Friday, October 10, 2008

Tort Lottery for US

Attention Trial Lawyers
Chuck?

My dad used to tell the story of a popular, if less than studious, law school classmate  who, when asked by the law professor whether the man in question could sue, wrongly responded, "Yes."   Alerted by classroom groans,  he recovered with .. "but he couldn't win!"   I want to know if we can win, given the following scenarios.
Scenario I Obama loses.  Riots ensue. People die.  Homes and businesses burn.
Question
What is the media culpability re: wrongful death, property loss, personal trauma lawsuits brought by people who will, unfortunately, have standing, and charge the media with knowingly producing the conditions, and promoted  race rioting with manipulated data, polls, and  news stories?
But wait ... there's more!
Scenario II I lose my retirement income
Question
What is the individual congressperson's, and selected Jamie Gorelicks, culpability re: lawsuits brought by any American who can show personal loss, or trauma, as a result of his/her  negligence, misfeasance,  malfeasance, and criminal disregard for the the nation's well being, by their conduct  in legislating Fannie and Freddie mandates?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Governmental Immunity:
http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/governmental-immunity-lawyers.html

As for journalists, I used to be one (radio business news) and I know the type... they'll just walk away from the mess, wiping their hands, whistling and happy with themselves for the ratings they'll get while the cities burn.... just like they did in the 1960s.

Anonymous said...

Congress: where negligence, misfeasance, malfeasance, and criminal disregard ain't flaws, they're features.
-DougM

Anonymous said...

You mean to actually sue people? I thought darkening the inside of a courtroom was verboten to many of the frequenters of this website.

Can you sue the federal government and its minions under the Federal Torts Claims Act? Yeah. Will you probably win? No. It will probably get tossed out on summary judgment.

You can't make a claim for "damages caused by the fiscal operations of the Treasury or by the regulation of the monetary system."

You also can't make a claim "based upon an act or omission of an employee of the Government, exercising due care, in the execution of a statute or regulation, whether or not such statute or regulation be valid. "

Here's the big kicker -- you can't make a claim "based upon the exercise or performance or the failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty on the part of a federal agency or an employee of the Government, whether or not the discretion involved be abused. "

The first amendment gives broad protections for anyone to say just about anything. Unless Katie Couric said on the six o'clock news, "Go burn the nearest Republican's house right now!" or Tom Joyner said on his radio program "Kill a blue-eyed devil right now!", there's not much basis for a lawsuit.

One suggestion. Take a look at your homeowner's policy. Make sure you are covered in case of riot, war or civil insurrection. A lot of insurance polices exclude those events.

People hate lawyers until they need one.

Rodger the Real King of France said...

Chuck, whiny doesn't become you.

Rodger the Real King of France said...

And Chuck, people usually need lawyers only because there are other lawyers.

Anonymous said...

You're welcome. Glad to be of service.

Anonymous said...

Rodge: Problem ain't the lawyers ... problem is with the judges.

Competent judges can permanently end the litigation plague.

Incompetent judges perpetuate it.

Even Mandarin style courts ( judge is jury, prosecutor and defending lawyer ) can work if a competent judge is selected.

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