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Group sues Calif. over race-based prison lockdowns
Court Watch |
2011/04/28 02:19
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California's use of race as a basis for locking prisoners in their cells after fights amounts to illegal discrimination and should be banned, attorneys representing inmates said in a class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The policy unfairly punishes innocent inmates simply because they have the same color skin as those involved in the violence, the nonprofit Prison Law Office said in its suit, filed in federal court in Sacramento.
Terry Thornton, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said lockdowns are sometimes necessary to protect safety and security. It is not the department's policy to base lockdowns and other restrictions solely on race or ethnicity, she said.
However, a proposed revision to the department's lockdown policy says inmates often organize themselves based on race or geographical area. The policy acknowledges that some uninvolved inmates may be affected, but it is the department's goal to get them back to a normal routine as soon as possible.
Rebekah Evenson, an attorney with the Berkeley-based Prison Law Office, said the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a similar argument in 2005 when it told the state to end its policy of housing inmates based on their race. The high court and other states have found that such race-based policies encourage violence by splitting inmates along racial lines, Evenson said.
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Judge Considers $30M Dairy Antitrust Settlement
Court Watch |
2011/04/18 09:51
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A federal judge in Vermont is considering moving forward with a partial settlement of an anti-trust lawsuit in which national dairy processor Dean Foods would pay some northeast dairy farmers $30 million.
But U.S. District Court Judge Christina Reiss said Friday she may defer a decision on part of the settlement that would require Dean Foods of Dallas to change its milk-buying practices in the region for 30 months by buying milk from independent farmers, a controversial provision that the plaintiffs say would jump start competition but a national dairy cooperative says would harm some farmers.
"I am likely to sever the settlement," Reiss told lawyers during a hearing on Friday.
Farmers have complained for years that Dean, the cooperative Dairy Farmers of America and its marketing affiliate Dairy Marketing Services have come to dominate the milk-buying market and have held down prices paid to farmers.
By agreeing to the settlement, Dean Foods does not admit any liability and "continues to maintain that it has not broken any laws," Dean Foods' attorney Paul Friedman said Friday.
It settles a class action lawsuit filed in 2009, which means 5,000 to 10,000 farmers could get a share of the settlement.
During the more than two-hour hearing, both sides urged Reiss to approve the deal, which plaintiff lawyer Kit Pierson said was "reached after extraordinarily difficult negotiations with Dean Foods."
But DFA and DMS, which are also named as co-defendants in the class-action lawsuit but are opposed to the settlement, said the provision in which Dean Foods would get 10 to 20 percent of the raw milk it buys for plants in Lynn and Franklin, Mass., and in East Greenbush, N.Y., from sources other than DMS for 30 months takes business away from their farmers and gives it to someone else.
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Court turns down appeal in murder plot case
Court Watch |
2011/04/18 09:50
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The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal in a murder-for-hire plot after the star prosecution witness forged documents used at trial and lied about his military background.
The court said Monday it will not review a divided appeals court ruling that, by a 6-5 vote, upheld the conviction of Idaho businessman David Hinkson for plotting to kill a federal judge, prosecutor and tax agent. Hinkson is serving a 43-year prison term.
Earlier, a three-judge panel on the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had decided that Hinkson deserved a new trial because the witness, Elven Joe Swisher, lied about his war record, including presenting forged documents.
Swisher later was convicted of defrauding the government of nearly $100,000 in veterans' benefits and wearing unauthorized military medals.
