Recently in Big Brother Category

The U.S Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a Washtenaw County commissioner and a man who managed his rental units in Ypsilanti for subjecting female tenants to unwanted sexual advances.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit, the lawsuit states that property manager Glen E. Johnson had been subjecting actual and prospective female tenants to unwanted sexual advances since 2005 at 11 single family properties owned by County Commissioner Ronnie Peterson.
Allegedly, Johnson entered the apartments of female tenants without their permission or advance notice and took adverse action against them if they objected to his advances.
The suit further alleges that Peterson who has been county commissioner since 2001 is responsible for Jonhson's conduct on account of the fact that he was not aware of the discriminatory conduct and because he failed to take preventive or corrective action.
To read more about the case click here.

The former Sherriff of Henry County, Tennessee, David Bumpus, who recently finished serving a federal prison sentence in November, after he pleaded guilty to the crime of misappropriating county funds to purchase firearms for his personal use, now finds himself facing a civil lawsuit.
The county government is filing a civil lawsuit against Bumpus and a co-defendant, Samuel J.Ferren, seeking $238,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages. The lawsuit states that the county is suing Bumpus and Ferren for breach of contract, fraud, theft , embezzlement and breach of trust.
To read more about the case click here.

A black author who was cited by the police for placing an allegedly racially offensive sign on his car is being backed by the American Civil Liberties Union in his lawsuit against the police.
Johnny Duncan filed a case in U.S. District Court against the police department, and several city officials of Amite, Louisiana for the violation of his civil rights.
In August 2007, Duncan was confronted by officers for a sign on his car that read 'You might be a nigger'. The sign was advertising one of Duncan's books. The officer's cited him for violating the state's obscenity law. The ticket against him was later dismissed.
The Executive Director of ACLU for Louisiana stated that the facts of this case revealed that Duncan was detained for no other reason other than that the police in Amite did not like what he had to say.
As a result of the incident, Duncan filed a lawsuit against the officers in August 2007 seeking $15 million in damages for anxiety, defamation, fear, mental anguish and several other intangible factors.
Duncan believes that the citation against him was part of a larger pattern of harassment by the police.
To read more about the case click here.

Low income housing developers, Brownstone Developments LLC, are suing the city of Natchez in Mississippi over the right to rezone land that they had been allotted for development.
The developers had plannd to build a residential area called Audubon Terrace in the Bluebird Drive area of the city, when the board of aldermen denied the developers the right to rezone the land.
As per a statement issued by their attorney, Michael Cory, the developers claim that they were given a letter of assurance by the former city planner, that the land they had purchased for their project was zoned properly for housing development.
Later however, the planning commission turned down the development project stating their reason for denial to be the improper zoning of the project.
The developers then repeatedly tried to get the area rezoned but were denied by the planning commission and by the board of alderman.
They are now filing a lawsuit claiming more than $1 million in damages.

To read more click here.

 
 

Last Friday, a TV journalist won $5,000 in damages in a trial over an incident that took place nearly four years ago in which police officers allegedly used excessive force while arresting her. Although a Prince George County, Maryland civil jury decided in favor of Andrea McCarren, they also found that the county officers had acted appropriately in conducting a 'high-risk' stop of the WJLA-TV journalist.
McCarren had alleged in her lawsuit that the police officers had manhandled her and tried to intimidate her into ceasing her probe into the possible misuse of county government resources. McCarren further alleged that as a result of the excessive force used during the incident, she suffered tendon damage to a shoulder.
On behalf of McCarren one of her attorneys, Steven M Pavsner commented that although they were pleased that the jury had validated McCaren's allegation that the police had used excessive force, they were disappointed with the damages that had been awarded.

To read more about the case click here.

San Jose Police Chief Rob Davis and the city of San Jose, have been slapped with a federal class action lawsuit which contends that thousands of people from minority communities have been falsely and unconstitutionally charged with public drunkenness.
The lawsuit filed by two men, seeks damages on behalf of all victims which could put a heavy cost on the city's aggressive drive to charge people who display public drunkenness.
The two men are from Santa Cruz County and were arrested on June 2008 in downtown San Jose. San Jose attorney Jeff Kallis has filed the lawsuit on behalf of the two men.
The lawsuit comes amidst a public upheaval after Mercury News reported that the department had arrested and charged more people for public drunkenness in the past few years than any other department in the state.
To read more about the case click here.

