General Law and Lawsuits

[northland10]

Can you believe that it took the district court only four days to dismiss this (RECAP)? And for namby-pamby reasons like "The complaint fails to state a plausible claim on which relief may be granted" and "Plaintiff has filed no fewer than 200 civil actions in federal district courts since 2013"? Or that the Fourth Circuit just spent two boring pages bouncing it too? Such a waste! This is gold! This deserves to be savored!

EDITED: Correct description of plaintiff.

He has been a busy beaver but just like the 4th, the DC District and Circuit does not recognize his brilliance. Today on the DC Circuit clean up docket day, they tossed 3 cases.

1. Dude vs British Secret Service (um. not sure how this applies in the US). District dismissed it as frivolous and the circuit said, well duh.
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/ ... 000392.pdf

2 and 3. Emrit v Mark Milley and Emrit v Condoleeza Rice/Antony Blinken. These were both booted by district court on Rule 8(a) with GIL's great vexer, Twombly.
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/ ... 000390.pdf
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/ ... 000398.pdf

[northland10]

1. Dude vs British Secret Service (um. not sure how this applies in the US). District dismissed it as frivolous and the circuit said, well duh.
https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/ ... 000392.pdf

I was curious and went looking for the opinion from the DC circuit. It was short but the judge gave us a little to enjoy:

Plaintiff, “an indigent, disabled, and unemployed resident of the state of Florida,” Compl. ¶ 8, alleges that neither the CIA, NSA nor FBI offered him a position, see id. ¶¶ 26-27, 28, because “he has been used as ‘intelligence subject’ and/or a ‘guinea pig’ for various mind control programs,” id. ¶ 28. According to plaintiff, the “CIA . . . allows foreign intelligence such as MOSSAD or MI5/MI6 to ‘experiment’ with Americans in various mind control programs” in violation of international law. Id. ¶ 31. In addition to monetary compensation of $80,000, see id. at 17, plaintiff demands “an injunction precluding and/or enjoining the ‘British codefendants’ from trying to communicate with [him] through subliminal messaging on Cable TV or internet and/or engaging in an international conspiracy to violate [his] rights,” id. at 18.

[raison de arizona]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.billboard.com/pro/kanye-v-a ... ned-judge/

Judge Overturns Adidas Court Order Freezing $75M Held by Kanye’s Yeezy Brand
The shoe giant made only "unpersuasive arguments" in its effort to keep the money frozen, a federal judge says.

AA federal judge on Friday (May 26) lifted a court order Adidas secretly won last year that froze $75 million in bank accounts held by Kanye West’s Yeezy brand — ruling that the sneaker giant ran afoul of procedural requirements and “deprived” Yeezy of a fair chance to challenge the freeze.

A week after the federal case against Yeezy was made public, Judge Valerie E. Caproni ruled that Adidas had failed to “confirm” the order against Yeezy with additional proceedings in court — a key requirement under the state law that allows such asset freezes.

“Petitioner launches a volley of unpersuasive arguments in an attempt to excuse its noncompliance with the plain language of the statute,” the judge wrote Friday. “Without a confirmation hearing Yeezy was deprived of an early opportunity to have the Court consider its substantive challenges to Petitioner’s arguments.”

The judge said the freeze on Yeezy’s bank accounts was not only lifted but that it had actually been “rendered null some six months ago when Adidas failed timely to move to confirm the order.”

A lawyer for Yeezy did not return requests for comment on Friday. A spokesman for Adidas declined to comment.

Adidas filed the case against Yeezy on Nov. 11, just weeks after the German sneaker company publicly terminated its long-standing relationship with the embattled rapper (sometimes known as Ye) in the wake of his antisemitic statements and other erratic behavior. Adidas did so because it believes that roughly $75 million of its money is currently in Yeezy’s bank accounts, and it wanted to ensure that those funds did not disappear while the two companies litigate their business divorce via private arbitration.

Judge Caproni quickly granted the company’s request for such an “attachment” order on a so-called ex parte basis — meaning the judge issued the freeze without giving Yeezy a chance to make counter-arguments. She did so because she ruled there was “a risk that Yeezy will remove or dissipate assets” if he was given advance notice of Adidas’s case.

