Free Republic

Occupy protesters sue over free speech, forceBy ERIKA NIEDOWSKI | AP – Thu, Dec 22, 2011 Most major Occupy encampments have been dispersed, but they live on in a flurry of lawsuits in which protesters are asserting their constitutional rights to free speech and assembly and challenging authorities' mass arrests and use of force to break up tent cities. Lawyers representing protesters have filed lawsuits — or are planning them — in state and federal courts from coast to coast, challenging eviction orders and what they call heavy-handed police tactics and the banning of demonstrators from public properties. Some say...

The city of Los Angeles is weighing a lawsuit against Occupy LA protesters to recoup financial damages sustained during the two-month encampment.

Four ex-players sue NFL alleging brain damageReuters – 16 hrs ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four former National Football League players, including two Pro Bowl players, sued the league over brain injuries that they say left them facing medical problems years after their careers ended. Dorsey Levens and Jamal Lewis, both named to the annual All-Star Pro Bowl, as well as Fulton Kuykendall and Ryan Stewart, filed the lawsuit against the National Football League and NFL Properties LLC on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta. The suits are the latest in a series filed against the NFL in recent months...

NYPD Union Chief: We'll Sue Protesters Who Hurt SergeantsNew York City Sergeants Benevolent Association president says protesters who hurt sergeants will be taken to court Friday, Oct 28, 2011 | Updated 8:17 AM EDT The head of the union representing New York City police sergeants wants Occupy Wall Street protesters to know that he'll pursue legal action against anyone who harms police. In a New York Post op-ed, Ed Mullins, president of the New York City Sergeants Benevolent Association, writes that he respects the ideas of free speech and assembly that have empowered the Wall Street movement. But cops should...

There's nothing quite like a politician scorned. When voters in Ohio's 1st Congressional District threw Democrat Steve Driehaus out of office after only one term, he did not bow out gracefully. No, he decided to get even. So he did what anyone does in today's culture: he sued somebody. Charging that its activities contributed to his defeat and thus to his "loss of livelihood," Driehaus is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports pro-life candidates for Congress and which has been one of the leading and most effective organizations involved in the fight to cut off federal...

Advocates for the unemployed have cheered a push by the Obama administration to ban discrimination against the jobless. But business groups and their allies are calling the effort unnecessary and counterproductive. The job creation bill that President Obama sent to Congress earlier this month includes a provision that would allow unsuccessful job applicants to sue if they think a company of 15 more employees denied them a job because they were unemployed. The provision would ban employment ads that explicitly declare the unemployed ineligible, with phrases like "Jobless need not apply." As The Lookout has reported, such ads appear to...

Well, at least they’re focusing on jobs, even if only for trial lawyers.The latest brilliant plan to get people back to work seems to focus on… wait for it… punishing potential employers by dragging them into court on a whole new class of discrimination based lawsuits. The idea, spearheaded by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and a handful of other Democrats, would identify employers who run advertisements which specifically seek to avoid hiring people who are currently unemployed and allow them to be taken to court on some form of discrimination charge. Lawyers should be allowed to win financial damages from...

It was only a matter of time. A few weeks after every money losing firm in the US and the kitchen sink disclosed it would sue Bank of America in an accelerating attempt to salvage something through litigation, the worst case scenario for Brian Moynhian just got real. As of minutes ago, Norway's Government Pension Fund, which is another name for its Sovereign Wealth Fund, has just announced it is suing Bank of America for mortgage fraud. Not only that but it is also going after Countrywide, obviously, but far more importantly, is also suing KPGM, the auditor on the...

A local high school is being sued by a black student over a longstanding student tradition known as "Wigger Wednesday." Quera Pruitt, a former Red Wing High School student, says seeing her white classmates don do-rags and saggy jeans while throwing gang signs on "Wigger Wednesday" is a form of racial discrimination. "To her, and frankly to me, 'Wigger Day' is the same thing as 'Nigger Day,'" says her attorney, Joshua Williams.

A bipartisan group of House members announced on Wednesday that it is filing a lawsuit charging that President Obama made an illegal end-run around Congress when he approved U.S military action against Libya. “With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated. We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), who led the 10-member anti-war coalition with Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.). The White House is expected on Wednesday to deliver to Congress a much-anticipated report detailing military activity in...

