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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• 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

• Massachusetts appeals court says 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

• Oregon judge rules that a self-proclaimed "investigative blogger" is not "considered 'media' for the purposes of applying a negligence standard in a defamation claim." Obsidian Finance v. Cox

• 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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Killer's Widow Drops Lawsuit Against Judge Print

 

Michael Richard

Just a day after filing it, the widow of a Death Row inmate dropped her civil-rights suit against a Texas judge who allowed her husband's execution to proceed after refusing to give his lawyers 20 extra minutes to file a last appeal.

Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller closed the courthouse doors promptly at 5 p.m. on Sept. 25 even though Michael Richard's lawyers had asked for more time because of computer problems. He was executed by lethal injection a few hours later.

Keller's conduct prompted 150 Texas lawyers to file a complaint against her with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. And Richard's widow filed suit Nov. 7 in Houston for unspecified damages and an injunction preventing Keller and her fellow appeals court judges “from again unlawfully interfering with the due process appeal rights of the condemned.”

Keller “without any authority to do so ... prevented a death penalty appeal to be filed with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, thereby causing the death of plaintiff's husband,” the complaint says.

But Marsha Richard filed a notice of dismissal Nov. 8. The court document gives no explanation and her attorney, Randall L. Kallinen of Houston, wasn't much more forthcoming when contacted by On Point.

“At this time, I can't divulge legal strategy that could help the other side,” he said cryptically. Asked if he would be refiling, he replied, “That would be divulging legal strategy.”

UPDATES

  • Kallinen now says he is refiling the suit in Austin, where most of the potential trial witnesses live. "I also want the jury to be able to walk into the Court of Criminal Appeals and see where that phone call came in," he told the Austin American-Statesman. He was referring to the call to the appeals court in which Michael Richard's lawyers asked for extra time to file his late appeal.

  • Kallinen refiled the case Nov. 13 in Austin.

  • The case had several glaring problems, among them the qualified immunity judges enjoy for their administrative acts. Moreover, with her husband dead, Marsha Richard has no standing to seek injunctive relief on behalf of the condemned.

    “Maybe her lawyer realized the suit has no merit,” speculated University of Houston law professor Peter Hoffman. By dismissing the case so quickly, he noted, Kallinen avoids any risk of frivolous lawsuit sanctions.

    Another possibility is that Kallinen, who is associated with a civil liberties group, will find a live Death Row inmate to act as plaintiff. But that would preclude suing for any damages.

    A wrongful-death claim in Richard's complaint alleges Keller is liable for the pain and suffering and “awareness of impending death” of her husband “before his untimely, painful and unnecessary death.”

    On the morning of Michael Richard's execution, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to the lethal injection protocol used by Kentucky. His attorneys were working on an appeal that raised a similar challenge when Keller closed the courthouse doors on them.

    The Texas criminal appeals court has said it will now accept emergency e-mail filings in death penalty cases in order to avoid a repetition of the Richard fiasco.

    By Matthew Heller
    11/9/07

     
    rc_insidestories
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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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    • Mortician Sued for Speaking Ill of the Dead

      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.
      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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    Document: Complaint

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    RC_OnTrial

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    RC_OnTheDocket

    Brown v. Herbert
    Date: 12/16/11
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