California Civil Courts Backlogged

Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Los Angeles. Photo credit: www.lacourt.org

Stanley Mosk Courthouse, Los Angeles. Photo credit: www.lacourt.org

Civil courts in California were already backlogged before they basically shuttered in March. Now with COVID-19, Los Angeles County is not considering civil trials until at least January 2021 and Orange County’s civil trials are on hold through at least November. So, while we don’t know exactly when the courts will open again for trials, one lawyer has ideas about how to jumpstart the court system when it does open: consider less jurors for each trial.

Rob Shwarts, of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe in San Francisco, argues in a recent article in The Recorder, “We need to get over the idea that there must be 12 jurors in the box to conduct a state court civil trial. This number is not legally required, and while COVID-19 persists, it is simply not a practical or feasible count for the jury.”

For those who have suggested using video conferencing technology, such as Zoom, to jumpstart the process, Shwarts thinks it’s “impractical.”

“Indeed, there is no way to know what screen a juror is looking at so long as the video function of his or her computer is on, raising the specter of juror doing research in real-time,” notes Shwarts. “In another twist, Alameda County Judge Brad Seligman had to address a motion for mistrial, because, while the attorneys were in a private Zoom room with the court, the plaintiff started a conversation with several jurors about the seemingly harmless topic of Zoom backgrounds. We all surely agree that litigants are not only entitled to an impartial jury, but to a jury paying attention to their case’s evidence and to the court’s admonitions.”

Update: Court sides with Mary Trump

The Washington Post reports that one day after imposing a restraining order to allow the parties to present arguments at a hearing about whether or not Mary Trump, the President’s niece could publish her tell-all book, “A New York court on Wednesday lifted a temporary restraining order against the publication of a book by President Trump’s niece, enabling publisher Simon & Schuster to continue printing and distributing the explosive insider account by Mary L. Trump.”

Publication of Trump Tell-All Book Halted by New York Judge

The book jacket for “Too Much and Never Enough” by Mary Trump. Image credit: Simon & Schuster as published in The Washington Post.

The book jacket for “Too Much and Never Enough” by Mary Trump. Image credit: Simon & Schuster as published in The Washington Post.

Originally filed in Queens County (New York) Surrogate’s Court but rejected, President Donald Trump’s brother, Robert Trump, then filed a petition with the New York State Supreme Court to request an injunction that would halt the publication of a tell-all book scheduled to be published by the President’s niece on July 28.

According to The Washington Post, “A New York judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked the publication of Mary L. Trump’s scathing book about her uncle, President Trump, which describes him as the ‘world’s most dangerous man,’ saying no copies can be distributed until he hears arguments in the case.”

The article explains that Judge Hal B. Greenwald ordered a hearing next month and that Robert Trump has argued that Mary Trump is not allowed to publish anything about her family as part of an inheritance settlement.

Given the temporary restraining order, it is uncertain whether the book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man,” will publish in late July. The book is already topping the bestseller lists in presales.

Roundup Settlement Announced

Pille_BayerWhen Bayer took over Monsanto in 2018 for $63 billion, it inherited myriad legal disputes around its glyphosate-based weedkillers, including its best-known product, Roundup. Bayer announced earlier this week that it will settle those disputes.

“Bayer AG, after more than a year of talks, agreed to pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle close to 100,000 U.S. lawsuits claiming that its widely-used weed killer Roundup caused cancer, resolving litigation that has pummeled the company’s share price,” Reuters reports.

“Bayer wisely decided to settle the litigation rather than roll the dice in American court,” said Ken Feinberg as reported by Reuters. Feinberg was appointed settlement mediator by a federal judge over a year ago and has mediated other high-profile legal disputes, including the September 11th Fund, the BP disaster, and Volkswagen’s diesel emissions violations.

Ten former NFL players charged by the Justice Department

Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Department of Justice stated in a Washington Post report, "Ten former NFL players allegedly committed a brazen, multimillion dollar fraud on a health care plan meant to help their former teammates and other retired players pay legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses." (Photo credit: U.S. Department of Justice)

Brian A. Benczkowski, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, Department of Justice stated in a Washington Post report, “Ten former NFL players allegedly committed a brazen, multimillion dollar fraud on a health care plan meant to help their former teammates and other retired players pay legitimate, out-of-pocket medical expenses.” (Photo credit: U.S. Department of Justice)

According to a report by The Washington Post, “After an FBI investigation, the Justice Department filed charges Wednesday morning in the Eastern District of Kentucky against Robert McCune, John Eubanks, Tamarick Vanover, Ceandris Brown, James Butler, Frederick Bennett, Correll Buckhalter, Etric Pruitt, Portis and Rogers.”

