Annotated Links
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Annotated Links |
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Hard Copy Periodicals: Ave, Melanie. “Lawsuits Drain School Dollars.” St. Petersburg Times 2 February 2004. In recent years, the Tampa Bay area in Florida has been swamped with education lawsuits. This particular article offers an objective account of many such recent cases. It also focuses on the amount of money that is being put forth by the school system to pay for the lawsuits against them. Opinions and quotes of residents of the area are presented towards the end of the article.
Corboy, Philip H. “Lawsuit Limits Won’t Fix Malpractice Ills.” USA Today 8 April, 2004: 1 pg. According to Corboy frivolous lawsuits are not the problem that the media makes them out to be. However, the frivolous lawsuits that are in our court systems today are there because there is really no feasible way to prevent them. Furthermore, decreasing frivolous lawsuits wouldn't have any effect on the cost of insurance due to the fact that insurance companies are free to set their own premiums. Previously insurance companies did not change their premiums for tort reforms and there is no reason to believe that they would do so in this situation either.
Duffet, Ann, and Jean Johnson. “I’m Calling My Lawyer: How Litigation, Due Process, and Other Regulatory Requirements Are Affecting Public Education.” Public Agenda November 2003. <http://www.publicagenda.org/research/research_reports_details.cfm? list=8> Public Agenda is a research company that compiles information based on surveys. In this particular survey, they conducted a study of how the education system and its staff are being affected by the recent onslaught of education lawsuits. It provides valuable statistics and percentages to emphasize the effect that education litigation is having on our schools.
Edwards, John. "Juries: "Democracy in Action."" Newsweek. 15 December 2003: Vol. 142 Issue 24, p53, 1p, 1c. John Edwards believes that some medical lawsuits which many people define as frivolous really aren't. In this article he sites a case that he worked involving a little girl who has permanent brain damage due to a mistake made by a doctor when she was a baby. However, Edwards does believe that there are frivolous lawsuits, but some people have the wrong definition. In order to prevent these frivolous lawsuits he feels that lawyers participating in medical-malpractice lawsuits should be required to take their cases to independent experts who decide on the merits of the case before they can be brought to court.
Shillinger, Kurt. “Serious Fight Over ‘Frivolous’ Lawsuits.” Christian Science Monitor 9 March 1995: Vol.87 Issue 71, p4, 1c. On Capitol Hill there is serious debate going on about how to prevent frivolous lawsuits without discouraging people with limited incomes from suing for legitimate reasons. One idea that has been discussed by politicians is to make it so that if a party refuses to settle out of court and loses then they become responsible for the legal fees of the other party as well as their own legal fees. Many people with lower incomes would not be able to afford this and would no longer be able to pursue legitimate lawsuits out of fear of the consequences of losing the suit.
Zemba, Liz. “Elementary Parents Question Suspension.” Pittsburgh Daily Courier. 12 March 2004. Many believe that when the Mount Pleasant Area School District in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania suspended one of its students for kissing a fellow classmate, they had crossed the line for the definition of sexual assault. Perhaps this was because the assaulter was a second grader. However, schools nowadays have to react to such cases in this manner in order to avoid the ever present danger of litigation. This article from the Pittsburgh Daily Courier reports on this particular case.
Zimmer, John. “Students Can Challenge Photo Dress Code.” St. Petersburg Times. 11 May 2004. The St. Petersburg Times from St. Petersburg, Florida reports on a frivolous lawsuit involving students’ rights and dress code. The article is about Nicole Youngblood, a 2002 senior of Robinson High School. Youngblood broke her school’s dress code for pictures and, therefore, was excluded from her senior class’ section in the yearbook. Youngblood took the case to court and eventually won. As a result, Robinson High School has to account for appeals for the senior portraits’ dress code.
Books: Arum, Richard. Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard U Press, 2003. Arum’s book, which was released in 2003, examines the ever-changing standard of school discipline. Although teachers’ paddling of their students was once accepted behavior, nowadays students seem to have more power than their supervisors. Arum looks at the fine line that exists between students’ rights and the rules that the schools establish. He attempts to analyze the judges’ tendencies towards their rulings in such cases, and what can be done to restore the “moral authority” in our schools.
Dickson, Donald T. Law in Health and Human Services: A Guide for Social Workers, Psychologists, Psychiatrists, and Related Professionals. New York: Free Press, 1995. It is so easy for someone working in the health and human services field to get sued, many times for no good reason. This book addresses the issue of what a health service professional really needs to know about the law. However, no matter how much a person knows the law they can still get sued for their actions. Fortunately there are things that a health and human services professional can and should do in order to prevent themselves from being sued.
O’Keefe, Mary E. Nursing Practice and the Law: Avoiding Malpractice and Other Legal Risks. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis, 2001. Nurses are almost as much at risk for malpractice lawsuits as doctors are. Therefore a nurse needs to be very careful when treating patients in order to avoid running into malpractice suits and other legal trouble. It is the responsibility of a nurse to know the laws that effect his/her profession and to know his/her rights within the law. However, unless a nurse makes sure that he/she follows the letter of the law there is nothing he/she can do in order to avoid these suits.
