The Colorado Connection reports that “Costco, eBay, Google and the nation’s top art museums are backing a Thai graduate student against book publishers, the movie and music industries and other manufacturers in a Supreme Court battle over copyright protections with important implications for consumers and multibillion dollar annual sales online and in discount stores.” Supap Kirtsaeng […]
Arizona Supreme Court Rules Tattooing is Protected Speech
Reuters reports that Arizona’s Supreme Court has ruled that tattooing is a “constitutionally protected form of free speech”, the first such decision by a state Supreme Court. The ruling stemmed from a dispute between two tattooist artists, Ryan and Letitia Coleman, and the city of Mesa, Arizona. Mesa denied the Colemans a business permit three years […]
ACLU Lawsuit Against Border Patrol Will Move Forward
A lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the U.S. Border Patrol over traffic stops is moving forward. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle denied a motion to dismiss the suit. According to a report by Seattlepi.com, the ACLU and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project sued the Border Patrol in April, seeking to keep […]
Comedian calls out Progressive Insurance for defending his sister’s killer
GBTV/The Blaze’s Matt Fisher, host of The B.S. of A, has called out Progressive Insurance on his Tumblr page, posting an article titled, “My Sister Paid Progressive Insurance To Defend Her Killer In Court.” The insurance debacle began on June 19th, 2010 when Fisher’s sister, Katie, was killed in a car accident in Baltimore, Maryland. The accident occurred […]
Sixth Circuit of Appeals Allows Whistleblower Suit to Proceed
Public Justice reports that the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has “held in Rhodes v. R & L Carriers, Inc., that a Ohio whistleblower’s retaliation and discrimination case against his former employer was improperly dismissed — and that the plaintiff is entitled to his day in court.” The case, brought by Eugene Rhodes, […]
Fine print in mandatory arbitration agreements limits rights
There is a lot of hard-to-read fine print routinely hidden in the many pages of nursing home contracts, and some clauses may limit the rights of consumers, the American Association for Justice reports. They site a column from the Washington Post that warns consumers about possible loss of rights if they sign certain contracts. The Washington Post says […]
New Law Requiring Hospital Caps Goes Into Place
A new state law took effect on August 8th in Colorado that restricts how much hospitals can bill an uninsured patient, and how tough a hospital may be in going after non-payers. The law, called the Hospital Payment Assistance Program is designed to help Coloradans responsibly pay their hospital bills. According to cohealthinitiative.org, the law requires […]
Medical Malpractice Cap Struck Down by Missouri Supreme Court
Earlier this month, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Missouri Supreme Court struck down a $350,000 limit on jury awards for ‘pain and suffering’ in medical malpractice cases. In a 4-3 decision, the court said the law violates a patient’s right to a jury trial and that the cap “infringes on the jury’s constitutionally protected purpose […]
Girl Scouts Sued for Disbanding Deaf Girl’s Troop
A young deaf girl, Megan Runnion, was given a social life through the Girl Scouts because the Scouts’ council paid for a sign-language interpreter to attend Scout meetings, a camping trip, and other outings. But who should continue to pay for a sign-language interpreter? That has become a question-turned-lawsuit, The Chicago Tribune reports, that was filed on […]
Congress Passes Restrictions on Military Funeral Protests
The Huffington Post reports that Congress has passed a veterans bill that will limit the ability of groups like the Westboro Baptist Church to protest military funerals. “According to “The Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012″…demonstrators will no longer be allowed to picket military funerals two hours before or after […]