The case and the ruling were filed “under seal” until last week when the judge issued an order making the records public.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/fa ... r-AA1bKC9P

Family of Banko Brown files wrongful death lawsuit against Walgreens

An attorney for the family of Banko Brown — the transgender Black man who was shot and killed by a private security guard outside a Walgreens store in downtown San Francisco last month — announced Friday that he was filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Walgreens, the security guard and the guard's employer, Kingdom Group Protective Services. The lawsuit comes days after California's attorney general announced he would review San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins' decision to not charge the guard.

The attorney, John Burris, said at a Friday news conference that Brown's death particularly appalled him because he believes the guard made a clear choice to shoot Brown when he was not in danger.

“This is one of the few cases that is most, most, most disturbing. I’ve been involved in a lot of death cases, and this death case seems so woefully unnecessary because there was a choice that was made,” he said. “This wasn’t a heat-of-the-moment thing.”

Burris filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on behalf of Brown's parents, Kevinisha Henderson and Terry Brown. Burris said the security guard, Michael Earl-Wayne Anthony, was culpable for shooting Brown; that Walgreens was culpable for hiring a private security guard and encouraging staff to be more aggressive with shoplifters; and that Kingdom Group Protective Services was culpable for hiring a man who was “emotionally distressed.”

Burris is seeking at least $25 million in damages to go to Brown's family. The announcement came just a day after Brown's funeral was held at the Third Baptist Church of San Francisco.

Brown was shot during an alleged shoplifting incident at the Walgreens at 825 Market St. on April 27. Jenkins declined to press charges against Anthony, saying she believes he shot Brown in self-defense. The move by the San Francisco district attorney sparked widespread anger across the city and left her at odds with the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, who passed a resolution last week urging state Attorney General Rob Bonta and the U.S. Department of Justice to review the case. In a statement announcing the review Tuesday, Bonta said the state Attorney General’s Office is looking into whether Jenkins’ decision to not file charges against Anthony “was an abuse of discretion.”

In announcing her decision to not press charges, Jenkins released a trove of evidence — including surveillance footage — that her office gathered during its investigation into the shooting. The video shows Brown being stopped at the entrance of the store by Anthony while attempting to leave. The two begin to shove each other, and Anthony wrestles Brown to the floor. Eventually, Anthony lets Brown up and then pulls out his gun and shoots Brown as he is backing out of the store.

[RTH10260]

Robocalls

[RTH10260]

Company responsible for 7.5 billion robocalls sued by nearly every Attorney General
If successful, Avid Telecom could face major consequences.

Peter Cao|
May 26, 2023 6:00 PM

We can all agree that robocalls are the worst. While there might never be a way to get rid of them entirely (though agencies are certainly working on it), one the most prolific sources of these intrusions is finally getting hauled into court.

CBS News reports that Attorneys General from 48 states (as well as DC) are coming together to file a bipartisan lawsuit against Arizona-based Avid Telecom, its owner Michael D. Lansky and vice president Stacey S. Reeves. The 141-page suit claims that the company illegally made over 7.5 billion calls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry. Arizona Attorney General Kris Meyes claims that nearly 197 million robocalls were made to phone numbers in her state over a five-year period between December 2018 and January 2023.

The lawsuit says that Avid Telecom spoofed phone numbers, including 8.4 million that appeared to be coming from the government or law enforcement, and others disguised as originating from Amazon, DirecTV and many more. The suit alleges that Avid Telecom violated the Telephone and Consumer Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule and several other telemarketing and consumer laws.

The AGs are asking the court to enjoin Avid Telecom from making illegal robocalls, and to pay damages and restitution to the people it called illegally. They're also pursuing several statutory avenues to make Avid cough of money on a per-violation basis, which given the enormous volume of calls it has made, could add up quickly. Sumco Panama, which was responsible for a comparatively smaller 5 billion robocalls, was fined nearly $300 million by the FCC late last year.




https://www.engadget.com/company-respon ... 50450.html

[RTH10260]

Nearly every state and D.C. sue telecom company over billions of robocalls

BY ALIZA CHASAN
MAY 24, 2023 / 5:45 PM /

Attorneys general from almost every state in the U.S. filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Avid Telecom, a company accused of making more than 7.5 billion robocalls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry. Attorneys general from the District of Columbia and every state except Alaska and South Dakota are acting as plaintiffs.