Websites: Cassingham, Randy. The True Stella Awards. July 2004. ThisisTrue.Inc. 24 Sept. 2004 < http://www.stellaawards.com> The Stella Awards website was inspired by the lawsuit brought against McDonalds by Stella Liebeck when she spilled her coffee on herself in her car. Now, every year the site posts some of the most bizarre and ridiculous lawsuits that were filed throughout the past year. The most interesting thing is that all of these stories are true. One man spent all of his money, lost his business, and did some pretty bizarre things to try to find his dog that ran away from the dog sitter. The man sued the dog sitter for $160,000 because of all of the things that he sacrificed in order to find his lost dog. After a period of time the man returned to the spot where the dog was lost at and found it right away. Needless to say, on this site you'll read some things that are hard to believe.
"McDonald's Scalding Coffee Case." Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Ed. David Wm. Boone and William S. Stone. 2002. 24 Sept. 2004 < http://www.atla.org/> One of the first and most famous frivolous lawsuit is the case involving Stella Liebeck and the McDonald’s Corporation. After spilling a cup of their scalding coffee on herself, Liebeck sued McDonald’s for injuries suffered and eventually won the case. Here, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) present the details of the case, including the testimony used to win it and the amount of money that was paid.
"Outrageous Lawsuits." Duhaime Law. 2004. 30 Sept. 2004 <http://www.duhaime.org/Law-fun/lawsuit.aspx> Have you ever hurt your hands because you had to clap too hard to turn on one of those clap powered appliances? One woman in New York did and sued the company who made the appliance for it. The judge dismissed the case because the woman had apparently forgotten to adjust the sensitivity controls. This website gives a number of similar stories from different sources about people who have sued companies for some of the most unreasonable things. However, not all of these senseless cases are lost. People seem to get away with some of the most amazing lawsuits in today's court systems. Duhaime law shares more than one that will catch your interest.
"Return Control of Government to the People." Rosters of Congressional and State Representatives."2003-2004. 15 Nov. 2004 <http://www.cusdi.org/rosters.htm> Do you want to get in touch with one of your representatives to Congress? This site will give you the names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all of your representatives to Congress.
"Sue Your Friends. Take Their Stuff!" So Sue Me. Ed. Burt Hochberg. 2004. New York Game Factory. 30 Sept. 2004. <http://www.playsosueme.com> So Sue Me is a board game in which people use and abuse the power of the court system in order to win the game. The game is full of chances when you decide who to sue, what to sue for, and most importantly, how much to sue for. The point of the game is to see who can survive the onslaught of lawsuits and come out with the most cash. It allows people to experience the feeling of having an illegitimate lawsuit brought before them. Interestingly enough, the game presents the whole process as fun. The game reminds me a little bit of Monopoly, only it doesn't matter if you have the money to buy Park Place or not. All that matters is that one of the other players may have the power to take it all away.
Working for Justice...Not Greed. California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. 2004. 24 Sept. 2004 <http://www.cala.com> According to the California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, our lawyers are no longer concerned with seeking justice, but only with making a profit. All they are succeeding in doing is making a mockery of our court system. Due to this situation, the California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse are calling people to action and asking for their help in putting a stop to these frivolous lawsuits. In addition, this site provides a link to a site explaining how you can help.
Web-Based Periodicals:
Abrams, Dan. “Lawsuits
Against Fast Food Companies are Ridiculous.” MSNBC. 11 March,
2004. 24 Sept. 2004. <http://www.msnbc.msn.com> In his article, Abrams
addresses the issue of frivolous lawsuits against the fast food industry. He discusses the fact that these lawsuits are an
embarrassment to the American law system and the steps that the American
government has been forced to take in order to prevent more of these frivolous
lawsuits.
Barrett, Ted. “House Bans Fast-Food Lawsuits.” CNN. 10 March, 2004: 1 pt. 24 Sept. 2004 < http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/03/10/fat .lawsuits/> Barrett addresses the idea of personal responsibility. Today people who frequently eat fast food are suing fast food companies because they are gaining weight and becoming obese. They blame places like McDonalds for their overeating and are asking that fast food restaurants eliminate things like "super size" meals. However, the House of Representatives passed a bill saying that a person can not sue a restaurant because they are obese. It should be a matter of common sense for people not to eat so much, especially of the not-so-healthy food served at fast food restaurants.
Everett, Terry. “Putting the Brakes on Costly, Frivolous Lawsuits.” TruthNews. 15 March, 2004: 1 pt. 24 Sept. 2004 <http://truthnews.com/ world/2004040022.htm> Everett addresses the fact that it is time for frivolous lawsuits to stop. Instead of simply addressing the stupidity of these suits, he also addresses the cost. In 2001 America spent over $205 billion on lawsuits. In addition, he discusses the abuse of the legal system presented by frivolous lawsuits. Everett argues that if these lawsuits continue they could cripple our economy and possibly our credibility as a nation.
Jones, Susan. “Bill Targeting Frivolous Lawsuits Advances in the House.” CNSNews. 9 September, 2004: 1 pt. 24 Sept. 2004 <http://www.cnsnews.com/Nation/Archive/200409/NAT20040909a.html> The House judiciary committee has just passed the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act. This bill would fine people who file meritless claims in our court system. However, it is the judges who will be the ones to decide what is a meritless claim. Therefore the definition of “meritless” could vary from one court to the next. This act was formed in response to complaints from several sources, including the President himself.
“Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act.” U.S. House of Representatives. 13 September 2004. 4 pts. 5 Oct. 2004 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/?&dbname=cp1 088&&r_n=hr682.108&sel=TOC_2660&> In May 2004, House Representative Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin, proposed the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act (LARA). Here, the bill is displayed in its full content. The bill takes a look at the many forms of lawsuit abuse in today’s society and proposes amendments that could potentially solve this problem.
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