Free Republic

Farah, the CEO of WorldNetDaily.com, and Corsi, author of “Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama Is Not Eligible to Be President,” have filed suit against Hearst, Esquire magazine and writer Mark Warren over a satirical article that they say defamed them and damaged their business interests. They’re seeking compensatory damages of $100 million and punitive damages of $20 million, plus legal costs. [Update: As a commenter points out, that's only for one of the five counts; the full amount sought totals more than $285 million.]

Washington D.C., Jun 22, 2011 / 02:37 am (CNA).- The Catholic University of America says its plan to house men and women separately will withstand any legal challenge from John Banzhaf, known for his lawsuits over fast food and women's bathrooms. In a June 21 statement provided to CNA, the university said it “has not received service of any legal proceedings from Professor John Banzhaf regarding the University’s plan to phase in single-gender residence halls.” Earlier this week, a Fox affiliate in the District reported that Prof. Banzhaf had issued the school an “intent-to-sue” notice because of the plan. The...

The pro-business conservative group Americans for Job Security has bought up online ads in New Hampshire, touting Texas Gov. Rick Perry's work enacting "loser pays" tort reform laws. The web ads link to an AJS petition highlighting Perry's economic record: "Texas is leading the nation in job creation because of its pro-growth economic policies. In the last two years Texas, led by Gov. Rick Perry, has created more jobs than any other state . Loser-pays tort reform removes a harmful barrier to job creation." (See one of the web ads here.) AJS president Steve DeMaura, a former executive director of...

A federal jury has awarded a Fairview Heights woman $95 million for the sexual harassment she endured working at Aaron Rents, a Fairview Heights rent-to-own business. The woman's suit claims that an October 12, 2006, sexual assault by her supervisor capped almost a year of escalating sexual harassment. The store's general manager, Richard Moore, began by making inappropriate comments and pinching the 20-year-old customer service representative, the suit says. He progressed to groping her, then sneaked up behind her and hit her on the head with his penis sometime during the fall of 2006, the suit says. On Oct. 12,...

Trial Lawyers: Why We Love to Hate ThemBy John R. Smith for Bizpac ReviewWhat is it that makes trial attorneys and personal injury lawyers the most despised group, except for career politicians and organized labor? Maybe it's because of the practices they engage in and the morality of their actions.  Let’s sift through the evidence and see if we can find it in our hearts to pity the trial lawyers...Click here to read more.

As a general rule, New York Times editorials have an inverse relation ship to reality. The harder they bang on an issue, the more you can be certain they are wrong. So it is with Gov. Cuomo's plan to limit "pain and suffering" awards to $250,000 in medical-malpractice cases. The Times accuses Cuomo and hospitals of bad faith, and claims the plan will "punish patients badly injured by medical negligence." It demands a "debate . . . that includes legal experts and patients' advocates." Oh, yes, the "legal experts," especially those who double as members of the Legislature. Perhaps that...

The widow of David W. Park, an Albany teacher who was shot and killed as an intruder in an Amherst home, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the homeowner who pulled the trigger. The lawsuit accuses David D'Amico of the "willful, intentional, malicious" slaying of Park, and acting "without just cause [or] provocation." Deanna Ripstein, Park's widow, filed the State Supreme Court lawsuit eight months after an Erie County grand jury -- following an extensive Amherst Police investigation -- decided not to file criminal charges against D'Amico.

The nation's trial lawyer bar, one corner of corporate America firmly in the Democratic Party base, will soon be addressing a far less sympathetic jury on Capitol Hill. Republicans poised to take control of the U.S. House and state governments across the country next month are sending clear messages that an overhaul of the nation's tort and liability laws is a top priority, forcing trial lawyers to find ways to preserve a legal system that has allowed lucrative liability and class-action lawsuits to flourish. The American Association for Justice (AAJ), the powerful lobby formerly known as the Association of Trial...

The Michigan Supreme Court has refused to throw out Sheri Schooley's lawsuit against Texas Roadhouse in suburban Detroit. Liberal justices were in the majority in a decision that raises questions about what businesses need to do to protect themselves from liability in strange situations. Schooley, 58, acknowledged it's a "bizarre story." She and her husband were out for dinner on New Year's Eve 2007 when she visited the restroom. "I reached and the cover of the toilet paper dispenser fell down on my hand," the South Rockwood woman told The Associated Press on Monday. "It looked like the dispenser was...

Cutting Costs: The deficit reduction commission's report is no Magna Carta. But its recommendation that medical malpractice damages should be capped to make health care more affordable should be heeded. Last week's preview of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform's proposals was heavy on tax-and-spend issues. But the bipartisan group also suggested that savings are available through "comprehensive medical malpractice liability reform to cap noneconomic and punitive damages and make other changes in tort law." Capping damages in medical malpractice cases isn't intended to be a punishment for plaintiffs' lawyers — though a good part of the country...

