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Kansas court system works to improve efficiency
Law Center |
2011/06/22 22:26
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Judges and court workers have completed the data-collection part of a study aimed at making Kansas' court system more efficient.
The Wichita Eagle reported that the data will be analyzed by the National Center for State Courts. That national nonprofit group works to improve the justice system and lobbies on behalf of courts at the federal level.
The results of the $200,000 consultant study of how judges and other court workers spend their time will go to a panel that will recommend changes if they are needed.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said the panel also is gathering public input on ways to improve the courts. The two initiatives are called "Project Pegasus," after the winged horse in Greek mythology.
The goal is to prevent situations like last year when courts were closed four days.
"When our budget is cut or when we don't have enough money, it is our people who suffer, they're the ones who have to get sent home," Nuss told members of the Wichita Pachyderm Club, a Republican group, this past week. "Unfortunately that also comes at the expense of Kansas citizens, because when we have no money and we have to close the courts, the citizens no longer have access to justice."
Nuss said most of the consultant study is being paid for mostly from salary and benefit savings accrued after appellate Judge Jerry Elliott died in April of last year and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Davis died last August.
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NY court weighs immunity claim in '93 WTC bombing
Law Center |
2011/06/02 08:58
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The agency that owned and operated the World Trade Center urged the state's top court Wednesday to reject remaining negligence claims for the 1993 bombing by terrorists who detonated a van of explosives in the public garage beneath its twin towers, killing 6 people and injuring about 1,000. In lawsuits citing security concerns since 1984, a jury found that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey failed as a landlord to maintain reasonably safe premises and was 68 percent at fault, blaming the terrorists for the other 32 percent. A midlevel court upheld the verdict. In arguments Wednesday, attorney Richard Rothman said the Court of Appeals should uphold the Port Authority's claims of governmental immunity for its counter-terrorism measures against what was an unprecedented event, a foreign terrorist attack on the U.S. In court papers, he noted that the FBI building in Washington, D.C., and the New York Police Department headquarters and the United Nations building, both in Manhattan, all had unrestricted underground parking at that time against what was regarded as a relatively low-level threat. Rothman said the 110-story towers housed offices for the governor and several state and federal agencies, and the Port Authority was doing security assessments across its network, including airports. "Treating the Port Authority as just another landlord ... is directly contrary to the statutes under which the World Trade Center was created," he said. Even if regarded under the law as a commercial landlord, Rothman argued it was likewise undisputed that authority officials had many high-level meetings about security and were in touch with federal authorities before the bombing. The twin towers were destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, when jetliners hijacked by terrorists flew into them. |
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Court says FOIA request cannot be used in lawsuit
Law Center |
2011/05/17 08:47
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The Supreme Court says a Freedom of Information Act request cannot be used to trigger a False Claims Act lawsuit.
The court on Monday voted 5-3 to agree with arguments by Schindler Elevator Corp., which sought to get a lawsuit against it dismissed.
Daniel Kirk, a former employee, sued on behalf of the government, claiming Schindler had not complied with reporting requirements involving the employment of Vietnam veterans.
But a judge threw out his lawsuit, saying Kirk's information came from a FOIA request. The False Claims Act says that lawsuits cannot be filed using publicly disclosed information. The judge said FOIA reports were public information.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City overturned that decision but the high court said it was correct.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the court's opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented and was joined by Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor. |
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Court sides with police in warrantless search
Law Center |
2011/05/17 03:48
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The Supreme Court on Monday ruled against a Kentucky man who was arrested after police burst into his apartment without a search warrant because they smelled marijuana and feared he was trying to get rid of incriminating evidence.
Voting 8-1, the justices reversed a Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that threw out the evidence gathered when officers entered Hollis King's apartment.
The court said there was no violation of King's constitutional rights because the police acted reasonably. Only Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
Officers knocked on King's door in Lexington and thought they heard noises that indicated whoever was inside was trying to get rid of incriminating evidence.
Justice Samuel Alito said in his opinion for the court that people have no obligation to respond to the knock or, if they do open the door, allow the police to come in. In those cases, officers who wanted to gain entry would have to persuade a judge to issue a search warrant. |
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Courts nationwide hold hearings with video
Law Center |
2011/05/08 09:11
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George Villanueva, charged with first-degree murder in the death of an NYPD officer, will not leave jail for months of pretrial hearings.
Instead, he'll be beamed into the courtroom via video as lawyers discuss his case in front of the judge.
Villanueva's case is part of a surge in court appearances done by video in New York and around the country, as cash-strapped communities look for ways to boost efficiency and cut costs. The tools are used in courts large and small, and the savings for some are staggering: $30 million in Pennsylvania so far, $600,000 in Georgia, and $50,000 per year in transportation costs in Ohio.
"We've had to trim our spending wherever we can and still provide what we think is effective constitutional justice, and we're doing that with the help of modern technology," said Pennsylvania State Supreme Court Justice Ronald D. Castille.
Advocates say the virtual hearing is easier on defendants, who don't have to get up at 4 a.m. to be shuttled with other criminal suspects to court, only to wait hours standing and handcuffed for an appearance. Judges say their cases are moving faster. And civil liberties groups say the practice raises no red flags.
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Conn. high court hears death penalty appeal
Law Center |
2011/04/25 09:20
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A lawyer told the state Supreme Court yesterday that his client’s death penalty case was the weakest one ever to go before the high court, alleging that the jury was biased and that key evidence was improperly withheld from the trial.
Justices heard the appeal of former Torrington resident Eduardo Santiago, 31, who prosecutors say agreed in 2000 to kill a West Hartford man in exchange for a pink-striped snowmobile with a broken clutch. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2005 after a jury convicted him, despite no clear evidence that he was the one who pulled the rifle trigger.
Two other men are serving life prison sentences for the killing of Joseph Niwinski, 45, who was shot in the head while sleeping in his home.
Santiago’s lawyer, Assistant Public Defender Mark Rademacher, told the Supreme Court that there was no way a reasonable jury could have condemned Santiago. The defense presented 25 mitigating factors, including Santiago’s troubled childhood, for jurors to consider against the death penalty, while the state based its argument for execution on one aggravating factor, that Niwinski was killed in a murder-for-hire plot.
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U.S. class action securities lawsuits on the rise
Law Center |
2011/01/25 11:39
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The number of class action securities lawsuits filed in U.S. courts rose in the past six months and there was a big spike last year in litigation over merger disclosures, according to a study released on Thursday. Between July and December there were 104 federal securities class action lawsuits filed in federal courts, up from 72 filed in the first six months of 2010, according to a study by the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and Cornerstone Research. The total number of lawsuits ticked up to 176 from 168 in 2009, although last year's filings were still below the annual average of 195 since 1997. One area with a big increase were lawsuits filed over the lack of disclosure relating to a merger, which rose to 40 from seven in 2009. "The sharp increase in federal litigation alleging disclosure violations in M&A transactions suggests that plaintiff lawyers are scrambling for new business as traditional fraud cases seem to be on the decline," said Joseph Grundfest, the director of the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse. He attributed the spike to a strategy by plaintiffs lawyers looking for a way to exert control over merger-related lawsuits, which are usually filed in state courts.
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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 and help you redesign your existing law firm site to secure your place in the internet. |
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