The attorneys general are also suing Avid Telecom owner Michael Lansky and the company's vice president, Stacey Reeves. Avid Telecom received more than 320 notifications about illegal robocalls before the suit was filed, according to the complaint.




https://www.cbsnews.com/news/robocalls- ... tate-sues/

[RTH10260]

Federal Judge Makes History in Holding That Border Searches of Cell Phones Require a Warrant

BY SOPHIA COPE
MAY 30, 2023

With United States v. Smith (S.D.N.Y. May 11, 2023), a district court judge in New York made history by being the first court to rule that a warrant is required for a cell phone search at the border, “absent exigent circumstances” (although other district courts have wanted to do so).

EFF is thrilled about this decision, given that we have been advocating for a warrant for border searches of electronic devices in the courts and Congress for nearly a decade. If the case is appealed to the Second Circuit, we urge the appellate court to affirm this landmark decision.

The Border Search Exception as Applied to Physical Items Has a Long History

U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) asserts broad authority to conduct warrantless, and often suspicionless, device searches at the border, which includes ports of entry at the land borders, international airports, and seaports.

For a century, the Supreme Court has recognized a border search exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, allowing not only warrantless but also often suspicionless searches of luggage and other items crossing the border.

The number of warrantless device searches at the border and the significant invasion of privacy they represent is only increasing. In Fiscal Year 2022, CBP conducted an all-time high of 45,499 device searches.

The Supreme Court has not yet considered the application of the border search exception to smartphones, laptops, and other electronic devices that contain the equivalent of millions of pages of information detailing the most intimate details of our lives—even though we asked them to back in 2021.

Circuit Courts Have Narrowed the Border Search Exception’s Application to Digital Data
Federal appellate courts, however, have considered this question and circumscribed CBP’s authority.

The Ninth Circuit in United States v. Cano (2019) held that a warrant is required for a device search at the border that seeks data other than “digital contraband” such as child pornography. Similarly, the Fourth Circuit in United States v. Aigbekaen (2019) held that a warrant is required for a forensic device search at the border in support of a domestic criminal investigation.

These courts and the Smith court were informed by Riley v. California (2014). In that watershed case, the Supreme Court held that the police must get a warrant to search an arrestee’s cell phone.




more at https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/05/f ... re-warrant

[RTH10260]

JP Morgan Chase reaches settlement with victims of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse
Lawsuit claims that officials at the bank ignored warning signs about Epstein’s abuse because he was a wealthy client

Edward Helmore in New York
Mon 12 Jun 2023 18.30 BST

JP Morgan Chase has announced a tentative settlement in a legal claim brought by a woman who said that the US banking giant knowingly benefited from sexual abuse that she and others suffered at the hands of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

The value of the settlement for a class of plaintiffs that has grown to encompass as many as 100 women or more is placed at $290m, said a source familiar with the terms.

“We all now understand that Epstein’s behavior was monstrous, and we believe this settlement is in the best interest of all parties, especially the survivors, who suffered unimaginable abuse at the hands of this man,” JP Morgan said in a statement. “Any association with him was a mistake and we regret it. We would never have continued to do business with him if we believed he was using our bank in any way to help commit heinous crimes.”

The proposed deal could begin to shut down weeks of embarrassing leaks about the extensive relationship that the bank had with Epstein, where the convicted sex offender was a client from 1998 to 2013 – seven years after he was first accused of soliciting a minor.

The lawsuit claims that officials at the bank ignored warning signs about Epstein’s abuse because he was a wealthy client who could introduce wealthy people to its private banking and investment arms.

A previous agreement in a similar lawsuit against Deutsche Bank was resolved for a reported $75m. According to reports, the number of Epstein victims attached to the JPMorgan action could rise to more than 100.