The New Orleans Parish District Attorney is trying to avoid paying a multi-million dollar payout, which he inherited, by declaring bankruptcy. Leon Cannizzaro is keeping his options open in order to avoid paying $15 million in damages to an ex-convict as per a jury verdict, declared in 2007. Cannizzaro's appeal to overturn the verdict was denied by an appeals court last month. The court passed a verdict against the district attorney's office for prosecutorial misconduct during the 80's when the department was under the aegis of Harry Connick.
Former death row inmate John Thompson was awarded $14 million in damages plus attorney's fee and interest by a jury in 2007. The verdict was passed as compensation for the fact that Thompson spent 18 years of his life in a prison cell after prosecutors hid evidence that could have benefited him, in order to improve their chances of convicting him for the murder of Ray Liuzza.
Cannizzaro wants to exercise the rarely used option of filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy.  This legal protection is used by municipalities to hold of creditors and possibly reduce debts. However, this measure considerably damage the credit rating of the public agency.
To read more about the case click here.

The state of Michigan may end up paying millions of dollars in damages to inmates of its correctional facilities, for the sexual abuse they faced while serving their prison terms.
The current scenario comes as no surprise to human rights groups who have been crying themselves hoarse for several years now, over the condition of female inmates in prison. They have alleged that prison guard were routinely groping, molesting and raping female inmates.
The class-action lawsuit was first filed in 1996. It may now end up costing the state hundreds of millions of taxpayer's dollars in damages. So far, 18 women have testified against the Michigan Department of Corrections. They have received $50 million in damages. Several more are yet to testify. The class-action lawsuit now has more than 500 inmates participating in it.
In its defense, the state has claimed that it did not take any action earlier because none of the inmates reported the alleged assaults. They also said that in any case, they found it hard to give credibility to the testimony of convicted criminals.
To read more about the case click here.

The only female truck driver for the sanitation department in Atlantic City has filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that the city failed to protect her from the sexual harassment meted out to her by her supervisors.
Lisa Fundberg-Carr who has been a truck driver for the city since 2006, alleges that her supervisor, Melvin Jones, 'pinned her against a wall and tried to put his tongue down her throat'. She reported the incident, which took place in March or April 2006, to Barbara Camper, the city's equal opportunity employment officer at that time but no action was taken.
Fundberg-Carr also claims that her co-worker, Brian Williams, passed sexually offensive comments about her while they were both in training together such as 'how does it feel between your legs'. Her lawsuit also alleges that Williams also sent her obscene photos of himself to her celphone.
Again she claims that she reported the incident but nothing was done. All the while Williams continued to harass her by calling her 'bitch' and yelling in her face.
Her lawsuit filed on December 15 also named Jones, Williams, Herman Baskerville, Camper, David Callaway and former assistant city solicitor John Hegarty as defendants.
Fundberg-Carr is being represented by David Castellani of Northfield. In her lawsuit she alleges that she suffered 'extreme emotional distress, mental anguish, embaressment, humiliation, loss of past and future wages, physical injury and other damages' and that Atlantic City failed to enforce policies relating to sexual harassment at the workplace. She is seeking punitive damages, legal fees and other costs associated with filing the lawsuit.

A nurse at the Darlington County Detention Center, South Carolina, has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the county sheriff, his chief deputy and the county's jail director.
Roberta O'Steen filed her complaint in federal court Florence on December 19. In her lawsuit, O'Steen alleges that in the summer of 2007 Denis Carter, the detention center director, sexually harassed her by using vulgar sexual language with her and ordering her to perform massages. She claims that he also offered her money to see her breasts and to spend the night with him.
O'Steen complained about Carter's behavior to the county's human resources office administrator Phyllis Griffitts and to Darlington Sheriff Glenn Campbell. However, no action was taken.
After her complaint, O'Steen found that Carter stopped communicating with her about work related issues. He created a hostile work environment for her, forcing her termination from employment at the jail.
O'Steen later complained to the Darlington deputy sheriff, Tom Gainey about the harassment. He chided her for not reporting the harassment sooner and told her she would be written up for the delay. According to the plaintiff's document the deputy sheriff went on to accuse her of liking the behavior of her supervisor.
In her federal complaint, O'Steen alleges that she suffered irreparable injury and monetary damage as a result of the harassment.
O'Steen is being represented by Florence attorney Phoebe A. Clark of the Wukela Law Firm.