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Court ruling could mean NJ budget scramble
Court Watch |
2011/04/10 08:57
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Gov. Chris Christie is warning that if the state Supreme Court rules the way it usually does on a long-running school funding case, it could doom other state services. The build-up about the immediate consequences gives the chapter of the court case known as Abbott v. Burke even more significance than many of the 20 other decisions in the case dating back to the 1980s. The question now before the court is whether the state's cuts in aid to schools for the current academic year were so deep that New Jersey didn't live up to its constitutional requirement of providing a "thorough and efficient education" to all students.It's not clear when it might be decided. But lawyers for the state and for children in the poorest school districts filed legal papers last week laying out their sides. Oral arguments are scheduled for April 20. Over the long history of the case, the state Supreme Court has consistently ruled that New Jersey should provide more money to the state's poorest school districts. The rulings have led to free preschools for 3- and 4-year-olds in those cities. Those programs are often cited as national models and given credit for improving test scores of grade-school students. The infusion of money has also brought replacements and repairs for many of their decrepit school buildings, extra help for teaching key areas such as reading. |
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Court hears argument in Wal-Mart sex bias claim
Court Watch |
2011/04/08 09:48
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The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned a massive sex discrimination lawsuit on behalf of at least 500,000 women claiming that Wal-Mart favors men over women in pay and promotions. The justices suggested that they are troubled by lower court decisions allowing the class-action lawsuit to proceed against the world's largest retailer. Justice Anthony Kennedy, often a key vote on the high court, said he is unsure "what the unlawful policy is" that Wal-Mart engaged in to deprive women of pay increases and promotions comparable to men. Billions of dollars are at stake in the case. Class actions create pressure on businesses to settle claims and create the potential for large judgments. Wal-Mart denies it discriminates against its female employees. But Joseph Sellers, the lawyer for the women, said that lower courts were persuaded by statistical and other evidence put forth so far in the 10-year-old lawsuit. Sellers said a strong corporate culture at Wal-Mart's Bentonville, Ark., headquarters that stereotyped women as less aggressive than men translated into individual pay and promotions decisions at the more than 3,400 Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs stores across the country. |
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Louisiana to get $12M in Health Net case
Court Watch |
2011/04/05 09:40
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The Louisiana Supreme Court has ordered Health Net Inc., a major health maintenance organization, to cover more than $180 million in claims by consumers, health care providers and creditors in Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon told The Advocate that Louisiana will get the smallest portion of the payout. "We have about $12 million coming to us to policyholders, providers and general creditors, meaning companies who sold them supplies or that rented them space," Donelon said. Donelon said the unanimous ruling, issued Friday, will reimburse all of AmCare Louisiana HMO's members, providers, and creditors for any losses caused by Health Net's conduct. Health Net sold health plans in the three states to AmCareco Inc. in 1999. In 2002, the troubled health plans were placed under state supervision. Each of the state's insurance departments sued AmCareco and Health Net, alleging fraud, negligence, conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty. In 2005, a state district court jury awarded the Texas plaintiffs around $100 million in damages. In 2005, a state judge in Baton Rouge issued similar verdicts against Health Net and awarded $30 million to the Louisiana and Oklahoma plaintiffs.
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Mich. Supreme Court to hear septic case from Thumb
Court Watch |
2011/03/24 02:52
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The Michigan Supreme Court says it will decide if judges can order a sewer system when septic tanks fail and spoil a lake. The court says Thursday it will take an appeal in a case involving Worth Township along Lake Huron in Michigan's Thumb region. State regulators want the township to install a sewer system, but an appeals court said local government isn't responsible for the problems of private property owners. Some septic systems are failing on a five-mile stretch between M-25 and Lake Huron in Sanilac County. Waste is being discharged into Lake Huron and its tributaries. Worth Township says it can't build a sewer system without financial help from the state. |
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Class action or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued. This form of collective lawsuit originated in the United States and is still predominantly a U.S. phenomenon, at least the U.S. variant of it. In the United States federal courts, class actions are governed by Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule. Since 1938, many states have adopted rules similar to the FRCP. However, some states like California have civil procedure systems which deviate significantly from the federal rules; the California Codes provide for four separate types of class actions. As a result, there are two separate treatises devoted solely to the complex topic of California class actions. Some states, such as Virginia, do not provide for any class actions, while others, such as New York, limit the types of claims that may be brought as class actions. They can construct your law firm a brand new website, lawyer website templates and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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