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Thursday, December 27, 2007 "S-R loses court battle over school records": The Spokesman-Review of Spokane, Washington provides a news update that begins, "The Washington Supreme Court sided Thursday with Spokane Public Schools in a six-year legal battle with The Spokesman-Review over access to witness accounts of the events that led to the death of a third grader on a school field trip in 2001. The 5-4 ruling upholds the school district’s decision to withhold public documents when it assumed a wrongful death lawsuit was likely." And The Associated Press reports that "High court shields attorney-client records; State's justices rule out releasing documents regarding child's death." My earlier coverage appears at this link. Available online from law.com: Tony Mauro has an article headlined "A Historic Find Behind a Supreme Court Filing Cabinet; A copy of the Declaration of Independence sat forgotten at the high court; Now it's cleaned up and on display." And a newsbrief reports that "Airline Industry to Appeal 'Passenger Bill of Rights' Ruling." My earlier coverage appears at this link. "Iowa appeals videotape evidence case to U.S. Supreme Court": The Associated Press provides a report that begins, "Iowa's attorney general has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Iowa Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the use of videotaped testimony in a child sexual abuse case against a man whose brother killed the child." And Radio Iowa News reports that "Iowa Attorney General asks for U.S. Supreme Court review of Bentley ruling." "SF appeals to court to allow health coverage plan to proceed": Bob Egelko of The San Francisco Chronicle provides a news update that begins, "San Francisco asked a federal appeals court this morning to let the city extend health coverage to all uninsured adult residents next week, despite a federal judge's ruling that struck down a key provision requiring employers to pay part of the cost." Posted at 11:40 PM by Howard Bashman "Plaintiffs’ lawyers blast Exxon brief to high court": This article appeared last week in The Kodiak Daily Mirror. Posted at 11:38 PM by Howard Bashman Credit reporting service that failed to correct the credit report of a woman who was the victim of identity theft remains liable to pay six-figure judgment on woman's claims for economic loss and emotional distress: A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued this ruling today. Defendant Equifax did succeed in setting aside an attorneys' fee award of $181,083 in the woman's favor, although the district court will be able to reconsider what amount of attorneys' fees to award on remand. And if the woman is dissatisfied with the Fourth Circuit's remittitur of the jury's $245,000 mental anguish award to $150,000, she has the ability to elect a new trial. Posted at 04:20 PM by Howard Bashman "In a first for any federal court, my colleagues hold that a foreign company that has no United States employees, locations, or business activities must produce a designee to testify at a deposition in the Eastern District of Virginia so long as it has applied for trademark registration with a government office located there." So begins a dissent that Circuit Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III issued today from a ruling of a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The case arises from a Portuguese company's effort to obtain a United States trademark registration of the mark VIRGIN GORDA. Opposing the registration of that mark is Virgin Enterprises Ltd., a conglomerate that operates businesses such as Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Records, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Wines, and Virgin Digital. "Ohio Supreme Court upholds law limiting punitive damages": The Columbus Dispatch provides a news update that begins, "A Republican-sponsored law to limit the amount of punitive damages people can collect for defective products or malpractice does not violate the Ohio Constitution, the state Supreme Court ruled today. In a 5-2 decision, the court said lawmakers didn't overstep their bounds when they capped non-economic damages at $350,000 per person and $500,000 per incident in 2005." The Toledo Blade provides a news update headlined "Ohio Supreme Court upholds law that puts cap on personal injury damages." The Cleveland Plain Dealer provides a news update headlined "Ohio personal injury caps upheld." The Cincinnati Enquirer provides a news update headlined "Lawsuit limits upheld." And The Associated Press reports that "Ohio Supreme Court Upholds Damages Law." You can access today's ruling of the Supreme Court of Ohio at this link. And the court's Public Information Office issued a news release headlined "Court Upholds Two Tort-Reform Statutes." "KOZINSKI, Chief Judge, dissenting for the most part:" So begins Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's opinion "dissenting for the most part" from a ruling that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today. A search of Westlaw's CTA database discloses that today is not the first time Kozinski has dissented "for the most part." He also did it once in 1992 and once earlier this year. Thus far, the characterization hasn't caught on with any other federal appellate judges, as there are no other recorded use of the "dissenting for the most part" language in any other federal appellate court rulings available in that database. "Nine-year-old Nathan Walters died after ingesting part of a peanut butter cookie, which was served to him in a school lunch on a school field trip." So begins the majority opinion in today's 5-4 ruling of the Supreme Court of the State of Washington in Soter v. Cowles Publishing Co. Today's decision also includes a concurring opinion and a dissenting opinion. At issue on appeal is whether the school district properly declined to release 75 documents relating to the child's food allergy-related death after The Spokesman-Review newspaper sought access to the documents under Washington State's Public Records Act. The majority holds that the documents were properly withheld from the newspaper. The dissenting opinion, in which four justices have joined, disagrees, stating: "The majority essentially creates a public nondisclosure act, turning the act inside out so that documents are withheld from the public unless the public can demonstrate that no remotely connected litigation exists, past, present, or future." "A Court in Need: The Senate should act on nominations to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit." This editorial appears today in The Washington Post. Posted at 08:56 AM by Howard Bashman "KU graduate to clerk for Supreme Court": The Topeka Capital-Journal today contains an article that begins, "A 2003 University of Kansas graduate who earned a law degree this spring at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., is the second Kansan recently selected for a U.S. Supreme Court clerkship in the 2008 term. Jameson Reece Jones, of Wichita, who earned degrees in American studies and civil engineering at KU, will clerk for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia during the 2008-09 term. Jones currently is a clerk for Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court, in Columbus, Ohio." And the University of Kansas yesterday issued a press release entitled "2003 KU graduate selected to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court." "Strip clubs fighting $5 fee focus on tax argument, not First Amendment; Fee goes into effect Tuesday": This article appears today in The Austin American-Statesman. Posted at 08:44 AM by Howard Bashman "A Colony With a Conscience": Today in The New York Times, Kenneth T. Jackson has this op-ed about the Flushing Remonstrance. Posted at 08:34 AM by Howard Bashman "Google to Face Suit Over AutoLink Patents, Court Says": Bloomberg News provides a report that begins, "Google Inc., owner of the most-used Internet search engine, must face a Wisconsin company's lawsuit over a toolbar feature that generates Web links from computer-search data, a federal appeals court decided." You can access yesterday's non-precedential ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit at this link. "State Without Pity": The New York Times today contains an editorial that begins, "It is a shameful distinction, but Texas is the undisputed capital of capital punishment." Posted at 07:40 AM by Howard Bashman "U.S. Prevails in Tax-Shelter Battle; 'Son of Boss' Court Ruling Could Be Used To Pressure Other Taxpayers to Settle": This article appears today in The Wall Street Journal. And The New York Times reports today that "Judge Hands I.R.S. Victory in Tax Shelter." "TaxProf Blog" reports on and links to last Friday's ruling of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. "Convicted Felon Tests Second Amendment": Joseph Goldstein has this article today in The New York Sun. Posted at 07:08 AM by Howard Bashman  
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