The Justice Network
ABA Journal Law News Now
Russell Frisby, 2008–2009 Chair of the ABA's Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice section.American Bar Association
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The American Bar Association (ABA), founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the
United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. The ABA
has 410,000 members. Its national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois; it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, D.C. Read more here
For One Prisoner, Nutriloaf Diet May Violate Eighth
Amendment, Posner Opinion Says
ABA Journal Law News Now
By Debra Cassens Weiss
March 28, 2012
A federal appeals court has reinstated a lawsuit filed by a prisoner who claimed the nutriloaf he ate in the Milwaukee County Jail was cruel and unusual
punishment.
The opinion (PDF) by Judge Richard Posner of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals suggested appointment of counsel for the inmate, Terrance Prude, who vomited and suffered an anal fissure after eating nutriloaf at the jail during a stay to attend court proceedings. Jail
officials gave Prude bread and water as a substitute, and his weight dropped from 168 to 154 after two stays at the facility. Other inmates at the jail also vomited after eating
nutriloaf.
Withholding nutritious food or substituting sickening food, causing substantial weight loss, vomiting and maybe an anal fissure would violate the Eighth Amendment,
Posner said. He cited Wikipedia for the proposition that such a fissure is "no fun at all."
The defendants, including Sheriff David Clarke Jr., did not disclose the nutriloaf
recipe in response to discovery demands. "No evidence was presented concerning the recipe for or ingredients of the nutriloaf that was served at the county jail during the plaintiff’s sojourns
there," Posner wrote. " ‘Nutriloaf’ isn’t a proprietary food like Hostess Twinkies but, like ‘meatloaf’ or ‘beef stew,’ a term for a composite food the recipe of which can vary from institution to
institution, or even from day to day within an institution; nutriloaf could meet requirements for calories and protein one day yet be poisonous the next if, for example, made from leftovers that had
spoiled."
Posner said the defendants ignored discovery demands and the trial judge’s order that they comply. The defendants also failed to file an appellate brief and failed to
respond to an order to show cause whey they didn’t do so. "They seem to think that the federal courts have no jurisdiction over a county jail," Posner said. The appeals court issued an order to show
cause why the defendants should not be sanctioned for contumacious conduct and warned they "will find themselves in deep trouble" if they fail to comply.
The case is Prude v. Clarke. Hat tip to How Appealing. Read more
ABA Journal Daily News - RSS Feed (For Florida & 11th Circuit news, see the bottom of this page)
Justice Thomas Recalls Time as ‘Lonely Kid’ Before He
Was Recruited to Holy Cross
ABA Journal Law News Now
By Debra Cassens Weiss
January 27, 2012
Justice Clarence Thomas became emotional during a speech at his college alma mater on Thursday as he remembered the time he had dropped out of the seminary and got
kicked out of his home.
Thomas spoke to students at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., about the priest who recruited him to the school and mentored him during his time there,
according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, NECN.com and the Associated Press.
A new book, Fraternity, chronicles the lives of Thomas and four other men nurtured by the priest and former college president, the Rev. John Brooks.
Before going to Holy Cross, he was just a "lonely kid," Thomas said. "In the summer of 1968, I had no place to go and no idea what I was going to do," Thomas said. "I
was 19. "My only hope was Holy Cross College, a place I'd never seen and had barely heard of."
At the school, Thomas said he "enjoyed the first brief glimpses of what it meant to be educated" and pledged to give up his anger. "It was here, directly in front of the
chapel, on the morning of April 16, 1970, that I promised the Almighty God that if he took hate out of my heart I would never hate again," Thomas recalled. "He did and I have not." Read more here
Clarence Thomas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African
American to serve on the Court.