Ten former NFL players were charged by the Justice Department “with defrauding a health care program for retired players of nearly $4 million.” Other players may be charged, as well.

Atlanta immigration court backlog delays hearing for famous rapper

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP as reported by to 11Alive.

Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP as reported by to 11Alive.

According to 11Alive, “21 Savage, whose legal name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, allegedly entered the U.S. legally in July 2005 at age 7 on an H-4 visa but failed to leave under the terms of his “nonimmigrant visa” when it expired in 2006, according to ICE… He was expected to face a judge in the weeks after his release, but TMZ reported on Wednesday that with a serious case backlog in immigration courts – Syracuse University said in September it now exceeds 1 million – he still doesn’t have a court date, and continues to face deportation.”

The 11Alive report explains that according to Syracuse University’s immigration case tracker, there are more than 13,000 cases in the Atlanta court’s backlog, and the average wait time for a hearing is currently 1,250 days or nearly three-and-a-half years.

Because of the backlog, 21 Savage is in limbo and cannot travel outside the U.S., even for his concert tours.

Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay $10 million to two Ohio counties

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals manufactured opioids and Johnson & Johnson also owned two companies that processed and imported the raw material used to manufacture oxycodone, a highly addictive opioid, shown above. Photo credit: www.drugs.com.

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals manufactured opioids and Johnson & Johnson also owned two companies that processed and imported the raw material used to manufacture oxycodone, a highly addictive opioid, shown above. Photo credit: www.drugs.com.

Johnson & Johnson has reached a tentative settlement in Ohio in response to a federal lawsuit over the nation’s opioid epidemic, The Washington Post reports.

The health-care giant will pay $10 million to Cuyahoga and Summit counties, Ohio, as well as reimburse $5 million in legal fees and donate $5.4 million for opioid-related programs in the communities, The Post reports.

The case was brought by more than 2,500 counties, cities, and Native American tribes. 

In August, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay the state of Oklahoma $572 million in the first opioid-related state case to go to trial.

Cleveland County (Okla.) District Judge Thad Balkman found the pharmaceutical company responsible for the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, one of more than 40 states waging lawsuits, The Washington Post reports.

An estimated 400,000 people have died of overdoses from painkillers, heroin and illegal fentanyl since 1999.

Judge blocks new rules for detention of migrant children, parents

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee. Photo credit: Wikipedia

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee. Photo credit: Wikipedia

The Trump administration is barred by federal court order from enacting new rules aimed at detaining migrant children and their parents for longer periods of time.

U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee issued the permanent injunction on Sept. 27 in the Central District of California, The Washington Post reports.

The Justice Department had argued for withdrawal from a 1997 federal consent decree setting basic standards for detaining migrant children. 

“The decree includes a 20-day limit for holding children in detention facilities that have not been licensed by the states for the purpose of caring for minors,” The Post reports.

Federal regulators issued new regulations in August seeking to terminate the settlement and remove the 20-day limit, The Post reports.

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to be heard in Sandy Hook case

Radio host and conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

Radio host and conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

According to the Hartford Courant, lawyers for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones went to the state Supreme Court Thursday “to challenge a court order in a case where families from Sandy Hook Elementary School are suing him, saying the radio host claimed the school shooting was a hoax.”

The lawyer for Alex Jones argued in the Connecticut Supreme Court that he “should not have been penalized for an angry outburst on his Infowars web show against an attorney for relatives of some of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims,” reports the Associated Press.

The AP report explains, “The families of eight victims of the 2012 shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and an FBI agent who responded to the massacre are suing Jones, Infowars, and others for promoting a theory that the shooting was a hoax. A 20-year-old gunman killed 20 first-graders, six educators and himself at the school, after having killed his mother at their Newtown home. The families said they have been subjected to harassment and death threats from Jones’ followers because of the hoax conspiracy.”

Trump vows to revoke waiver allowing California to set auto emissions

 Photo credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP as reported by NPR on 9/18/19.

Photo credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP as reported by NPR on 9/18/19.

President Trump announced he will revoke a 2013 waiver issued by the EPA to the California Air Resources Board which allowed the state to set stricter air-quality standards than those imposed on the federal level.

According to an NPR report, “The move comes after the Department of Justice earlier this month launched an antitrust investigation into a July deal between California and four automakers – Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, and BMW – and is seen as a broader effort by the White House to rollback efforts to combat climate change.”

The report notes, “California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra has vowed to take the Trump administration to court. Speaking on Tuesday, California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said that while the White House ‘has abdicated its responsibility,’ his state ‘has stepped up.'”