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) is seeking to pass a measure that would ban the federal government from using funds to challenge Arizona's new immigration law. Poe will seek to attach his measure to the House GOP spending bill being considered on the House floor. “This is an issue of public safety, and that’s why its important for the federal government to get out of the way of the state of Arizona,” Poe said. “The sovereign state of Arizona is being overrun by dangerous people.”

<p>It's one of the simple, most wonderful pleasures of life: zooming down a snow-covered hill just fast enough for a touch of fear to quicken your pulse. Maybe it's a solo run. Maybe you're clinging to a loved one as you tear down the hill tandem. Surely, sledding is one of those things that makes it worth toughing it out and living in New Jersey when sunnier climes often beckon.</p>

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration on Monday, alleging full-body scans and pat-downs at airport checkpoints violate his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Ventura is asking a federal judge in Minnesota to issue an injunction ordering officials to stop subjecting him to "warrantless and suspicionless" scans and body searches. The lawsuit, which also names Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and TSA Administrator John Pistole as defendants, argues the searches are "unwarranted and unreasonable intrusions on Governor Ventura's personal privacy and dignity and are a justifiable cause...

SAN ANTONIO, Tex. (Reuters) – The parents of a Mexican teenager allegedly killed last year by a bullet fired by a U.S. Border Patrol agent across the Rio Grande river, on Monday sued the U.S. government for $25 million. The U.S. Border Patrol says Sergio Hernandez Guereca, 15, was pelting U.S. agents with rocks from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande river last June when Border Patrol agents on the U.S. side shot him to death. But Bob Hilliard, attorney for the Mexican family, said today that the boy was the victim of "brutality" on the part of the...

WASHINGTON – The National Labor Relations Board on Friday threatened to sue Arizona, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah over constitutional amendments guaranteeing workers the right to a secret ballot in union elections. The agency's acting general counsel, Lafe Solomon, said the amendments conflict with federal law, which gives employers the option of recognizing a union if a majority of workers sign cards that support unionizing. The amendments, approved Nov. 2, have taken effect in South Dakota and Utah, and will do so soon in Arizona and South Carolina. Business and anti-union groups sought the amendments, arguing that such secrecy...

The AOL-owned site Daily Finance this morning retracted a passage in an article that falsely stated Free Republic hosted child pornography.The article was about reporter John Cook leaving Yahoo News to return to Gawker. Included in Cook's reasons for leaving, according to Daily Finance reporter Jeff Bercovici, was that Yahoo would not allow him to write about Free Republic "hosting child pornography." The Salon.com article that was linked to support that claim actually stated that Free Republic did not host child pornography.The offending Daily Finance passage now reads:"... On similar grounds, he was prohibited from writing about the conservative website...

Kim Jensen of Laguna Beach, CA recently discovered that her cat had become violently ill from chewing on the carcass of a gopher that had been poisoned by her neighbor’s rodent repellent. Jensen is suing the city for $950.25 in vet bills because she claims her neighbor, Bill Martinez took the poison, which is city property, “for his personal use.” In an article by Claudia Koerner in the Orange County Register, Jensen explains her actions, saying, “‘The city needs to be responsible for its employees,’ Jensen said, adding it stings that her tax dollars may have in part funded the...

A group of 91 Israelis wounded by Hezbollah rockets during the 2006 Second Lebanon War is suing the Arab news network Al-Jazeera for $1.2 billion in a New York court for allegedly aiding the Lebanese guerrillas, their lawyer said Tuesday. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner said the suit, which was filed Monday, claims the Qatar-based news network intentionally violated Israel's military censorship regulations and reported the precise locations of rocket strikes in Israel in live broadcasts during the month-long 2006 war.

Anyway, if enforcing immigration law is a bad thing for local cops to do, as Holder claims, why pick on Arizona? If he’s really upset that the same laws he has taken an oath to enforce might actually get (gulp!) enforced, why isn’t he suing Providence instead of Phoenix? They’ve been doing local immigration enforcement for years now. As The Boston Globe-Democrat reported yesterday, “From Woonsocket to Westerly, the troopers patrolling the nation’s smallest state are reporting all illegal immigrants they encounter, even on routine stops such as speeding, to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.” Even liberal Providence, where politicians...