“The settlements that have been reached are both life-changing and historic for the survivors,” said victims’ attorney Sigrid McCawley of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner. “Money, which for far too long flowed with impunity between Jeffrey Epstein’s global sex-trafficking enterprise and Wall Street’s leading banks, is decisively being used for good.

“The settlements signal that financial institutions have an important role to play in spotting and shutting down sex trafficking,” McCawley added.

Separately, Brad Edwards, attorney for other, unidentified claimants in the litigation, said he recognized “the importance of the government’s continued litigation against JPMorgan Chase to prevent future crimes”.

While some of the law firms representing the plaintiffs were working pro bono, or under a percentage split of any settlement, Judge Jed Rakoff has yet to award legal costs ahead of any finalized settlement.



https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... tein-abuse

[raison de arizona]

Plum wrong! NYU Langone wages war against Northwell Health for ‘ripping off’ its signature purple color

New York University’s hospital is seeing red over its signature purple hue.

Northwell Health hospitals allegedly ripped off NYU Langone’s color scheme in ads — and even made one of its buildings violet — to cash in on the smaller medical center’s stellar reputation, according to a federal lawsuit filed Thursday.

NYU Langone says Northwell coated one of its sprawling Long Island complexes in purple and intentionally copied its “unique” color and font on everything from digital ads to billboards, according to the suit, which alleges “deceptive trade practices.”

“Northwell has bathed its Peconic Bay Medical Center in the same or nearly same purple color that is prominently featured in NYU Langone’s distinctive advertising as well as in the community” to “capitalize” on the university’s hospital network’s brand, according to the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court.

Northwell’s “confusingly similar advertising” is a “scheme to trade off the good will and reputation of NYU Langone,” which was ranked the state’s No. 1 best hospital US News & World Report last year and has received “numerous awards,” the lawsuit states.

https://nypost.com/2023/06/15/nyu-lango ... or-purple/

[Ben-Prime]

As a proud NYU alum (undergrad class of '90 from what was still being called when I enrolled in '87 the Washington Square University College, or WSUC, pronounced 'WEE-suck'), even though I am colorblind, I must side with my alma mater on this.

"WEE-suck!" "WEE-suck!"

>whisperwhisperwhisper<

Uh, I am advised that I should stop saying that. Or at least stop chanting it so loudly and fiercely.

(Also worth noting more seriously that the NYU colors have been purple and white since before my attendance there, and they are known as 'The Violets', so the purple thing isn't just recent and isn't just Langone, it's university-wide branding and has been for decades)

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

N10 can write and direct a choral piece named “ WSUC We Suck”. I can hear the drum now with male voices chanting, We Suck!”

[Ben-Prime]

I believe the undergraduate arts & sciences college has since changed its name so that doesn't happen anymore, alas.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Curses!

[RTH10260]

Arizona man freed after nearly three decades on death row
Barry Jones pleads guilty to lesser charge in deal to overturn his conviction for murder of four-year-old girl in 1994

Ramon Antonio Vargas
Sat 17 Jun 2023 07.00 BST

An Arizona man who spent nearly three decades on death row before the reversal of his conviction over the death of a four-year-old girl has been freed from prison.

Barry Jones’s release, ordered on Thursday, came after a Tuscon-area state court judge approved a deal between prosecutors and him which involved his pleading guilty to a lesser murder charge. According to prosecutors, a medical review of the case failed to conclude that Jones caused the girl’s fatal injury, and his pleading guilty to second-degree murder involves his failure to adequately seek emergency care for the victim.

He was sentenced to 25 years that he had already spent imprisoned, setting the stage for his release.

Jones’s attorney, Cary Sandman, told the Associated Press that the plea recognized how his client – now aged 64 – had spent much of his life on death row “despite compelling evidence that he was innocent of charges that he fatally assaulted” Rachel Gray.

Nonetheless, as pointed out in a statement from the Innocence Project, Jones’s ordered release had no effect on the US supreme court’s refusal last year to give him the chance to prove that his constitutional right to competent legal representation was compromised when a previous defense lawyer failed to investigate medical, forensic and witness testimony which undermined the charges against him.

