
• Boston judge refuses to require Massachusetts to include materials that deny the Armenian genocide in the public school curriculum. "[T]he decision as to what to teach about ... the Armenian genocide must be made by elected officials, educators, and teachers rather than by federal judges." Griswold v. Driscoll
• Kentucky Court of Appeals upholds a $3.7 million jury award against a school board for ignoring a student's complaints that several teachers had molested her. Plaintiff Lynne Maner "presented sufficient evidence that the Board was deliberately indifferen[t] in its failure to act." Maner v. Fayette County Board of Education
• 6th Circuit revives the racial bias case of an African-American couple who sued a hotel for refusing to host their wedding reception. "There is a genuine issue of material fact in this case as to whether ... the Hotel denied them the right to enter into a contract because of their race." Keck v. Graham Hotel Systems
• San Francisco judge rules that a city did not violate a hiker's rights by failing to protect her from an attack on public land by a rancher's cattle. "[P]laintiffs have not alleged facts supporting a claim that the City was deliberately indifferent to a known or obvious danger" to Jo Dee Schmidt. Schmidt v. Hoover
• Divided New York appellate court says a golfer is not liable for striking another golfer in the eye with an errant drive. The defendant's failure to yell "Fore" before hitting the ball "does not rise to the level of creating a dangerous condition over and above the usual dangers inherent in participating in the sport of golf." Anand v. Kapoor
• Sioux tribal members file a class action seeking their share of as much as $900 million held in trust by the federal government as compensation for the "taking" of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The plaintiffs have split from other Sioux who refuse to take the money, insisting on the return of the land. Different Horse v. Salazar
• Texas Court of Appeals says a gas station owner is not liable for the negligence of an attendant who accidentally shot a customer while showing him a gun. The attendant's "actions were not merely a misuse of his authority; they were utterly unrelated to his duties." Glass v. Williams
• San Francisco judge denies Chevron Corp.'s request for $485,159 in court costs from impoverished Nigerian villagers who sued the company for human rights violations. "The economic disparity between plaintiffs, who are Nigerian villagers, and defendants, international oil companies, cannot be more stark." Bowoto v. Chevron

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Bar Exam Flunker Bails Out of Civil-Rights Suit |
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Massachusetts bar exam flunker Stephen Dunne has dismissed his civil-rights lawsuit but begged credulity by saying he was doing so because the state had dropped a question about same-sex marriage from the exam.
As a result of the “corrective action” of the state in removing the “patently offensive and morally repugnant question” from the July 2007 exam, “Plaintiff humbly requests a voluntary dismissal without prejudice,” Dunne said in a motion filed last week.
“Defendants' removal of the question is assurance that all future examinees taking the Massachusetts Bar Examination will not be forced to accept, support or promote a liberal ideology on a professional licensing examination,” he explained.
In his pro se complaint, Dunne alleged he failed the February 2007 exam because, in accordance with his faith-based views on homosexuality, he refused to answer the question. The suit originally sought $9.75 million in damages, though Dunne later amended that to $9.75, claiming he was only interested in “equity and justice.”
But the state -- whose own motion to dismiss was pending -- quickly discredited Dunne's clumsy attempt to spin a victory out of a case that was not likely to pass even a threshold legal test.
“That Defendants elected not to ask the same question on both the February and July, 2007 bar examinations merely reflects their standard practice of not repeating questions on successive bar examinations,” Assistant Attorney General Anne Sterman said in a response brief.
“Defendants maintain that the question to which Plaintiff objects was a legitimate question regarding the current state of the law in the Commonwealth,” she continued. “The Board of Bar Examiners maintains its right to test bar applicants on that same subject matter in future examinations.”
By voluntarily dismissing, Dunne avoids an almost certain dismissal by a judge and a potential award of attorney's fees to the state. The question he found so offensive presented a hypothetical about the breakup of a lesbian couple in Massachusetts, the only state in the nation where same-sex marriage is legal.
“[R]esponding to the question did not require Plaintiff to endorse any particular viewpoint or express a personal opinion about the issues presented,” Sterman noted in the state's motion to dismiss. “It merely required him to state the current law in the Commonwealth.”
By Matthew Heller 9/9/07 
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No Prayer Now for Preacher's Suit Over "Religulous"
Less than three weeks after being sued for defrauding two former parishioners of $600,000, a Florida preacher dropped his $50 million lawsuit alleging the Bill Maher documentary “Religulous” falsely portrayed him as a charlatan, On Point has learned.
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Man Burned at Burning Man Assumed Risk
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Jury Chills Rights in Strip Search Case
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Toxic Bra Suits Won't be Combined in Ohio
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Wedding Fiasco Suit Really Takes Cake
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Woody Allen Got $5M After Judge Shredded Defense
A week before American Apparel agreed to pay Woody Allen $5 million for misappropriating his image, a judge had shredded the clothing company's First Amendment defense based on its CEO's “mental processes,” On Point has learned.
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Capitol Records v. Thomas Court: USDC, Minn. Subject: Digital music downloading Verdict: $1.92 million
ASPCA v. Ringling Bros. Court: USDC, D. Col. Subject: Illegal "taking" of elephants by circus
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Howard K. Stern v. Rita Cosby Date: 7/7/09 Court: USDC, S. N.Y. Hearing: Motions for summary judgment in defamation case.
Goldberg v. Paris Hilton Entertainment Date: 7/9/09 Court: USDC, S. Fla. Hearing: Jury trial in breach-of-contract case.
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