Study: Malpractice laws chasing docs from Illinois November 12, 2010 BY MONIFA THOMAS Health Reporter A new study says that half of all graduating medical residents or fellows trained in Illinois are leaving the state to practice elsewhere, a trend researchers blame in part on the state's "toxic" medical malpractice environment. Researchers from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine asked 561 Illinois medical students where they intended to practice after graduation and why. Students who planned to leave Illinois, often for Wisconsin or Indiana, cited salary, opportunities to work in their specialty and proximity to family as the most important...

KAMPALA, Uganda, - A Ugandan man is asking a court to stop the country from flying its flag until he has been paid for the 48-year-old design. Semei Matia Nyai, 80, is asking a court to force the government to pay him $684,000 for designing the flag when Uganda became independent of Britain in 1962, Radio France Internationale reported Monday. Nyai's lawsuit is also asking for housing and a car, court papers revealed. The retired school teacher said he never received any payment or recognition for designing the banner, which was selected by officials from public submissions and made the...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – September 7, 2010 DETROIT, MI–The Law Offices of Debbie Schlussel, a Detroit-area law firm, today, announced the filing of a federal lawsuit against Imad Fadlallah, the Muslim man who was, until July, the principal of Dearborn’s Fordson High School, a tax-funded public high school, the student body of which is overwhelmingly Muslim (more than 90%). The suit is also against Fadlallah’s employer at all times relevant to the actions referred to in the suit, the Dearborn Public Schools, which, as noted in the complaint, was aware of the behavior alleged in the suit. As stated in...

LOS ANGELES - Police beating victim Rodney King is engaged to one of the jurors who awarded him a $3.8 million settlement, RadarOnline reported Tuesday. King and Cynthia Kelley said they first felt a romantic spark when they met in a Newport Beach pizzeria the day after the controversial 1994 jury award. Both were married at the time, which complicated the blossoming relationship. They later separated when King joined the cast of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" after multiple arrests for being under the influence of PCP. Four months ago, King, 44, called Kelley on a whim.

A judge on Monday thwarted Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's bid to investigate whether a former University of Virginia professor fraudulently obtained public research money by cooking up climate change data. Cuccinelli, a global warming cynic, sought documents relating to the research of climate scientist Michael Mann, who was behind the so-called "hockey stick" graph in last year's "Climategate scandal." But Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. said Cuccinelli provided no "objective basis" that Mann defrauded taxpayers. "It is not clear what [Mann] did that was misleading, false or fraudulent in obtaining funds from the commonwealth of...

If you have any interest in starting a social network of your own, or pretty much any online venture, you better think twice before you try to use the words “Face” or “Book” in your name unless you want Mark Zuckerberg’s lawyers to come calling. News has been spreading around the Web that Facebook’s lawyers have taken up a lawsuit against a yet-to-launch social network for professional teachers called Teachbook.com. The reasoning behind this is explained in the suit: "If others could freely use ‘generic plus BOOK’ marks for online networking services targeted to that particular generic category of individuals,...

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation agreed to consolidate the litigation over the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in federal court in New Orleans before Judge Carl J. Barbier. "Upon careful consideration, we have settled upon the Eastern District of Louisiana as the most appropriate district for this litigation. Without discounting the spill's effects on other states, if there is a geographic and psychological 'center of gravity' in this docket, then the Eastern District of Louisiana is closest to it," the panel ruled.

In an unusual legal maneuver, Justine Winter — the Evergreen teenager charged with deliberate homicide in the traffic deaths of Erin Thompson and her 13-year-old son — has sued Thompson’s estate and the construction company that built the U.S. 93 overpass at Church Drive where the accident occurred. Winter, 17, with her father, Randy Winter, filed the lawsuit in Flathead County District Court July 15 against Knife River Corp., Western Traffic Control Inc., Mountain West Holding Co. and the estate of Erin Thompson. The complaint lists Thompson’s husband, Jason Thompson, as personal representative of the estate. * The lawsuit was...

Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week. Sherrod made the announcement in San Diego at the National Association of Black Journalists annual convention. The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ask her to resign, a decision he reconsidered after seeing the entire video of her March speech to a local NAACP group. In the full speech, Sherrod spoke of racial reconciliation and lessons she learned after initially hesitating to help a white farmer save...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- A teenage lesbian who sued her school district over its ban of same-sex prom dates has accepted an offer to settle the case. American Civil Liberties Union attorneys representing Constance McMillen filed notice Monday in U.S. District Court to accept a judgment offer from the Itawamba County School District to pay $35,000, plus attorney's fees. As part of the agreement, the school district also said it would follow a policy not to discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity in any educational or extracurricular activities.