Category Archives: Supreme Court
Supreme Court – The latest news about Supreme Court from the Lawstarz Blog – Latest news and coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge dismisses personal injury case against Smith & Wesson
A federal judge reasoned Smith & Wesson was not at fault in a personal injury case in which a pistol accidentally discharged and caused a man to lose a finger.
U.S. Judge Todd Campbell followed recommendations from the court when he dismissed the case, according to his order issued Sept. 16 from a Nashville federal court.
A Tennessee couple, Randy and Vicki McNeal, sued the Massachusetts’ gun maker for more than $75,000 in January. According to their complaint, Randy McNeal was shot in the finger as he attempted to make the gun safe inside a gun store in Murfreesboro, a town just outside of Nashville. They claimed a loose screw on the built-in laser sight of their Bodyguard .380 pistol prevented the slide from locking in position.
The couple’s lawsuit says McNeal dropped the gun as he tried to lock the slide back, which he was having trouble because the screw obstructed the locking mechanism, and the gun discharged when he tried to catch it. Afterward, he needed the small finger on his left hand amputated.
The court’s report cited past rulings that state an injury is not proof of a defective product, a product failure or malfunction does not necessarily make a company liable, and the company has no duty to create an “accident proof” product.
Full article – http://www.guns.com/2016/10/04/judge-dismisses-personal-injury-case-against-smith-wesson/
Federal civil rights lawsuit filed in Florida inmate’s death
MIAMI – A federal civil rights lawsuit has been filed on behalf of the 12-year-old daughter of a Florida inmate, alleging he was gassed while in a confinement cell and that officials tried to cover up his death.
Randall Jordan-Aparo’s 2010 death at Franklin Correctional Institution was publicized amid scrutiny of the Florida Department of Corrections for suspicious deaths.
The lawsuit filed Monday in Tallahassee federal court by the mother of Jordan-Aparo’s daughter alleges corrections officers killed him and the prison’s nurses, doctors and warden conspired to cover up his death.
The 27-year-old’s death remains under investigation by state and federal law enforcement.
Spokeswomen for the Department of Corrections and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida each declined comment to The Miami Herald (http://hrld.us/2cZ0EL8 ) on the lawsuit.
Corrections investigators also have alleged cover-ups by the corrections department in separate lawsuits over Jordan-Aparo’s death.
New York Women Can Now Get Legal Late-Term Abortions in More Cases
New York medical practitioners can now provide abortions after 24 weeks of gestation in more cases, thanks to an opinion released by Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman on Wednesday. In response to a query from the state comptroller’s office, Schneiderman wrote that the state’s current abortion law runs counter to Supreme Court rulings by criminalizing abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy except to save the pregnant woman’s life.
Drawing from multiple Supreme Court decisions, the opinion concludes that, to stay within constitutional lines, New York must also make exceptions to the 24-week limit if the pregnant woman’s health is at risk and if the fetus becomes unviable. The state law, passed in 1970, will remain in effect until the state legislature decides to ax it, but the New York Times reports that Schneiderman’s opinion will allow hospitals and other abortion providers to perform late-term abortions without fear of prosecution.
An OB/GYN at the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center told the Times that hospitals have previously had to seek wisdom from ethics committees and sometimes wait until a pregnant woman’s health got so bad that her life was definitely at risk, just to give doctors “institutional cover to do what we thought was right all along.” Legislation proposed in 2013 would have modified the state’s abortion law to fit with court precedent, but Republicans in the state legislature blocked it.
Airbnb threatens to sue New York if governor signs new law curtailing its service
Airbnb says a bill that would outlaw advertising short-term rentals on its platform in New York is unconstitutional and is threatening to sue the state if Governor Andrew Cuomo signs it into law.
Airbnb has been fighting an uphill battle for legal status in New York, which prohibits landlords and homeowners from renting out apartments for less than 30 days at a time. The bill to prevent advertising these rentals would essentially cripple the company’s operations in New York, which is among its most lucrative markets.
In a letter to Cuomo and other state leaders, Airbnb outlines the legal action it says it would be forced take should the governor sign the bill, AB 8704-C, into law. “As this unlawful bill would impose real harm on our community, out of respect for the process and to inform your considerations, we want to formally notify the State that if it is signed into law by Governor Cuomo, Airbnb would have no choice but to immediately file suit against the State of New York and ask a court to declare the statute invalid and unenforceable as well as to award any damages and fees as appropriate,” Rob Chesnut, general counsel of Airbnb, writes in the letter.
“AIRBNB WANTS TO BE CLEAR THAT IT DOES SO MORE IN SADNESS THAN IN ANGER”
Chesnut adds, “In making such a formal notification, Airbnb wants to be clear that it does so more in sadness than in anger, as the company believes that there are clearly available lawful alternative legislative options to meet legitimate policy objectives while still protecting the right of everyday New Yorkers to share the homes they live in order to help make ends meet.”
Airbnb has been accused of exacerbating New York’s housing crisis by housing advocates, the state’s powerful hotel union, and members of the state legislature and New York City Council. Some unscrupulous landlords have been known to push out their tenants, many of them low-income, so they can turn their apartments into illegal hotels, which they advertise on Airbnb.
Last year, the New York attorney general released a report that found that from 2010 through early June of 2014, $168.3 million, or 37 percent percent of revenue generated by Airbnb hosts, came from hosts with three or more listings.
Full Article – http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/7/12834606/airbnb-threatens-lawsuit-new-york-governor-cuomo-law