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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No Right to Pork-Free Diet for Muslim Inmate Print

 

Karim Koubriti

Officials at a Michigan jail appear to be confused about whether they serve pork products to inmates, but a federal judge still ruled that a Muslim terrorism suspect was not entitled to a pork-free diet.

“Plaintiff has not alleged that he is malnourished,” Chief U.S. District Judge Bernard A. Friedman said in summarily dismissing Karim Koubriti's First Amendment claim. “He has merely alleged that he has a constitutional right to pork-free meals. He does not.”

Koubriti, an alleged member of a Detroit “sleeper cell” who was arrested shortly after 9/11, claimed sheriff's deputies at the Wayne County Jail deliberately served him pork even though “he repeatedly informed [them] that he was Muslim and not allowed to eat pork.” His request for a pork-free diet was refused, he said, violating his right to freely exercise his religion.

In a July 27, 2006 affidavit filed with the summary judgment motion, the jail's food service director said pork hadn't been served at the jail for 13 years and “any meat product served at the facility is processed turkey or chicken or beef.”

“[W]e have a high Muslim population and do this to accommodate them,” Donnie Sharp noted.

After a review of the jail's menus showed that “Ham and Cheese on Bun” and “3 oz. Sliced Ham” are served almost every Saturday for dinner, Sharp tried to explain the contradiction in a second affidavit:

[A]ny meat product served at the facility is processed turkey or chicken or beef, despite once in a great while being called “ham sandwich” or “ham steak” or “ham fried rice” which are in actuality processed beef, turkey or chicken.

Judge Friedman said Sharp's “characterization of 'once in a great while' is off the mark,” given the frequent appearances of ham on the Saturday dinner menu. But the genuine issue of fact “as to whether pork products are served to the inmates” was not enough for Koubriti to survive summary judgment.

Non-pork products were listed on the Saturday dinner menu, Friedman said in his opinion, and

much of Plaintiff’s argument that Defendants served him pork is based on the fact that he got “a headache and fever” after he ate a certain meat item. Such evidence seems incredibly speculative.

Friedman allowed Koubriti to proceed to trial on claims related to being strip-searched by deputies and confined to a cell for 23 hours a day without opportunity for physical exercise or recreation.

Koubriti was convicted in 2003 of supporting terrorism, but a judge threw out the conviction because of prosecutorial misconduct.

By Matthew Heller
1/22/07

 
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RC_OnTrial

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