The New York State Common Retirement Fund has sued BP over losses, according to preliminary wire reports. State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is the fund trustee, announced he had hired Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC to represent the Fund in a class action against BP Plc. DiNapoli said he is seeking to lead the class action against BP to give the Fund and other investors their best chance at recovering damages sustained from the decline in shareholder value subsequent to the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. DiNapoli said the Fund held more than 19M shares at the time...

Arizona Democrats facing tough reelection races are distancing themselves from the Obama administration as it prepares to file a lawsuit against the state over its controversial immigration law. Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-Ariz.) on Monday sent a sharply worded letter to President Barack Obama urging him not to sue. “I believe your administration’s time, efforts and resources would be much better spent securing the border and fixing our broken immigration system,” the two-term congressman wrote in the letter. “Arizonians are tired of the grandstanding, and tired of waiting for help from Washington. … [A] lawsuit won’t solve the problem. It won’t...

With the passage of ObamaCare coming on the heels of government takeover of industries and taxpayer-funded bailouts of the irresponsible, many are wondering how we can turn the socialist tide. They see Uncle Sam expanding, their rights and economic prospects shrinking and their voices ignored. For these people, November cannot come soon enough. But November is not the ultimate solution. In the political universe, seven months is an eternity, and we cannot know precisely how public sentiment will evolve. Besides, the chances of Republicans retaking both Houses are slim and, even if they do, there's no guarantee they'll rise to...

A national group representing doctors and surgeons filed suit over the new health care reform legislation, saying it “spells the end of freedom in medicine” in the U.S. The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) wants the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) to be overturned, according to its suit filed March 26 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “If the PPACA goes unchallenged, then it spells the end of freedom in medicine as we know it,” said Jane Orient, a doctor and the executive director of AAPS, in a statement. “Courts should not...

Seven Cuban doctors and a nurse sued Cuba, Venezuela and the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) for alleged conspiracy to force them to work in conditions of "modern slaves" in order to pay off the Cuban debt with the Venezuelan government for oil supply. The defendants "intentionally and arbitrarily" held the health staff in "debt servitude" and the staff became "economic slaves" and "political advocates," according to the complaint filed in the United States, Efe reported.

Listening to the radio this AM and the discussion was why can't Al Gore and the global warming hoaxers be sued for damanges for the tens of billions of dollars mispent on a huge hoax.

The family of the assistant principal who was New York City's first swine flu victim has filed court papers with the intention of suing the city and its health and education departments

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A teenager filed an "intent to sue" the Orlando Police Department because he says a cop shot him from behind after a traffic stop. Police said they opened fire, because 17-year-old Dorall Marshall had a gun. However, Eyewitness News could not find any documentation on a weapon and the teen said he wasn't trying to do anything but run away. Dorall Marshall may never regain the full use of his left leg. In May, the Orlando police officer shot him from behind and shattered his hip and femur. "I think it was unnecessary I wasn't trying to...

More from our screwed up judicial system that makes you go "huh"? Do these guy in lower federal district courts (or Circuits, for that matter) pay *any* attention whatsoever to the SCOTUS? Apparently not. On Friday, US District Judge Jeffrey S. White denied the Obama DOJ's motion to dismiss the suit of Padilla v Yoo, where Padilla accused Yoo rendering legal memos that led to his "severe abuse" in a Naval brig for over three years. (Read the original complaint) The "severe abuse", as defined in his complaint: .... For nearly two years, Mr. Padilla was held in complete isolation...

BELOIT, Wis. - Police years ago pulled over a young woman who rushed through an amber traffic light. "I'm about to arrest this person right now," the irritated officer radioed to a dispatcher. "She's telling me her name is Marijuana Pepsi Jackson." It's the truth. Marijuana and Pepsi are her legal first and middle names, and the Beloit woman embraces them as a symbol of her struggle to succeed and to help other children overcome obstacles. No Mary or Mary Jane or Mary Wanda for her. It's Marijuana, thank you, she's told bosses, co-workers and friends over the years, and...

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said it will file suit today against a publicly funded charter school, alleging that it is promoting the Muslim religion and that its directors are using a holding company to illegally funnel taxpayer dollars to a Muslim organization. The suit was to be filed this afternoon in U.S. District Court against Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy, known as TIZA, and the Minnesota Department of Education, which the ACLU says is at fault for failing to uncover and stop the alleged transgressions. The suit names the department and Alice Seagren, the state education commissioner, as...

