Sotomayor: favors insurance industry

My good friend John Jones (a great lawyer and all-around good fella) ruined my day with this article from the Insurance Journal.

Given her lengthy time on the bench, including on the District Court and Court of Appeals, Sotomayor has a long list of insurance coverage cases on her resume, Maniloff explained. “But what I discovered in the course of looking at Judge Sotomayor’s overall body of opinions on coverage issues was far more interesting than any one case. Judge Sotomayor has been very, very insurer-friendly during her time on the bench.”

Now this is just one guy saying Judge Sotomayor is “very insured-friendly” but then I recall Judge Sotomayor was first appointed to the Federal Bench by then President George W. Bush.  Following the advice of his lawsuit hating presidential brain Karl Rove, I doubt President Bush would have appointed a plaintiff friendly Federal Judge.

UPDATE:

Now I am concerned.  According to Politico.com, The United States Chamber of Commerce, that “consumer friendly” entity, has endorsed Judge Sotomayor.

U.S. Withheld Data on Risks of Distracted Driving

Now why the heck would they do that?  From the New York Times, this really chafes me raw:

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, decided not to make public hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the use of phones by drivers — in part, officials say, because of concerns about angering Congress.

Other info:

Research shows that motorists talking on a phone are four times as likely to crash as other drivers, and are as likely to cause an accident as someone with a .08 blood alcohol content.

I have always said cellphone drivers were as dangerous as drunks.  Who knew I’d ever be right about anything?

Reliving My Childhood

Forty years ago today I made sure to come home from the Southlawn pool to see Apollo 11 land on the moon.  Sitting on the floor in front of the T.V., I watched history.  At http://www.wechoosethemoon.org I get to do it all over again.  (I wore the above patch on my denim jacket for years and still have it in a box at the house.)

“O wonder!

How many goodly creatures are there here!

How beautious mankind is!

O brave new world,

That has such people in’t!”

The Tempest, Act V, Scene I:

Senate Confirmation Hearings on Judge Sotomayor: I Miss Howell Heflin!

On the eve of the Sotomayor hearings, here is a blast from the past: Howell Heflin’s statement to Antonin Scalia during his confirmation hearing in 1999:

STATEMENT OF SENATOR HOWELL T. HEFLIN

Senator HEFLIN. Judge Scalia, I believe that almost every Senator that has an Italian-American connection has come forward to welcome you to this or to participate in this hearing thus far.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that my great
great grandfather [laughter] married a widow [laughter] who was
married first to an Italian American. [Laughter.]

The CHAIRMAN. Let us get quiet.

Judge SCALIA. Senator, I have been to Alabama several times too.
[Laughter.]

Senator HEFLIN. So, Judge Scalia, it is with pride that I welcome
you on behalf of the 4,022 Italian Americans in Alabama and the
other 4 million people to this hearing. I also am delighted to welcome your wife and your nine children.

Looking at the number of your children, it appears that you have
had much experience in working with groups of nine. However,
nine is enough, at least for the U.S. Supreme Court Justices.
If confirmed, I hope your experience, family and otherwise, will
help you to build a consensus when justice requires it, and to resolve the minor disputes which may arise on the Court.

Great stuff.   But here is the part applicable today.

In my examination of a nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, I
am in agreement with the opinion of the late Senator John McClellan of Arkansas. He stated that: “there is room on the U.S. Supreme Court for liberals and conservatives, for Democrats and Republicans, of Northerners and Southerners, of Westerners and Easterners, of blacks and whites, and men and women— these and other factors should neither qualify nor disqualify a nominee.”

To live under the American Constitution is the greatest personal privilege which was ever accorded any member of the human race.  Therefore, I believe that the men and women to whom we entrust the care of our Constitution should be chosen with great care. In my opinion, only a handful of men and women are both qualified and capable of wearing the weighty robe of a Supreme Court Justice.

Law.com – Judge Declines to Grant Mistrial After Juror Threatens Harm

This one pegs the weird-o-meter at a 9.8. My favorite part is this:

In denying the motion, Judge Patterson said the jury “will let us know if they feel that the atmosphere is such that there’s not communication in a rational manner.”

And this is after one juror threatens to cut off the finger of another juror and also saying: “I’ll have my husband take care of you.”

Maybe up in New York that is considered rational communication, but down here my State Court Judges would send you to the “blue-top inn” to consider alternate means of discourse.

For the non-locals, here is why we call it the “blue-top inn.”

Motion to Compel Defense Counsel to Wear Appropriate Shoes at Trial

Back in the day, Montgomery defense lawyer James Anderson (a great lawyer and a great guy) used to wear old button down collars to achieve that “simple poor lawyer” look.  While he beat your brains out.  Now I read (by way of Above the Law) about a Motion to Compel a defense lawyer from wearing shoes with holes in them to achieve a “frugal” or “simple lawyer” look.

Read the story here.

But shouldn’t the motion be a Motion in Limine?  (You know, “Sustaining objection to such XYZ would not cure the effect of such prejudice.  Instead it would reinforce the impact of such prejudicial matter to the jury.”)

Apparently the Judge rejected the Motion, allowing the guy to keep his old brogans.  So If James wants to get those old buttondowns out of the closet he probably can do so as well.  (But he should be Attorney General of Alabama, another story for another day.)

Michael Jackson, the good, the bad and the ugly

All I would ever say has been said by these folks.  Thank goodness I have been away from a TV the last week.  I hate a lazy media.