| | Have you signed up for TTLA by Text? | | A new opt-in member service to get up-to-the minute legislative news to you via text messaging to your cell phone. Texts will be limited to legislative issues. We'll let you know when important hearings or testimony are beginning, what's happening with bills of interest, and we'll provide links to video clips of relevant hearing testimony. Click on the headline to opt-in. If you have questions regarding the service, contact Mona Fults (mfults@ttla.com). |
| 2015 Midyear Conference and CLE Seminar | | Be Inspired—Litigation with Compassion, Competence, and Confidence, June 3-5, The Omni Austin Hotel Downtown 700 San Jacinto at 8th Street, Austin, TX. Earn up to 12.25 hours MCLE credit. Click on the headline to register. |
| Texas Tribune Daily Brief
| | |
| City Reviews of Would-Be Uber Drivers Find Crimes the Company Missed | | 
| | Houston officials discovered crimes ranging from aggravated robbery to driving on a suspended license when they checked the backgrounds of prospective Uber drivers who had been cleared by the company's review, according to a new report. City regulatory officials cited the cases in documents prepared for a hearing in Austin on Thursday opposing a bill that would give the state control of regulating Uber and strip the city of its oversight - including criminal background checks.
Dug Begley, Houston Chronicle 04/09/2015    | | Read Article: Houston Chronicle |
| Lawsuit Filed Against DOJ Over Phone Surveillance | |
| | A lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Justice Department by a group who alleges the department violated the constitution by obtaining logs of billions of phone calls from the U.S. to other countries. The lawsuit was filed by a group called Human Rights Watch in federal court in Los Angeles and requests that a judge declare that the surveillance operation, which is no longer in effect, is illegal. The lawsuit also requests that the operation be blocked from restarting.
Brad Heath, USA Today 04/08/2015 | | Read Article: USA Today |
| Az. County Pays $3.5M to Settle Lawsuit Over Failed Investigation | |
| | Maricopa County, Arizona has settled a lawsuit by the family of a girl whose abuser was free for three years while investigators ignored DNA evidence. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle the lawsuit. The developmentally disabled girl was sexually abused by her uncle, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for one count of child molestation and to a lifetime of supervised probation following his release for two counts of attempted child molestation. This case was one of over 400 sexual abuse and assault cases that were not properly investigated by the county's "Special Victims Unit."
Joe Dana, Arizona Republic 04/08/2015 | | Read Article: Arizona Republic |
| Driver Lost Eye from Exploding Airbag, Files Suit Against Nissan | |
| | A 19-year-old driver who claims he lost an eye after an airbag exploded in the Nissan Altima he was driving has filed a $2.7 million lawsuit against the auto manufacturer. Jose Luis Rodriguez-Medina claims that the driver-side front airbag never should have deployed when the 1999 Nissan was T-boned by another driver, according to his lawsuit filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
Aimee Green, Oregon Live 04/09/2015 | | Read Article: Oregon Live |
| U.S. Appeals Court Deals Setback to Florida Tobacco Plaintiffs | |
| | A U.S. appeals court ruling on Wednesday could make it more difficult for smokers suing tobacco companies in Florida to prove claims that cigarettes are dangerous and that tobacco companies were negligent. The ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses more than $800,000 in damages from R.J. Reynolds and Altria Group Inc unit Philip Morris USA Inc awarded in 2013 to Earl Graham, whose wife Faye, a longtime smoker, died in 1993 of lung cancer. More broadly, the court said smokers who, like Graham, were originally part of a massive class action in Florida against the tobacco companies could not rely on findings from the class action trial to prove claims that cigarettes are defective and tobacco companies were negligent.
JESSICA DYE, Reuters 04/09/2015 | | Read Article: Reuters |
| Veterans Still Face Long Wait for Health Care | |
| | Government data shows that the number of patients facing long waits at VA facilities has not dropped at all. The Associated Press has found that since the summer, the number of medical appointments delayed 30 to 90 days has largely stayed flat. The number of appointments that take longer than 90 days to complete has nearly doubled. Many delay-prone facilities are clustered in a handful of Southern states, often in areas with a strong military presence, a rural population and patient growth that has outpaced the VA's sluggish planning process.
Associated Press, AL.com 04/09/2015 | | Read Article: AL.com |
|
|