The former vice president of Mankato Bank, Minnesota, who filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota Department of Public Safety in October last year, has been told to wait by a federal judge.
Jon Kietzer, former vice president of the community bank, filed a lawsuit against special agent Doug Forsman and the commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, Michael Campion, seeking damages for Forsman's alleged illegal and unconstitutionally torturous behaviour with him during a fraud investigation.
However, weeks after Kietzer filed his lawsuit, he was charged with theft by swindle and forgery, both felonies. Hence U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeanne Graham stayed proceedings of Kietzer's civil case until the criminal cases against him were resolved.
The charges against Kietzer accuse him of using a false appraisal for a house and land that he had sold to a nonprofit organization called Minnesota Game and Fish Preservation, after which he issued a $100,000 line of credit to the organization. Kietzer's bank accounts were searched during the investigation.
Forsman's investigation was brought to public attention in 2007 after Kietzer and another local businessman were questioned about their involvement in the Minnesota Game and Fish Preservation nonprofit organization.
Kietzer's lawsuit claims that Forsman tried to coerce him into making a confession.
To read more about the case click here.

The widow of a man who was shot dead by the Sunnyvale police in September 2007, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court this week alleging that the city and its public safety officers were negligent and that they had violated her husband's civil rights.
Jose Francisco Canas was shot dead by the police who were attempting to arrest him on murder charges. His widow, Erica Canas, is challenging the police's account of the incident which states that the police were firing in self-defense when Canas tried to run over them in his car in an attempt to escape.
Originally filed six months ago, the lawsuit was withdrawn after city lawyers alleged that it was too vague. It was later filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court before being filed again as a federal case. The city has rejected the family's claim for damages based on the shooting.
In her lawsuit, Canas' wife, has stated that her husband was just driving to work  and was not, as officers put it, 'fleeing from justice or resisting arrest'.
Her lawsuit further alleges that the police misrepresented evidence so as to be able to obtain a warrant against Canas in relation to a gang related slaying. They used an unreliable informant, pressurized a witness to change their testimony and singled out Canas to be a gang member owing to his racial ancestry.
Erika Canas is seeking unspecified damages and is filing the lawsuit on behalf of the couple's 2 year old twin sons as well.    
To read more about the case click here.

 

A former deputy sheriff of Calhoun County, Mississippi has sued the county after he was fired from his job in March this year. In his lawsuit, John Roger Westmoreland has alleged that he was fired because he was black and because he took unavoidable medical leave.
Speaking on behalf of Westmoreland, his attorney Jim Waide stated that the county was being sued by his client, for the actions of Sheriff Bill Gore who fired his client only to replace him with his son. Waide further alleged that his client was hired two years ago because officials felt they needed a black deputy. Westmoreland also claims he was never even sent to the police academy for training and that he was fired the day after he returned from medical leave.
Westmoreland claims that his firing violates the Family and Medical Leave Act, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended in 1991.
  

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the city of Laguna Beach, its council members and police department on behalf of the homeless people of the city.
The suit claims that the city's anti-sleeping ordinances result in an unconstitutional harassment of homeless people. The city's police illegally conducts 'sweeps', picking up homeless people from the streets and subjecting them to interrogations in the middle of the night.
To read more about the case click here.

A Navy Lt. who was a part of the war in Iraq in 2007, returned home to his condo complex in Virginia Springs, to find that his car had been towed and auctioned off by the Norfolk Towing Company.

The U.S. Justice department has filed a lawsuit against the towing company on behalf of the officer.

Navy Lt. Yahya Jaboori is protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act which protects active-duty personnel from civil court actions including the enforcement of liens, judgements and evictions.

Justice department officials are considering converting the lawsuit into a joint class action lawsuit as they suspect that the company preys on military members by enforcing storage liens without a court order.

To read more click here.

In a shocking ruling last Thursday, the California Supreme Court decided that a woman who helped her friend out of a car wreck was liable to face a lawsuit as she was not a qualified medical professional. The court ruled that good Samaritans who unintentionally harm people they are trying to help, can be sued.
This decision contradicts the state's 1980 Health and Safety code that states that 'no person, who in good faith, and not for compensation, renders emergency care at the scene of an emergency, shall be liable for any civil damages resulting from any act or omission.'
Lisa Torti helped her co-worker Alexandra Van Horn out of a car wreck in 2004. As a result of the accident Van Horn became a paraplegic. Now, Van Horn alleges that Torti's actions at the scene of the accident, contributed to her injuries as she provided non-medical assistance. Van Horn also sued the driver of the car she was riding in, Anthony Glen Watson.
To read more about the case click here.

