Summary Judgments for Nov. 21
U.S. homicides fall to lowest point in decades, but handgun murders rise
11/21/11
The good news is that the number of murders committed in the United States last year fell to the lowest level in at least four decades. The bad news is that handgun homicides were up.
These are some of the conclusions from the Bureau of Justice Statistics ' annual look at homicide, which puts the 2010 murder rate at 4.2 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents. That's lower than 1980's rate of 10.2 murders, and lower than any year going back to 1960, according to Summary Judgment's search of official statistics. Meanwhile, the actual number of homicides, which peaked at just over 24,700 in 1991, was under 14,750 in 2010. Much of the decline came in large cities, where the majority of murders still take place.
On the downside, handgun homicides, which declined to a new low in 2008 after rising in the 1980s and early 1990s, have been climbing in the past three years. Handguns remain the most popular tool to commit murder, but larger guns are beginning to gain ground. The Justice Department didn't say why, but SJ notes that the federal 10-year assault-weapons ban expired in 2004 and hasn't been renewed. Victims most likely to be killed by guns are teenagers. And more than two-thirds of victims murdered by a spouse were killed with a gun, though boyfriends were more likely to be killed by their girlfriends with a knife.
The most macabre and awful numbers in the report involve children.
Sixty-three percent of children under 5 who are murdered were killed by a parent, 33 percent by a father and 30 percent by a mother. Only 3 percent of those young children were murdered by a stranger.
Getting sued for having your car stolen and wrecked by the drunken thief
11/21/11
We have a new definition of chutzpah this morning, courtesy of a lawsuit filed in Lane County, Oregon: Two passengers in a stolen car are suing the car's actual owner for injuries suffered when the thief-driver (and friend of the passengers) wrecked it.
Law Suit And Car Insurance - News
We have a new definition of chutzpah this morning, courtesy of a lawsuit filed in Lane County, Oregon: Two passengers in a stolen car are suing the car's actual owner for injuries suffered when the thief-driver (and friend of the passengers) wrecked it
The records also don't count settlements paid by the city's insurance company, such as a $425000 settlement in 2002 to the family of Leonard “Butch” W. Porter, who was killed in April of that year during a wreck with a Topeka Police Department car.
Although a variety of factors may be responsible for the high costs, Louisiana's high threshold for jury trials stands out as the primary culprit, Melissa Landry, executive director of Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch (LLAW), argues. Under current law
“We've never been able to get anything done without filing a lawsuit against the federal government,” Swallow said. “It's unfortunate; sad, but true.” Utah was among the first batch of states to sue the federal government over the health insurance
As described in the suit, that wrongdoing includes allegedly filing false insurance claims, drunken driving, covering up a domestic violence investigation and allegedly receiving child pornography. The arrests of Yesford and Shiva were unlawful and
The Pelican Post - Car Insurance
Featured, Justice, Pelican Site Featured — By Kevin Mooney on November 21, 2011 12:06 am
Louisiana’s elected judges tend to favor trial lawyers over businesses, watchdog group says
Louisiana’s expensive auto insurance rates are symptomatic of public policy favored by trial lawyers that typically result in anti-business settlements, according to a citizen watchdog group that favors new legislation.
State premiums average $2,453 a year, a report from insure.com shows. This means Louisiana is the second most expensive state in the entire nation, right behind Michigan, which is set at $2,541 per year. Although a variety of factors may be responsible for the high costs, Louisiana’s high threshold for jury trials stands out as the primary culprit, Melissa Landry, executive director of Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch (LLAW), argues.
Under current law, either party in a civil proceeding only has the right to request a trial before a jury when the amount involved in the dispute exceeds $50,000. In those cases where the amount does not exceed $50,000, a judge, rather than a jury, determines the verdict. This is a problem, Landry said, because Louisiana elects its judges.
“We are concerned that there may be a tendency for judges to rule in favor of their constituents, instead of the defendants, regardless of the evidence,” she suggested. “Most of the people who contribute to judicial campaigns are attorneys. That’s why we prefer to have a trial by jury with a variety of perspectives, instead of one judge who may be biased.”
LLAW has been in touch with several state lawmakers who have expressed in interest in advancing legislation that would lower the jury trial threshold to the point where it is more in step with other states.“We have the highest jury trial threshold in the entire nation by far,” Landry said. “Some states don’t have any threshold at all and they view it as a fundamental right to have a trial by jury.