Prosecutors Seek Assets of LA Gang MembersUpdated: December 9th, 2008 02:32 PM EDT By GREG RISLING Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles prosecutors on Monday filed the state's first lawsuit seeking to seize homes, businesses and other assets from known members of the city's largest gang to cripple their criminal enterprises. The lawsuit, filed against nine leaders of the 18th Street gang who are all serving prison time, is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. It aims to reduce the wealth accumulated by gang leaders through illegal activities. "The days of allowing vicious...

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A group of New York taxi owners is suing the city over a plan to turn the entire fleet of cabs "green" by 2012, saying the plan compromises safety and is unconstitutional. Under the plan, promoted as an environmental model for other large cities, every new taxi must get at least 30 miles per gallon, a target now met by hybrid and clean diesel cars. The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, an association of taxi owners accounting for about a quarter of the city's 13,000 yellow cabs, filed a complaint in Manhattan federal court late on...

Lawyers for the Fundamentalist LDS Church are preparing for what could become a series of lawsuits against Texas authorities for the raid on the YFZ Ranch. "There is a desire and a need for compensation, so I think you will see something come," said Rod Parker, a Salt Lake attorney who is acting as a spokesman for the FLDS people. The lawsuits would likely focus on the removal of the children, the raid itself and damage to the FLDS Church's first-ever temple on the Eldorado property.

Rick Paul, owner of Rick's White Light Diner, was found in contempt of court Monday and must pay $1,000 to a charity of his choice, for again infringing on the Derby-Pie trademark. Before U.S. District Judge Joseph Hood in a Lexington courtroom, Paul was found in contempt of court for violating a 1997 permanent injunction signed by Hood, ordering Paul not to infringe on Kern's Kitchen Inc.'s trademark Derby-Pie. Paul also must pay Kern's Kitchen's attorney fees and costs. "I am disappointed with the judge's ruling and I accept it," Paul said today. "Our proof was considerably different than Derby...

The fraudulent nature of many legal cases alleging damage from exposure to asbestos, long documented in legal and other publications, was officially confirmed to the world by a savvy federal judge in Texas three years ago. However, if allegations in a new report are true, similar rip-offs are still being tried. The most disheartening thing about the report, “Trial Lawyers Inc. Asbestos,” fifth in a series from the Manhattan Institute, is that the reader can count on the fingers of one hand the number of doctors and lawyers who have been punished for abusing the system. A federal grand jury...

WINDSOR, Ontario (AP) - Mercury discharges into the Detroit River are causing cancer, amount to "child abuse" and are damaging the quality of life in this border city, American environmentalist Robert Kennedy Jr. said Sunday.

State reportedly offers $100,000 to forestall lawsuits over massacre RICHMOND, Va. - Families of those killed in the Virginia Tech massacre would receive $100,000 each under a settlement the state is proposing to prevent lawsuits, according to a victim's relative who received a copy of the proposal. Medical and counseling expenses would be provided to the families of the 32 killed and dozens of surviving victims, said the person, who asked Monday to remain anonymous because those involved were told not to discuss the settlement. Families would also have the opportunity to question the governor and university officials about the...

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/NEWS/80310045 rules-link only----suspended for wearing shirt with gun on it.

AUSTIN — The Texas Democratic Party warned Thursday that election night caucuses scheduled for Tuesday could be delayed or disrupted after aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton threatened to sue over the party's complicated delegate selection process. In a letter sent out late Thursday to both the Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns, Texas Democratic Party lawyer Chad Dunn warned a lawsuit could ruin the Democrats' effort to re-energize voters just as they are turning out in record numbers. Spokesmen for both campaigns said there were no plans to sue ahead of the March 4 election. "It has been brought to my...

When a train conductor was performing an inspection, he was goosed and fell down; he sues his employer on February 4, 2008.

Buddy Holly's widow in fight to stop book By Ben Martin Last Updated: 2:48am GMT 13/01/2008 The widow of Buddy Holly, the late American rock and roll pioneer, is trying to prevent the woman made famous by her husband's hit song Peggy Sue from publishing a book about the music legend. Maria Elena Holly has instructed lawyers to oppose the publication of Whatever Happened to Peggy Sue, an autobiography of Texan woman Peggy Sue Gerron, after whom the song was named. Mrs Holly, 62, claims the book is unauthorised and will harm Holly's name, her own reputation and that of...