New Hampshire suspended all its jury trials for a month after court budgets were slashed following the economic instability rocking the U.S. at the moment. 19 other stated have also slashed their court budgets and other state services.
Cash-strapped New Hampshire is unique in that, it has become a leading example of the problems all the states are facing.
To save $73,000 in jurors' per diems, the state courts will halt for a month all civil and criminal jury trials.
To read more click here.

A veteran county constable, who is facing a lawsuit to oust him from the force, is filing a counter lawsuit.
Roane County, Tennessee constable Mark Patton is seeking $250,000 in damages from the county, 15 commissioners, the county attorney, Tom McFarland and Roane County purchasing agent, Lynn Farnham. He is also suing Johnny Griffin, an insurance agent for an auto company.
Patton alleges that Griffin was directed by Farnham to remove the county from the bond Patton had obtained to satisfy requirements for office.
To read more about the case click here.

An Alabama based Attorney General recently filed a lawsuit against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for making policy changes that allegedly help them grab portions of settlements and awards that have not been collected by the state yet.
Attorney General Troy King says that the federal Medicaid agency ignores and refuses to comply with his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to view records pertaining to its recent policy change. These changes comprise the subject of his lawsuit against CMS.
King has also filed a lawsuit against CMS on behalf of Alabama's Medicaid agency. This was done five days after the state submitted its FOIA request to CMS.
To read the whole article click here.

A sexual abuse and harassment lawsuit has been filed against the Division of Corrections for the state of West Virginia, for the sexual abuse and harassment that an inmate underwent while incarcerated at the Anthony Correctional Center.
Sexually abused by her supervisor at the prison, ex- inmate Lola Rakes filed the lawsuit on October 23 in which she has named the DOC, Franklin Rush, the supervisor and an associate warden, amongst others, as the defendants.
Rakes alleges that she suffered serious injury, invasion of privacy, humiliation, mental anguish and the loss of her ability to enjoy life as a result of the abuse.
Rakes is seeking compensatory and punitive damages for her suffering and is also seeking to see that the Correction facility starts a program to train its employees on how to prevent sexual harassment.
To read the whole article click here.

An Ethiopian Baltimore- Washington International Airport (BWI) taxi driver who was arrested and later unsuccessfully prosecuted, just because he had complained to the Maryland Transportation Authority police about a shuttle bus that was blocking his exit, was awarded $305,000 in damages by a Baltimore jury.
In April 2005, Dawit Seyoum, a native of Ethiopia who is currently residing in Hyattsville, Maryland, suffered tears to his right bicep and tendons in that arm. According to his attorney, Cary J. Hansel III, the incident has resulted in a severe impingement of that arm.
The judgement which includes economic, non economic and punitive damages will allow Dawit to undergo surgery to improve his arm.
To read the complete article click here.

A Wayne, NJ resident, who blew the whistle against the township last year, has filed another lawsuit against a lawyer who represented the township in the case last year. The defamation lawsuit alleges that lawyer Eric L. Harrison, bad- mouthed him while talking about the settlement to the media. Jeffrey DelVecchio is suing both Mount Olive, his former employers, and Harrison for falsely stating that his job as building inspector was terminated because of his rude and insubordinate behaviour.
DelVecchio has stated in his lawsuit that these defamatory statements violated the settlement agreement reached by both parties last year and also caused him mental anguish, stress, humiliation, pain and suffering. For this he is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
In October 2007, DelVecchio won a $130,000 lawsuit against Mount Olive under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act also known as the whistle- blower law alleging that he had been removed from his job in retaliation for reports he filed in 2005 about supposed violations of construction codes in the building of a Best Western hotel in Budd Lake. 