Thomas grew up in Georgia and was educated at the College of the Holy Cross and at Yale Law School. In 1974, he was appointed an Assistant Attorney General in Missouri
and subsequently practiced law there in the private sector. In 1979, he became a legislative assistant to Missouri United States Senator John Danforth and in 1981 was appointed Assistant Secretary
for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Thomas Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); he served in that position
until 1990, when President George H. W. Bush nominated him for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
On July 1, 1991, after 16 months of service as a judge, Thomas was nominated by Bush to fill Marshall's seat on the United States Supreme Court. Thomas's confirmation
hearings were bitter and intensely fought, centering on an accusation that he had made unwelcome sexual comments to attorney Anita Hill, a subordinate at the Department of Education and subsequently
at the EEOC. The U.S. Senate ultimately confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52–48.
Since joining the Court, Thomas has taken a textualist approach, seeking to uphold what he sees as the original meaning of the United States Constitution and statutes.
He is generally viewed as among the most conservative members of the Court. Thomas has often approached federalism issues in a way that limits the power of the federal government and expands power of
state and local governments. At the same time, Thomas's opinions have generally supported a strong executive branch within the federal government. Read more here
Clarence Thomas is his own man
The Los Angeles Times
David G. Savage
July 3, 2011
After 20 years on the high court, the justice is known for standing alone in dissent.
WASHINGTON — Each summer, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas invites his four new law clerks to his home to watch a movie.
Not just any movie, but the 1949 film version of the classic of libertarian conservatism, Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead."
The movie's hero, played by Gary Cooper, is an idealistic but stubborn architect, who, as Rand wrote, "stood alone against the men of his time."
A character, it might be said, a lot like Thomas himself. "If you think you are right, there is nothing wrong with being the only one," he said last year in explaining his fondness for the movie. "I
have no problem being the only one."
Supreme Court Rules Attaching GPS Device to Car Is a Search; Case Is ‘Big Loss’ for U.S.
Supreme Court Rules Attaching GPS Device to Car Is a Search; Case Is
‘Big Loss’ for U.S.
ABA Journal Law News Now
By Debra Cassens Weiss
January 23, 2012
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for a drug defendant who argued that police should have obtained a warrant before attaching a GPS device to his car to monitor his
movements.
Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the opinion for a court that was unanimous in its finding that the police conduct was a search within the meaning of the Fourth
Amendment.
SCOTUSblog initially
called the decision "a big loss for the federal government." The case, United States v. Jones, is an appeal by
Antoine Jones, who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine after police installed a GPS device on his Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Scalia's opinion was joined in full by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor.
"It is important to be clear about what occurred in this case," Scalia said. "The government physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining
information. We have no doubt that such a physical intrusion would have been considered a 'search' within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when it was adopted."
Scalia said Fourth Amendment jurisprudence was tied to the common law tort of trespass, at least until the latter half of the 20th century.
The justices disagreed over analysis and whose interpretation offered a broader or more flexible interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a
concurring opinion embracing both Scalia's analysis and a privacy-expectation test espoused by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. and three justices in the court's liberal wing.
Sotomayor wrote that a search occurs "at a minimum" when the government physically intrudes on a constitutionally protected area. Even in the absence of a trespass, she
said, the Fourth Amendment is implicated when there is a violation of a suspect's reasonable expectation of privacy.
The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the decision in a press release. It includes this quote from ACLU legal director Steven Shapiro: "Today's decision is an
important victory for privacy. While this case turned on the fact that the government physically placed a GPS device on the defendant's car, the implications are much broader. A majority of the court
acknowledged that advancing technology, like cell phone tracking, gives the government unprecedented ability to collect, store and analyze an enormous amount of information about our private lives.
Today's decision suggests that the court is prepared to address that problem. Congress needs to address the problem as well."
Alito endorsed the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test in an opinion concurring in the judgment. He took issue with Scalia's analysis, accusing him of relying on the
tort law of trespass as it existed in the 18th century. Alito's opinion was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer and Elena Kagan.
"If longterm monitoring can be accomplished without committing a technical trespass—suppose, for example, that the federal government required or persuaded auto
manufacturers to include a GPS tracking device in every car—the court’s theory would provide no protection," Alito wrote.
