Recent News: Local Government
13th Annual Wacky Warning Labels™ Contest: Winners Selected on National Television
The winners are in – and the list is crazier than ever! The 13th annual Wacky Warning Labels™ Contest, which reaches tens of millions of Americans each year, entertains and alarms the nation about the lawsuit-happy culture and the lengths to which companies must go to avoid lawsuits. Here are the winners, as selected by the studio audience for “Stossel” on FOX Business Network, which first aired on July 8.
Staten Island mom settles suit with Little League and coaches over knee injury
(Staten Island Advance) A bad slide that injured a young Staten Island player five years ago will cost Little League Baseball Incorporated and the New Springville Little League $125,000. Jean Gonzalez of Meiers Corners has agreed to settle a lawsuit in which she alleged her son Martin Gonzalez, then 12, tore up his right knee in a New Springville Little League game because he wasn’t taught how to properly slide.
Court Upholds $250k cap for Lawsuit Damages Against Cities
COLUMBUS — In a ruling that could benefit city treasuries in Dayton and other cities, the Ohio Supreme Court has upheld a law placing a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages an injured party may recover from a city.
The court’s 5-2 ruling, issued Thursday, Oct. 1, stemmed from a June 11, 2002, incident during a Cleveland Indians’ game at what was then Jacobs Field. The decision reverses an appeals court ruling on the cap.
The decision upheld part of Ohio’s “sovereign immunity” law adopted as part of tort reform. It says that except in wrongful death cases, the cap for non-economic damages against a city is $250,000 even if a jury awards more.
Pension Pay-to-Play: Law Firms Gave Controllers Big Bucks, Then Got $518M in Fees From State Fund
ALBANY - Lawyers representing the state pension fund in class-action suits have raked in $518.7million in fees over the past 10 years, records show.
The hefty payouts, contingent on winning, are the main reason securities law firms have donated big bucks to state controllers over the years, critics contend.
“There is a problem with pay-to-play,” Columbia Law School Prof. John Coffee said. “The plaintiff law firms know that to be considered to be on the list of eligible firms, they have to ante up.”
Dean says no tort reform because trial lawyers too intimidating
A moment of clarity from Howard Dean, courtesy of CNS News, who took this video at the town-hall forum of Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA). When an angry constituent wondered why a supposedly comprehensive “reform” of the health-care system doesn’t include tort reform to lower costs of malpractice insurance and reduce defensive medicine, Dean responds as “a doctor and a politician.” Apparently, neither has the courage to face the trial-lawyer lobby.
FFCJ Launches “Let’s Be Fair” Commentary Series
Let’s Be Fair is a weekly series of 60-second Commentaries featuring Bob Dorigo Jones, bestselling author and founder of the Wacky Warning Label Contest. Click here to see a current list of episodes!
In the spirit of Thomas Paine’s Common Sense wake-up call to our forefathers, FFCJ is producing 60-second weekly national radio commentaries called “Let’s Be Fair,” featuring Bob Dorigo Jones. Bob achieved national name recognition as the creator of the hugely popular Wacky Warning Label Contest.
FFCJ Releases Exclusive “Role of the Courts” Video
To stimulate public discussion about the importance for state court decisions to adhere to the principle of the “rule of law”, FFCJ has produced a short video program that will be aired as regular programming starting this month on PBS. PBS expects a minimum of 3 million viewers to watch it! “The Role of the Courts” will also be available for more than 38 million subscribers on cable starting in January.
“The Role of the Courts” features two retired state Supreme Court Justices—Harold See of Alabama (top left) and Cliff Taylor of Michigan (below left). See and Taylor briefly discuss how the judicial system was framed by the U.S. Constitution.
Obstetrics Crisis Growing In Pa.
(The Bulletin) The obstetrics crisis in Pennsylvania is growing. Last month, the maternity units at Brandywine Hospital near Coatesville, Chestnut Hill Hospital in the affluent Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia and Central Montgomery Medical Center in Lansdale, all closed.
So far, 17 maternity wards have closed in Philadelphia since 1997. According to one source, the waiting period for gynecologic care for a new patient in the five-county Southeastern Pennsylvania area is six to nine months.