Eight female former prisoners of the Crane Correctional Facility were awarded $8.45 million in damages for the rape and sexual harassment they suffered in the 90s by guards at the facility in Coldwater, Michigan.
This is the second multimillion dollar verdict against the Michigan Department of Corrections in a huge civil case alleging widespread abuse in Michigan prisons.
The case is being heard in batches in front of Washtenaw Circuit Judge Timothy Connors, since more than 500 female prisoners have alleged that they were sexually abused by prison guards in the 90s.
The first verdict was handed out in February when 10 current and former prisoners were awarded $15.4 million in damages for sexual abuse by corrections officers at Scott Correctional Facility in Plymoth.
Deborah LaBelle, the lead attorney for the case stated that these prisoners had been deeply damaged by the hands of the state.
A third trial will be held in 2009 against Western Wayne Correctional Facility which was closed in 2004.
The verdict from the first trial is being appealed.

Two troopers of the State police of Uniontown, Pennsylvania will have to pay $12.5 million in damages for the death of a 12-year-old boy at their hands after they shot him while he fled after crashing a stolen vehicle. The father of the Uniontown boy was awarded the damages in the jury trial that was presided over by U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti in Pittsburgh.
This settlement brings to an end the appeal of a $28 million jury verdict handed out earlier this year in favour of Michael Hickenbottom, father of Michael Ellerbe, the boy killed in the shootout.
Earlier this year, a federal jury ruled that Trooper Samuel Nassan and Cpl. Juan Curry had used unnecessary violence against the boy as he ran away from them on Dec. 24, 2002, after crashing a stolen sport utility vehicle. The jury had then awarded $4 million in compensatory damages and $24 million in punitive damages against the troopers following which attorneys representing the two policemen appealed. This was the appeal that was settled this week.
The settlement is protected by a confidentiality agreement, barring anyone involved with the case from commenting on it.
Throughout the trial, both troopers have maintained that Ellerbe ran with his hand in his pocket and ignored repeated commands to show his hands and stop running. They further stated that during the course of the chase, Curry accidently fired his weapon. Hearing this, his partner says he mistook it to mean that a shot had been fired at Curry. Hence he fired a single round at Ellerbe. Three medical experts testified that Ellerbe was hit in the back.
For further details about the case read the article by Jennifer Harr on the Herald- Standard website.

The Deputy Sheriff of Mahaska County, Oskaloosa, Iowa, Richard Adams and his wife Melissa have been implicated in a lawsuit for allegedly, forcefully taking a child away from her father.
Ashley Elaine, 16, and her biological father, Robin Scott Evans, 47, accused the couple of abduction, false imprisonment, abuse of power, violation of civil rights and of harbouring a runaway child. The lawsuit was also filed against Mahaska County.
The couple had applied for and were granted co- guardianship of Ashley in 2007. This, the plaintiff claims, was done without notifying him and hence violated his rights to be informed about the due process of the application.  
In November 2007, responding to a 911 call from the Evan's residence, Richard and Melissa took Ashley away from her father and kept her location secret until they were forced to return her to her father by order of court issued 29 April 2008.
Judge James Q. Blomgren who presided over the 29 April ruling stated that the order to grant guardianship of the minor girl to the Adams was illegal and was a violation of due process. He further stated that factors such as the death of a parent, abandonment of the child or demonstrable harm to the child qualified the appointment of a guardian. In this case the Adams had failed to prove any of the above mentioned factors.
The plaintiffs have asked for a jury trial and their lawsuit requests damages for unjust imprisonment, violation of rights, humiliation and embarrassment, mental and emotional distress, expenses incurred in defending the guardianship petition of the Adams and exposure to public hatred and ridicule. The lawsuit is also seeking expenses incurred by the plaintiff in searching for his daughter.

 

U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge ruled that Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft does not have absolute immunity in a lawsuit related to material witnesses filed by a student. The suit claims the student, Abdullah al-Kidd, who played football for the University of Idaho, was wrongly imprisoned in a computer terrorism case

The judge rejected Ashcroft's arguument to toss out the lawsuit because he was entitled to absolute immunity since his position at the Department of Justice was prosecutorial.

Al-Kidd claimed government wrongfully arrested him in the case against a fellow student, Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, in 2003. They both worked for the Islamic Assembly of North America.

A jury acquitted Al-Hussayen of using his computer skills to foster terrorism and of three immigration violations after an eight-week federal trial. But Al-Hussayen _ who was only months from finishing his doctorate study at the University of Idaho _ was eventually deported to Saudi Arabia.

Al-Kidd was never called to testify, but he spent two weeks in jail as a material witness and was later released to the custody of his wife with strict limitations on where he could travel.

