March 22

Legal History

By Karen Conti

Karen Conti is owner of ContiLaw LLC. She is a regular legal commentator on the local Fox affiliate, CNN and truTV. She appears every Sunday from 8 to 9 p.m. on WGN-AM 720 to discuss current legal events and to answer listeners’ questions.

Posted March 22, 2017 1:32 PM

1990An Anchorage, Alaska, jury found Capt. Joseph Hazelwood not guilty of most of the charges relating to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He was found guilty of a minor pollution charge. The tanker’s grounding, considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused environmental disasters in history, resulted in 11 million gallons of crude oil being spilled into the once-pristine waters of Prince William Sound. Exxon spent an estimated $2 billion cleaning up the spill and more than $1 billion more to settle related …

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High court says judge erred in trying to ‘rehabilitate’ juror

Guided by the principle that the purpose of voir dire is “investigation, not persuasion” — and bolstered by scholarly commentary that included a 2023 Chicago-Kent Law Review article — the Oregon Supreme Court critiqued a judge’s efforts to “rehabilitate” a prospective juror.
By Steven P. Garmisa
Current proposal isn’t enough to stem mushrooming MDLs

Assigned a multidistrict litigation (MDL) that grew from a couple of dozen cases to nearly a thousand, and observing cases that were not properly investigated or attended to by counsel, a judge in the Middle District with Georgia expressed a famous frustration with a process that has only gotten worse in the eight years since.
By Patrick Eckler
Manufacturer claims immunity for rubber bullet injury

Claiming immunity under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act when Eduardo Santos sued for severe injuries allegedly caused by a police officer who shot him in the face with a rubber bullet, Defense Technology — the company that manufactured the “kinetic impact projectile” and KIP launcher — argued the statute’s product-liability exception didn’t apply.
By Steven P. Garmisa
A judge’s ethical imperative: Follow the law or face the JIB

“The law that applies to this case is stated in these instructions, and it is your duty to follow all of them.” So states Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction 1.01(2), which the judge reads to the jurors in every criminal case before the jury begins its deliberations. If we expect jurors to follow the law, we surely must expect judges to lead by example and do the same thing.
By David P. Sterba
Defendant challenges ‘judicial legislation’ in suit over insider trading

Accused of insider trading, Michael Shvartsman argued this offense is “criminal law made by judges” that violates Article I of the U.S. Constitution and the non-delegation doctrine.
By Steven P. Garmisa
Court assesses offsets against employee’s underinsured claim

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, construing Illinois law, recently held that an employee injured in an automobile accident was entitled to recover underinsured coverage from his employer’s automobile liability policy, subject to certain reductions.
By Don R. Sampen
Iowa Supreme Court blocks testimony about business records

In a case where prosecutors relied on the hearsay rule’s business-records exception to justify testimony about documents that weren’t admitted into evidence, the Iowa Supreme Court, citing decisions from across the country, reversed because “the rules of evidence create a ‘business records exception’ to the rule against hearsay and not a ‘testimony about business records exception.’”
By Steven P. Garmisa
Arizona high court rolls back clock to 1864 in abortion case

The Comstock Act of 1873 was referenced in the U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in the mifepristone case recently heard, and may play a factor in at least some of the justices’ decisions. Turns out, Arizona told a certain justice, we know you like beer, hold this beer.
By Daniel A. Cotter