Writer’s Weekly Picks

by (@caminick)

Our Daily Opinion Summaries writers chose these cases to highlight this week.

From the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, we have In Re FEMA Trailers Formaldehyde Products Liability Litigation (1/23/12). This case is about the “toxic trailers” issued by FEMA in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Plaintiffs sued under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries related to their exposure to formaldehyde in the trailers, but the Court held that the voluntary, cost-free provision of the trailers to disaster victims was immunized conduct under the FTCA, and affirmed the district court’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction.

From the U.S. Court of Appeal for the 10th Circuit comes SECSYS, LLC v. Vigil (1/23/12). This corruption case involves government officials in New Mexico. In it, the plaintiff sued for discrimination because they were denied a bid-rigged contract, since they would not pay the full “allegedly extortionate demand.” The Court in this case affirmed the district court’s dismissal of plaintiff’s case.

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Retired Players Battle the NFL on Eve of Super Bowl

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Some football players consider concussions to be part of the game, much like sprains, strains, and other common football injuries. When the San Francisco 49ers benefitted from a collision that sent New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas out with a concussion, its players characterized the hit as an effective way to send a message. However, when an opposing team reportedly targeted a 49er wide receiver with a history of concussions, the perspective of the local media changed.

While some players are willing to hide their concussions, such decisions bear long-term consequences, as seen in the numerous complaints recently filed by retired NFL players.

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Writer’s Weekly Picks

by (@caminick)

Here’s a round-up of interesting cases from this week, as reported by our Daily Opinion Summary writers.

From the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, Ochoa v. Workman, which looked at the Atkins standard of mental retardation in a capital case. In that case, the petitioner argued that the trial court erred in applying the Atkins test to his mental condition at the time of trial instead of at the time of the crime. The Court denied his petition.

From the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, we have Higgins v. R.I. Hosp.

This case offered an interesting application of the firefighter’s rule, which bars public-safety officials from “maintaining a negligence action against a tortfeasor whose alleged malfeasance is responsible for bringing the officer to the scene of [an]…emergency where the officer is injured.” The plaintiff here brought a patient to the hospital while working as an EMT/firefighter. After he delivered his patient, he assisted a nurse with a disorderly patient, who seriously injured the plaintiff. The district court and Supreme Court found the firefighter’s rule barred the plaintiff’s recovery even though the plaintiff’s injury did not arise from the same circumstances that originally brought him to the scene.
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Writer’s Weekly Picks

by (@caminick)

As you may know, Justia provides free daily opinion summaries for all state supreme courts and the federal courts of appeal. We’ve asked our talented attorney writers to send us the most interesting, funny, or important cases they come across each week, and we’ll run them as a column here on the blog.

Awad v. Ziriax, et. al., US Ct. App. 10th Cir.
This case made the news this week, when the 10th Circuit upheld an injunction against a controversial ballot initiative in Oklahoma that would amend the state constitution to prevent courts from considering or using Sharia law. Plaintiff argued that this law would violate his rights under the Free Exercise and Establishment clause of the Constitution. The 10th Circuit found that his claims were justiciable, and upheld a preliminary injunction against the law.
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It’s a Super PAC World and We Just Vote in It: Super PAC Resources & Links

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Super PACs a/k/a “Independent-expenditure Only Committees” . . . they seem to be all over the news these days, don’t they? These organizations, which came to fame through the 2010 Supreme Court Citizen’s United decision, garnered lots of attention right out of the gate. In 2010 alone, almost 80 super PACs emerged to spend more than $60 million to elect or defeat federal candidates. (Super PACs in Federal Elections: Overview and Issues for Congress, CRS 12/2/11).  Super PACs stand to be an even bigger force this year as we head into the Presidential primaries and the general election so I thought I’d share the small collection of resources I’ve come across lately which might help us all better understand what kind of ride we might be in for in the coming months.
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Are Firearms Prohibited at Federal Facilities?

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During the holidays, I spent a few days in the great state of Arizona visiting the Grand Canyon. I was awed by the majestic grandeur of the Grand Canyon from when the rays of sunlight first washed over the canyon walls:

to when the last embers of sunlight vanished into the night sky:

But, nothing intrigued me more than the prominent warning decal citing the US Code.