His lawsuit claimed Ashcroft was personally liable for violating his rights because after the terrorist attacks Ashcroft "created a national policy to improperly seek material witness warrants, oversaw the execution of such warrants, and failed to correct the constitutional violations of conducting such actions," according court documents. Al-Kidd said the investigation and detainment not only caused him to lose a scholarship to study in Saudi Arabia, but that it cost him employment opportunities.

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A settlement of $ 2.15 million was reached in a class action suit involving strip searches that were conducted on thousands of inmates at the Will County Jail. Some of these people had been arrested for minor misdemeanor or traffic violations.

Last December, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ruled that jailers violated the rights of many inmates in Will County Jail by strip searching them. He ruled the searches could be allowed only when jail officials had reasonable suspicion to believe an inmate was carrying contraband, such as drugs or weapons.

Several thousand former inmates will share the $2.15 million settlement.

The family of 29-year-old Adam Avalos, who was killed while in the Doña Ana County Detention Center, has sued the County for wrongful death, negligence, negligent supervision and violations of civil rights.

Avalos’ widow, Sylvia, is seeking unspecified damages, and says that jail officials were negligent when they held Avalos together with violent inmates.

Avalos was found stabbed and beaten to death April 2 inside the Doña Ana County Detention Center. He was in jail on a probation violation.

Dominic Montoya, 30, a murder convict, has been charged in Avalos’ death.

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The mother of a 14 year old Ohio girl who was jailed for 12 days for failing to testify against a man accused of having sex with her has sued the county prosecutor and sheriff.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court, seeks $12 million in damages for the 12 days the girl was held at the Summit County jail in May.

The girl was released after the 9th Ohio District Court of Appeals ruled she should not have been held without a hearing or placed in an adult jail. She had been isolated from adult inmates.

She then testified against 20-year-old Galo Sanchez-Pesantes, who was acquitted by a jury of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.

The lawsuit claims the girl was illegally held as a material witness, subjected to a strip search, denied access to education and visitors, and "offensively touched" while being handcuffed and shackled.

The defendants are Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh and two of her assistants, along with Sheriff Drew Alexander, jail Chief Steven Finical and unnamed sheriff's deputies.

Common Pleas Judge James Murphy, who ordered the girl held in jail after she failed to appear in his court to testify, has immunity from the lawsuit.

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Hispanic activists and the ACLU sued Hazleton, a northeastern Pennsylvania city that has recently approved a tough law to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The new law imposes $1,000 fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, denies business permits to companies that give them jobs and makes English the city's official language.

The lawsuit contends that the Constitution gives the federal government exclusive power to regulate immigration and that the city's ordinance is discriminatory and unworkable.

Mayor Lou Barletta said that he was confident the ordinance will stand up to legal scrutiny, and Hazleton would stand its ground.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs told Barletta that they would drop the lawsuit if City Council repealed the ordinance and agreed not to pursue a similar measure in the future.

A lawsuit filed by a Houston taxpayer group, Citizens Lowering Our Unfair Taxes (CLOUT), against legislative leaders over the level of state spending has been dismissed.

Visiting state District Judge Bill Bender of Seguin ruled that CLOUT didn't have standing to sue the Legislative Budget Board over the state's constitutional spending cap, which limits the state budget from growing more than the Texas economy.

The suit alleged that the LBB, which includes Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, House Speaker Tom Craddick and eight other key lawmakers, has used artificially inflated estimates of economic growth to justify higher spending limits.

It contended the school finance appropriations approved by the Legislature during the spring special session were unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris ruled that the state of Massachusetts discriminated against black and Hispanic applicants for firefighter jobs by using exams that were unfair to minorities. The class-action suit was brought on behalf of all minority firefighters who took the 2002 and 2004 firefighters exams in hopes of joining fire departments in Boston, Lynn and other communities.

Saris said the state has continued to rank applicants based on how well they score on written exams that test cognitive ability, even though such tests were found discriminatory in the early 1970s. A 1974 federal consent decree ordered that a more fair exam be created. Massachusetts has failed over 30 years to create a more equitable exam for minorities seeking firefighter jobs throughout the state, despite court order to do so, the judge ruled.

"These cognitive examinations do not predict how quickly a firefighter can climb stairs with equipment or raise a ladder," Saris wrote in a 68-page decision in favor of four black firefighter applicants in Lynn.

The judge gave the lawyers for the four 30 days to propose a remedy. The state and the city of Lynn then will have 30 days to respond.