Scalia responded to Alito and criticized his reliance on Katz v. United States, which found a Fourth Amendment violation when police attached a listening device to the
outside of a phone booth.
"The concurrence begins by accusing us of applying '18th-century tort law,' " Scalia wrote. "That is a distortion. What we apply is an 18th-century guarantee against
unreasonable searches, which we believe must provide at a minimum the degree of protection it afforded when it was adopted. The concurrence does not share that belief. It would apply exclusively
Katz’s reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test, even when that eliminates rights that previously existed." Read more here
Heather Peters - Honda Civic Hybrid Lawsuit
Ex-Lawyer Reconsiders Legal Career After Winning
Unusual Small Claims Case Over Honda Hybrid
ABA Journal Law News Now
By Molly McDonough
February 2, 2012
Updated: Rather than join a class action making many similar claims, a former lawyer who owns a Honda Civic hybrid took her complaints against her car's manufacturer to
small claims court and won.
A Torrance Small Claims Court Commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. misled the woman by claiming the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon, the
Los Angeles Times reports.
Heather Peters, who maintained she never got more than 41 miles per gallon, was awarded $9,867 in damages, just shy of the $10,000 she was seeking.
"It is a victory for Civic Hybrid owners and consumers everywhere," Peters, identified as a former lawyer, told the Times. "Sometimes big justice comes in small
packages."
The Times notes that her damage award is greater than any she would likely collect in a class action. Peters opted for the small claims route after learning a proposed
class action settlement would result in $8.5 million for trial lawyer fees, with car owners receiving as little as $100 and rebate coupons for a new car.
Honda has vowed to appeal, saying in a statement published
by the Times on Thursday: "American Honda believes that the judgment in this case is a radical and unprecedented departure from California and federal law."
Peters, who contends she's been contacted by about 500 hybrid owners through her DontSettleWithHonda.org website, told the Times she hopes to reactivate her state license so she can represent Civic owners in litigation against Honda. Read more here
UPDATE: Appeals Court Overturns $10K Small Claims Verdict Against Honda for Hybrid Mileage Claims
Heather PetersHeather Peters blog post
Feb 2, 2012 7:09 AM CST
I’m doing everything I can to help other Honda owners in this matter. My website www.dontsettlewithhonda.org gives information about how to opt-out and file in small claims for the do-it-yourselfers and I will be publishing a CD with all of my evidence for them to
use, including hard to find EPA documents.
My online petition is urging all 50 State Attorneys General to object to the class action settlement has 577 signatures from 48 states and DC. http://www.change.org/petitions/urge-attorney-generals-to-object-to-honda-settlement.
And I have reactivated my license to practice law. As soon as I receive my malpractice binder I will begin contacting over 500 disgruntled Honda owners who have
contacted me through my website to see if they would like to retain me to file objections on their behalf in the class actions. Read more here
Civic hybrid owner Heather Peters won an unusual Small Claims Court lawsuit against American Honda Motor Co. (Associated Press)Honda loses Civic hybrid Small Claims Court lawsuit
Los Angeles Times
By Jerry Hirsch
February 1, 2012
The owner of a Honda Civic hybrid won an unusual Small Claims Court lawsuit against American Honda Motor Co.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Douglas Carnahan ruled that the giant automaker mislead Civic owner Heather Peters when it claimed that the hybrid could
achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon.
Peters said the Torrance Small Claims Court commissioner awarded her $9,867 in damages, very close to the maximum $10,000 allowed in Small Claims Court that the Los
Angeles resident was seeking.
"It is a victory for Civic Hybrid owners and consumers everywhere," Peters said. "Sometimes big justice comes in small packages."
Her award was far greater than the damages Peters would have collected if she had signed on to a class-action lawsuit settlement that would end larger litigation
that makes many of the same claims against Honda.