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Justia’s Most Popular Onward Posts of 2011

by (@jzand)

It’s that special time of year, Justia friends, when we look back and share with you the most popular Onward blog posts of 2011.

Here they are:

  1. Super Bowl Football Pools: Are They Legal?
    Who isn’t interested in football, gambling, and the law?  O.K., probably a few folks out there.   Elizabeth Roig’s post topped the list.
  2. Hurricane Irene – Resources & Links 
    Before America’s East Coast was about to be hit by Hurricane Irene, Justia’s Cicely Wilson put together a useful list of related resources for users.
  3. LegalZoom Faces Unauthorized Practice of Law Class Action
    Our colleague Courtney Minick shared the low-down on a class action against do-it-yourself legal forms company LegalZoom in Missouri federal court, alleging that the California start-up was engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.
  4. Illinois Adopts Public Domain Citations
    We’d like to think that many of our friends were just as pleased as we were when Illinois chose to adopt a vendor-neutral citation system.
  5. Second Chance for Ex-Offenders Act of 2011
    Ken Chan shed some light on a bill introduced by Rep. Charles Rangel (Dem. – NY) that would allow certain people convicted of nonviolent sentences to petition for an expungement of their criminal records.
  6. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Has Not Been Repealed
    An Onward blog post last February took a look at an interesting conundrum: at the end of 2010, President Obama repealed the U.S. Military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell Policy,” but in reality, the law was still in place for months later.
  7. Little Sheba the Happy Birthday Hug Pug
    It looks like Justia’s Onward friends love dogs as much as we do. That would explain why so many people helped celebrate Little Sheba the Hug Pug’s 7th birthday last year.
  8. LexisTexas: Privatizing Access to Public Courts
    Courtney Minick examined a Texas civil rights lawsuit alleging discrimination against users who didn’t want, or couldn’t afford, to use the LexisNexis File & Serve e-filing product in order to file a lawsuit, claiming that it amounted to a poll tax on litigation and denied them due process as well as equal protection under the law.
  9. The Bluebook Online
    Every law student and lawyer knows about the Bluebook, but early last year, Justia let folks know that it was accessible online.
  10. Law Dogs – Sit, Stay, Fetch a Statute. . .
    Stressed out law students could “check out” Monty, a therapy dog, from the Yale University Law Library. Maybe they’d end up being dog lawyers with canine clients in their chosen professions.

Justia – Our Most Excellent 2011

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Happy Winter SolsticeIt’s been a great year for us at Justia, as we hope it has been for all of our Onward readers.  We thought it might be fun to re-cap (not to be confused with RECAP ) some of the various new projects, pages and products we’ve worked on in 2011.

Verdict – In mid-2011, we launched our new legal commentary and analysis web site, Verdict. Each weekday, one of our team of ten columnists provides original and informed analysis of breaking news and developments in the law.  Articles from Verdict this year included John Dean’s look at The Tea Party, Neil Buchanan’s piece on tax cuts for the wealthy, Sherry Colb’s examination of whether strip searches by jail officials are constitutional, and Vik Amar and Alan Brownstein’s analysis of the recent Proposition 8 ruling by the California Supreme Court.  Other great pieces covered a wide variety of topics including immigration, criminal law, civil rights, constitutional law, health care, new technologies, and U.S. politics.
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Congress Recruiting Founding Fathers to Save the Republic

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Last month, Representative Don Young of Alaska introduced the DebtPatriots.Gov Act of 2011, which calls for the creation of a website dedicated to collecting donations to reduce the public debt of the United States. The website, which will be hosted at www.DebtPatriots.gov, will collect donations and publicly recognize the patriotism of those who “are willing to contribute additional funds, above and beyond their tax obligations.”

The bill proposes several levels of donor recognition:

Corporation Award Levels

  • Corporate Founder ($50B).
  • Corporate Son of Liberty ($10B).
  • Corporate Constitutional Delegate ($1B).
  • Corporate Minuteman ($500M).
  • Corporate Patriot ($1M).

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