Lynn Mayor Edward "Chip" Clancy said his city has followed state Civil Service guidelines for hiring applications, and will continue to do so if the exam is changed.

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The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against a Las Vegas city ordinance that makes feeding homeless people in city parks illegal. The suit claims the new law violates the rights to free speech, free exercise of religion, free assembly, due process of law and equal protection under the law.

ACLU public advocate Lee Rowland calls the law - "immoral" and "embarrassing for the city."

Las Vegas is one of the first in the nation to explicitly bar feeding the poor and  City Attorney Brad Jerbic said the city will defend the law in court.

The complaint was filed on behalf of five local activists and the Las Vegas chapter of the advocacy group Food Not Bombs, a national organization that describes its objective as "sharing free vegetarian food with hungry people and protesting war and poverty." 

On Monday, a radio disc jockey was the first person to receive a summons under the new law, a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of $1,000 and six months in jail. Six other people were issued summonses and three people were arrested.

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A state appeals court has ruled that the City of Oakland is partly responsible for the death of Freddie Marie Christian, who was stabbed by her boyfriend, when he should have been in jail.

Christian's boyfriend, Clarence Brown had been served a restraining order, but the next day, she came home to find him in her apartment. She called the police, but instead of being booked into the city jail, as required by state law and police regulations, he was released by Officer Matous.

Brown returned to Christian's apartment, hid and stabbed her to death.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Christian's three children, represented by attorney John Burris. The appeals court panel called the conduct of the city "reckless, indifferent and negligent".

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The family of Ed Lino, a slain mobster, is suing his alleged killer, mob cop Stephen Caracappa, for $100 million.

Caracappa, a former detective and his partner, Louis Eppolito, allegedly got $70,000 from Luchese family underboss Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso to kill Lino, a member of a hit team that had tried but failed to kill Casso.

The suit, filed by Lino's widow, Anna, also seeks to hold the city responsible, charging that the NYPD failed to properly supervise and monitor the pair.

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The U.S. Department of Justice has sued the city of Euclid seeking to block elections until the election process is restructured to give black candidates a better chance at holding public office.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Cleveland, alleges that in the present system, it is virtually impossible for a black candidate to get elected, as majority whites vote as a bloc in an at-large election setup.

"The Justice Department believes today's lawsuit is necessary to preserve the voting rights of African-American citizens in the city of Euclid," Assistant Attorney General Wan J. Kim, who heads up the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a news release.

The city's population of 53,000 is 30% black, but no black person has been elected to a local seat.

At issue is the City Council voting system. Each of four wards elects a representative; four additional council members and the council president are elected citywide. In 2005, all five citywide office holders were from the same ward.

Kim warned city officials in a letter in March that he was prepared to sue.

The lawsuit claims black candidates would fare better if the city were split into eight wards, each electing its own council member. That would create at least two majority-black districts, according to the lawsuit.

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A class action lawsuit against Management and Training Corporation, a firm that used to run the Santa Fe County jail, over the practice of strip searching all inmates, has been settled for $ 8.5 million.

The suit was filed in January 2005 and contended that the policy of strip-searching all prisoners violated their constitutional rights.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff‘s Department is now running the jail, and the policy of strip searching is no longer in use.

The settlement will be shared by persons who were booked into the jail between January 2002 and the present.

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The state of Monana is due to receive $1.3 million dollars as a settlement from Enron Corporation for damages suffered by electricity customers as a result of the firm's manipulation of the energy market.

It is likely that the settlement amount will be reduced as a bankruptcy judge gives out the company's assets to creditors.

The state argued that Enron's market manipulation, which led to big price spikes in the West in 2000 and 2001, had illegally driven up the price of power for consumers of wholesale electricity in the state.

Last week, the Federal Energy Regulator Commission and Enron agreed to a two-part settlement with Montana. The state will get a $1,000,000 "unsubstantiated claim" in the Enron bankruptcy proceeding, and a $300,000 payment assigned by FERC as part of a "substantiated claim" in the bankruptcy case.

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A Pinellas County circuit judge has ordered Global Resources Inc. to pay $ 2.2 million, including restitution to 96 people who were defrauded out of their investments.

According to the commission, Global Resources advertised that it could provide buyers public access Internet machines for investments ranging from $8,000 to $108.000. However, not only did the company not help in locating and setting up kiosks, it also failed to deliver the Internet machines. Those trying to receive refunds were ignored, and complaints were filed with the Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commission, who filed the lawsuit.