“With this decision … the supreme court left thousands of people in the nightmarish position of having no court to hear their credible claims of innocence,” the criminal justice reform non-profit organization’s statement said.




https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... arry-jones

[keith]

Ramon Antonio Vargas should replace him on death row for misspelling TUCSON

[Sam the Centipede]

Ramon Antonio Vargas should replace him on death row for misspelling TUCSON

Pot meet kettle: do you pronounce the name correctly? No, I don't mean the mangled way English speakers pronounce it, but correctly as a speaker of the Tohono Oʼodham language might? Or even as the not-as-mangled-as-English Spanish version Tucsón, which at least includes the central plosive?

Matthew 7:1-5, eh?

► Show Spoiler

Matthew 7:3KJV: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

[Foggy]

Off Topic

[keith]

Ramon Antonio Vargas should replace him on death row for misspelling TUCSON

Pot meet kettle: do you pronounce the name correctly? No, I don't mean the mangled way English speakers pronounce it, but correctly as a speaker of the Tohono Oʼodham language might? Or even as the not-as-mangled-as-English Spanish version Tucsón, which at least includes the central plosive?

Matthew 7:1-5, eh?

► Show Spoiler

Matthew 7:3KJV: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Tucsonans who were around before about the mid 1950's pronounce it Tucsón. After the influx of Easterners, especially Sooners and Texans, that saw the town grow from around 40000 people to 250000 people in the mid 60's the pronunciation changed to the current 'too sahn'.

The word is not even close to the Tohono O'odham word(s) from which it was derived, and no, I do not speak it.

Out of curiosity do you pronounce 'Detroit' as it would be by the original French namers, as 'old time' Michiganders would, or as it is generally 'mispronounced' today?

ETA: Oh yeah. Do you pronounce Amarillo Texas as the Spanish who named it would have as the Spanish word it is or as the Texas usurpers do?

[Ben-Prime]

ETA: Oh yeah. Do you pronounce Amarillo Texas as the Spanish who named it would have as the Spanish word it is or as the Texas usurpers do?

Texas? OH, you mean "TAY-hahs"!

[keith]

ETA: Oh yeah. Do you pronounce Amarillo Texas as the Spanish who named it would have as the Spanish word it is or as the Texas usurpers do?

Texas? OH, you mean "TAY-hahs"!

Si, es verdad.

[Foggy]

I maintain that the worst American mispronunciation of Spanish words is the city Nuestra Señora La Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula, otherwise known as loss annjeless (or L.A.).

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

Ramon Antonio Vargas should replace him on death row for misspelling TUCSON

Pot meet kettle: do you pronounce the name correctly? No, I don't mean the mangled way English speakers pronounce it, but correctly as a speaker of the Tohono Oʼodham language might? Or even as the not-as-mangled-as-English Spanish version Tucsón, which at least includes the central plosive?

Matthew 7:1-5, eh?

► Show Spoiler

Matthew 7:3KJV: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Tucsonans who were around before about the mid 1950's pronounce it Tucsón. After the influx of Easterners, especially Sooners and Texans, that saw the town grow from around 40000 people to 250000 people in the mid 60's the pronunciation changed to the current 'too sahn'.

The word is not even close to the Tohono O'odham word(s) from which it was derived, and no, I do not speak it.

Out of curiosity do you pronounce 'Detroit' as it would be by the original French namers, as 'old time' Michiganders would, or as it is generally 'mispronounced' today?

ETA: Oh yeah. Do you pronounce Amarillo Texas as the Spanish who named it would have as the Spanish word it is or as the Texas usurpers do?

Yes

[RTH10260]

Ramon Antonio Vargas should replace him on death row for misspelling TUCSON

Pot meet kettle: do you pronounce the name correctly? No, I don't mean the mangled way English speakers pronounce it, but correctly as a speaker of the Tohono Oʼodham language might? Or even as the not-as-mangled-as-English Spanish version Tucsón, which at least includes the central plosive?

Matthew 7:1-5, eh?

► Show Spoiler

Matthew 7:3KJV: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Or the only correct Italian way - Tuscany