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.




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Federal Judges Say Constitution Comes Before Crisis Print

Ruling in cases involving the first U.S. citizen to be designated an “enemy combatant” and the bailout of AIG, federal judges have powerfully restated the principle that the government must follow the Constitution even in times of national crisis.

Judge Jeffrey White

The decision by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White of San Francisco was the more dramatic since it allows Jose Padilla, who has been convicted of terrorism conspiracy charges, to proceed with a novel civil rights suit over the abusive conditions of his detention as an “enemy combatant” in a military brig from June 2002 to March 2004.

“The issues raised by this case embody [the tension] between the requirements of war and the defense of the very freedoms that war seeks to protect,” White noted.

Padilla sued former administration lawyer John Yoo, who helped create the “enemy combatant” designation so suspects in the “war on terror” would have neither the rights of criminal defendants nor of prisoners of war.

Many commentators didn't think Padilla had a chance of holding Yoo liable, with the Wall Street Journal calling the suit a “political stunt.” Government lawyers usually enjoy immunity for actions taken on their clients' behalf and the Department of Justice, representing Yoo, said “the President’s ability to obtain candid legal counsel” was at stake.

But White said that “government lawyers are responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their conduct” and Padilla “has alleged sufficient facts to satisfy the requirement that Yoo set in motion a series of events that resulted in the deprivation of Padilla’s constitutional rights.”

“The specific designation as an enemy combatant does not automatically eviscerate all of the   constitutional protections afforded to a citizen of the United States,” he ruled in denying Yoo's motion to dismiss.

In the lawsuit related to AIG, Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence P. Zatkoff considered the constitutionality of the government's bailout of the giant insurer. A Michigan taxpayer, Kevin Murray, brought the case under the Establishment Clause, citing AIG's marketing of insurance products which comply with Islamic or “Sharia” law.

“The circumstances of this case are historic, and the pressure upon the government to navigate this financial crisis is unfathomable,” Zatkoff said. “Times of crisis, however, do not justify departure from the Constitution.”

Denying the government's motion to dismiss, he noted that at least two AIG subsidiaries “practice Sharia-compliant financing” and that “after the government acquired a majority interest in AIG and contributed substantial funds to AIG for operational purposes, the government co-sponsored a forum entitled 'Islamic Finance 101.'”

Such facts, Zatkoff concluded in a May 26 ruling, “raise a question of whether the government’s involvement with AIG has created the effect of promoting [the Islamic] religion and sufficiently raise Plaintiff’s claim beyond the speculative level, warranting dismissal inappropriate at this stage in the proceedings.”

White was appointed to the federal bench in 2002 by George W. Bush while another Republican president, Ronald Reagan, appointed Zatkoff in 1986.

COMMENT

  • "Padilla v. Yoo is an example of a surprising development: a conservative judge putting pressure on the Democrats in Washington to create some system of accountability for the Bush administration." -- Ady Barkan (Slate)


  • By Matthew Heller
    6/15/09


     
    rc_insidestories
    • Jurors' Comments Fuel New Trial Bid in Bullying Case

      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.
      Read more...
    • 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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    • Jury Finds No Harm to Boy From Wrongful Circumcision

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      Read more...
    • 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.
      Read more...
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