"These people put their faith and money into a business venture and got absolutely nothing in return," said agriculture commissioner Charles H. Bronson. "We asked for and received the maximum fine for each offense, and I hope this sends a message that we will go after companies that rip off our citizens."

Bronson filed the lawsuit charging Global Resources with violations of the state's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act as well as the Sale of Business Opportunities Act.

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Hamilton County in Ohio has agreed to a settlement of $ 6 million with Debra Singler who had sued the county for removing her dead father's brain without informing the family. When Singler read the autopsy report, she realized that she had buried her father without his brain, which was kept to determine what had killed him.

The lawsuit later included about 960 people whose relatives had body parts removed without permission at the Hamilton County morgue.

Previously, a $5 million settlement had been paid to Cincinnati attorney John Metz, for a lawsuit accusing then-Hamilton County Coroner Frank Cleveland of improperly harvesting corneas from bodies at the morgue.

In Singler's case,  the settlement also includes an agreement that the coroner's office can no longer take body parts without permission, and families must be given the option of having the body part returned after the cause of death has been determined.

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Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has sued Darrel M. Sanders for a fraud committed in the name of helping the children of persons killed in Iraq.  Sanders approached business owners and requested permission to place candy vending machines in their premises, falsely claiming that the proceeds would benefit the children. He claimed to be employed by the Armed Forces Children's Education Fund. Nixon says that Sanders has no affiliation with this or any other charity.

The lawsuit asks for a restraining order to prevent Sanders from placing any more vending machines and asks the court for permission to seize the vending machines. It also asks for the defendant to pay the appropriate  restitutions, penalties and costs associated with the lawsuit.

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A sheriff's deputy, Chris Harris, was awarded $10 million in a civil judgment against rapper Turk,  who was convicted of shooting the sheriff four times during a drug raid in Memphis, Tennessee. Turk (real name: Tab Virgil) is currently serving time in Shelby County Jail in Tennessee.  On Wednesday, May 24, Judge James Russell set the compensatory and punitive damages awards at $10 million.

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A number of cities, including Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Antonio are suing online travel sites to collect more lodging tax money. Now Denver is considering whether to sue Travelocity, Expedia and other online travel booking sites.  The goal of the lawsuits is to collect hotel taxes on the full amount the sites charge consumers rather than the  lower rates the sites negotiate with hotels. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Georgia cities and counties can proceed with a class-action lawsuit.

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Ellen Reasonover of St. Louis, who was convicted of murder and put in jail for 16 years until proved innocent, and later awarded $ 7.5 million damages, has lost a case suing several police agencies involved in the investigation.  The lawsuit alleged that prosecutors withheld a jailhouse recording in which Reasonover denied the murder. The suit also claimed false arrest, malicious prosecution and use of unreliable and fraudulent investigatory techniques.

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A jury has ruled that a police investigator fabricated a rape and murder confession that resulted in Earl Washington Jr. being sentenced to death row, and has awarded Washington $ 2.25 million in damages. The investigator, Curtis Reese Wilmore, who died in 1994, deliberately fabricated evidence against Washington that led to his conviction and death sentence.  Washington had spent nearly 18 years in prison before it was proved by sophisticated DNA testing, that a convicted rapist had committed the crime.

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Microsoft announced a $ 70 million settlement to resolve a class action suit on behalf of cities and counties of California. The lawsuit alleged that Microsoft had engaged in anticompetitive conduct and used its market power to overcharge members of the government class. The $70 million in settlement benefits will be divided among the State of California and local government entities that can use them to purchase any brand of qualifying computer hardware and software.

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The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a class action lawsuit against the Taycheedah Correctional Institution for deficiencies in the medical, dental and mental care of prisoners.  The Taycheedah Correctional Institution near Fond du Lac is  the largest women's prison in the state with 700 prisoners. The lawsuit names top state officials as defendants, and has been filed on behalf of four prisoners who suffered from deficiencies in prison health care.

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Judge Tony Leung has refused to dismiss hundreds of cases filed in Hennepin County District Court in Minneapolis against the Canadian Pacific Railway related to a derailment that occurred in 2002. A cloud of toxic anhydrous ammonia had enveloped the city of Minot after the derailment there. Canadian Pacific has been forced to admit liability in some of the cases after the Judge said that federally regulated railroads are not exempt from all legal claims.

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