her to proceed anonymously."
Doe v. Amazon.com

• Family of an 11-year-old girl who was crushed by a boulder of ice says forest ranger negligence caused her death. Rangers "did not warn users of the risk of harm associated with the dangerous, unstable snow and ice" at the Big Four Ice Caves in Snohomish County, Wash. Tam v. U.S.

• 3rd Circuit dismisses a breach of data security case against a payroll-processing company. "Appellants' allegations of an increased risk of identity theft as a result of the security breach are hypothetical, future injuries."
Reilly v. Ceridian Corp.

• Oregon judge denies First Amendment protections to a blogger. "Defendant cites no cases indicating that a self-proclaimed 'investigative blogger' is considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim."
Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• A transsexual who was fired from her government job while she was in the process of becoming a woman wins her sex discrimination suit. "[A] government agent violates the Equal Protection Clause’s prohibition of sex-based discrimination when he or she fires a transgender or transsexual employee because of his or her gender non-conformity."
Glenn v. Brumby

• New York man sues a Texas fertility clinic for wrongful insemination, alleging it failed to obtain his consent before using a sample of his sperm to impregnate his ex-girlfriend.
Pressil v. Advanced Fertility

• Nebraska judge rules that school officials may have illegally disciplined students for wearing t-shirts in honor of a slain friend suspected of gang membership. "[Q]uestions of fact remain whether Plaintiffs’ speech occurred in a context likely to provoke gang violence or other disruptions of school activities."
Kuhr v. Millard Public Sch. Dist.




Alltop_125x125.jpg







$180K Award Reinstated in Testicle-Squeezing Case Print

The civil-rights case of a man who alleged a Las Vegas police officer squeezed his testicles for about 10 seconds during an arrest continues to bring out the worst in George W. Bush appointees to the federal bench.

Judge Randy Smith

It was a Bush-appointed trial judge, Robert C. Jones, who threw out a jury verdict of $180,000 in damages to Christopher Tortu for his injuries, ruling it was against the “clear weight” of the evidence.” And another Bush appointee -- Judge N. Randy Smith -- displayed a similarly twisted view of the case in dissenting from an appeals court majority that reinstated the award this week.

“[T]he majority substitutes its contested view of the trial evidence and calls the trial court’s view of the same evidence an abuse,” he said.

Tortu was arrested at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport in July 2001 after he boarded a plane without a ticket. He sued three officers but the jury found only Officer Robert Engle used excessive force by punching him in the head while he lay face down on the airport tarmac and -- when he was handcuffed and seated in the back of a patrol SUV -- squeezing his testicles.

In a March 3 opinion, a 2-1 majority of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Jones abused his discretion. “The medical evidence presented at trial ... provided irrefutable evidence that there had been injury to the testicles,” it said. “Engle offered no alternative explanation as to how Tortu’s injury may have occurred other than Engle’s squeezing of Tortu’s testicles.”

Echoing Jones's order granting a new trial, Smith doubted that Engle could have reached between the front seats of the SUV and a mounted mobile computer terminal and squeezed Tortu's testicles. “Officer Engle’s ability to make these maneuvers (while standing outside the car) seems highly improbable, if not impossible,” he said in his dissent.

The officer, Smith continued, “had no evidentiary burden to prove how the injury occurred” and given the altercation with Tortu which began on an airport jetway, “the injury very well could have happened without Officer Engle having been responsible.”

Smith also agreed with Jones that the testicle squeezing was a reasonable response to Tortu's efforts to resist arrest. “Th[e] evidence demonstrates that the officers had reason to believe that Plaintiff would continue to fight back on the tarmac and in the vehicle,” he said.

But the jury's finding of liability against Engle could hardly be against the clear weight of the evidence absent an alternative explanation of how the testicle injury occurred. Moreover, as the appeals court majority said, Jones substituted his “own view of the medical evidence in place of the jury’s -- an impermissible practice.”

Among other things, the trial judge did not believe Tortu suffered significant injuries because he did not see his doctor for follow-up visits.

Judge Procter Hug, writing for the majority, also noted that “No testimony or other evidence indicates that Tortu was resisting arrest at the time of the testicle squeezing. He was handcuffed and seated in the rear seat of the SUV between two police officers.”

Many of Bush's most reactionary judicial appointments were to conservative circuits such as the 4th and 6th. But the dismal performance of Jones and Smith in the Tortu case shows how the “liberal” label no longer fits much of the 9th Circuit.

Other Tortu v. Las Vegas Metro PD Sources


By Matthew Heller
3/5/09


 
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    Jurors may have opened the door to a new trial in a Maryland school bullying case by saying they returned a verdict for the defense because they were afraid of setting a bad precedent for school systems throughout the country.
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  • Abuse Victim Can Sue Ex-DA Over 'Sexting' Messages

    A Wisconsin judge has protected a domestic violence victim from a rogue prosecutor, finding that she can sue him for sending her text messages in which he pressured her to have sex with him.
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  • Four Loko Maker Says Users Knew of Health Dangers

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    In a first-of-its-kind unprofessional conduct lawsuit, a woman has sued her former boss at a Michigan funeral home for making an indecent comment about the body of a dead man in front of her.
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  • 'Next Friends' of Orcas Bid to Stop SeaWorld Slavery

    An animal rights lawsuit against SeaWorld for enslaving five killer whales at its aquatic theme parks in San Diego and Orlando may sink even though humans are representing the orcas as their “next friends.”
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  • Jury Finds No Harm to Boy From Wrongful Circumcision

    In a blow to supporters of male “genital integrity,” an Indiana jury has ruled that a doctor did not injure a boy by circumcising him when he was an infant even though his mother wanted him to be left intact.
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  • Guest Can Sue Motel 6 Over Attack by Woman's Pimp

    A guest who paid for sex with a prostitute at a Motel 6 did not assume the risk of being attacked several hours later by the prostitute's pimp, a Pennsylvania judge has ruled in an unusual premises liability lawsuit against the motel operator.
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RC_OnFile

Marsh v. Air Tran Airways
Subject: Roaches on a plane
Document: Complaint

Classic Media v. J.G. Wentworth
Subject: "Lassie" copyright
Document: Complaint

Kardashian v. Old Navy
Subject: Publicity rights
Document: Complaint

McKee v. Laurion
Subject: Doctor defamation
Document: Opinion

Francis v. U.S.
Subject: Bear attack
Document: Decision

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RC_OnTrial

Doe v. Discovery Day Care
Court: Miami-Dade Circuit
Subject: Child molestation
Verdict: $3,000,000

Hoback v. City of Chattanooga
Court: USDC, E. Tenn.
Subject: PTSD discrimination
Verdict: $680,000

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RC_OnTheDocket

Brown v. Herbert
Date: 12/16/11
Court: USDC, Utah
Hearing: Motion to dismiss polygamy case

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