Peters sued Honda after learning that a proposed class-action lawsuit settlement that covered her 2006 vehicle would pay trial lawyers $8.5 million while Civic hybrid
owners would get as little as $100 and rebate coupons for the purchase of a new car.
Honda representatives said the automaker was withholding comment until it had read the ruling.
Peters' victory could be short-lived. Honda has the right to ask that the trial be heard again in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where it will be allowed to
bring in its army of lawyers to try to overturn any small-claims judgment.
Peters argued that Honda advertised that the car would get about 50 miles per gallon, but "the car never got more than 41 or 42 even on its very best day." She said the
fuel economy dropped below 30 mpg after a software update intended to prolong the life of the car's battery and improve performance.
The former attorney decided to file the case in Small Claims Court to prevent Honda from bringing a highly paid legal team to the battle. California law prohibits
companies from using attorneys to mount a defense in Small Claims Court.
Honda defended itself by contending that Peters' low fuel mileage numbers resulted from the way she drives or how she maintains her Civic.
With nearly three hours of testimony over two days, Carnahan noted that this was one of the longest Small Claims Court cases he knew of.
Honda has acknowledged that the battery on 2006 through 2008 Civic hybrids "may deteriorate and eventually fail" earlier than expected. When the battery pack can't be
charged to full capacity, the car relies more on the gas engine and fuel economy suffers.
A proposed class-action settlement dealing with similar issues was rejected last year in federal court in Riverside by Judge Virginia Phillips, who agreed with 26
attorneys general and multiple consumer groups that the deal did not pay Civic owners enough.
Peters wants other Civic owners to file suits against Honda in various Small Claims Court jurisdictions across the state, making the automaker fight a multi-front legal
battle in which it would be unable to bring its legal forces to bear.
She said about 500 owners have contacted her through her DontSettleWithHonda.org website that explains
how Peters filed her lawsuit against the automaker.
Peters said she planned to reactivate her state license so that she can represent other Civic owners in litigation against Honda. Read more here
Honda Civic Hybrid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Honda Civic Hybrid is a hybrid powertrain version of the Honda Civic, first introduced in Japan near the end of 2001. It comes with either a continuously variable
automatic transmission or (until 2005) a 5-speed manual transmission. It uses an Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system similar to Honda Insight. The Civic Hybrid is only available as sedan, even in
Europe until 2012, where it is replaced by its hatchback version. Read more here
Law Grad’s Ballooning Student Debt Will Exceed $1.5M by the Time He Retires
Law Grad’s Ballooning Student Debt Will Exceed $1.5M by
the Time He Retires
ABA Journal Law News Now
February 28, 2012
by Debra Cassens Weiss
A Touro law graduate who financed his education with a $69,000 loan in 1996 says he’ll owe more than $1.5 million by the time he retires in 23 years.
John Koch, now 46, was unable to pass the New York bar exam, despite three tries, according to Cable News Channel
12 (sub. req.). He has worked as a compliance manager, an insurance agent and a painter. He is also a law school scamblogger who uses the pseudonym JDPainterGuy, Legal Skills Prof Blog reports. The video is posted at
YouTube.
When Koch defaulted on his loan, penalties added $40,000 to $50,000 to the balance, he tells the television station. He currently owes more than $300,000. Now he is
deferring loan payments under a federal program, which adds $2,000 in interest to his balance each month. As a result, he will be charged interest on interest, a debt expert tells Cable News Channel
12.
Another expert, Cryn Johannsen, tells the TV station that huge student debts contribute to depression. People find her blog by searching online for the words "suicide" and "student loan debt." Johannsen is a journalist and an advocate for student loan debtors who runs a nonprofit called Education
Matters.
Koch tells News Channel 12 the debt burden harmed his former marriage and affected his mental outlook. "When I'm 69 years old, I will have carried student loan debt for
50 years," Koch tells the reporter. The station broadcast the interview on Feb. 12 as part of a series called "Student Loan Trap." Read more here
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