Absolute moral authority? "A Missouri mother says she will do “whatever it takes” to stop former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee from becoming president, because he freed the man who went on to rape and murder her daughter, Carol Sue Shields (pictured). “I can’t imagine anybody wanting somebody like that running the country,” Lois Davidson of Adrian, Mo., told the Blotter on ABCNews.com. Wayne Dumond was initially sentenced to life plus 25 years for raping a 17-year-old Arkansas high school cheerleader. In 1999, a parole board voted to free Dumond, after then-Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his desire to see him released."...

Arabic-speaking passengers sue AmericanThe Associated Press DETROIT --Six men of Iraqi descent who were flying home after a stint training Marines sued American Airlines on Thursday, saying employees publicly humiliated them after a passenger expressed concerns about them to security guards. The men, who sued in U.S. District Court in Detroit alleging racial discrimination, say airline employees grounded their Aug. 28 flight from San Diego to Chicago and detained them, believing they were security risks. The men, some of whom are U.S. citizens, were returning to the Detroit area after training Marines at Camp Pendleton in California when another passenger...

Christian schools sue University of Calif. LOS ANGELES, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- A lawsuit soon to go to trial charges the University of California with discriminating against prospective students who attend Christian schools. The suit, brought by an association of Christian schools, supports the conviction of many conservative Christians that there is hostility to their faith in public schools, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday. "This is just another example of what's happening on a much larger scale," said Robert Tyler, a lawyer for the Christian schools. The outcome of the trial in U.S. District Court could affect California's estimated 800...

A Texas family is suing Gov. Rick Perry and a school district over a state-mandated moment of silence in schools, according to The Dallas Morning News. David Wallace Croft and his wife, Shannon, of Carrollton, Texas, have three children at Rosemeade Elementary and argue that the moment of silence is unconstitutional and amounts to state-sanctioned school prayer.

INDONESIAN militant Abu Dujana will sue the police, saying he was shot in the thigh by members of an elite anti-terrorist unit after surrendering, one of his lawyers said today. Dujana, who is believed to head a military wing of the South-East Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), was captured on June 9 during a police raid in central Java. Lawyer Achmad Michdan said the country's anti-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, had violated the suspect's rights by shooting him after he had surrendered. "We will sue the Indonesian police and Detachment 88 and we will ask the court to examine the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The House voted on Tuesday to allow the government to sue the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for price manipulation, which the White House threatened to veto saying it could raise gasoline prices. With average U.S. pump prices at an all-time, inflation-adjusted high of $3.22 a gallon, the House voted 345-72 to approve the "No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act of 2007," or "NOPEC." The bill would revoke the sovereign immunity OPEC members currently enjoy from U.S. legal action and allow the Justice Department to sue them in U.S. courts.

Dr. Alexander Dlugi had sued student Lauren Ellis for loss of income and pain and suffering that was the result of a bike/skate collision between the two in 2003 when Ellis was only 11 years old. After closing arguments were heard, the Morris County civil jury deliberated for only 15 minutes today and ruled in favor of the teenager. The jury agreed that Ellis was not responsible or at fault for the accident that happened on Sugar Maple Row that October day. The physician -- who earned $800,000 in 2004 and got $750,000 for half the sale of his former...

Ryan Hoeft was a rookie St. Louis Park cop on Nov. 6, 2001, when his handgun went off in his squad car, the bullet hitting his head and killing him. The Hennepin County medical examiner ruled his death a suicide. But his parents allege in a lawsuit filed this week that their son did not kill himself and that his gun fired accidentally. Mary and Terry Hoeft, of Rice Lake, Wis., accuse the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department, the county medical examiner and St. Louis Park police of failing to properly investigate their son's death. The suit, filed Tuesday in Hennepin...

Two men who were asked to rap to get out of a ticket are seeking large amounts of money for what they believe was a violation of their civil rights. One of the men has filed a claim against the city of Tempe for $50,000 and the other filed a claim for half a million dollars. A claim is the first legal step toward a lawsuit against a government entity. James Baker and Robert Tarvin, who are black, were shown rapping on a segment of the police-produced cable-TV show "Tempe StreetBeat" after Tempe police Sgt. Chuck Schoville pulled them over...