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May 22, 2012

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Acura TL Sedans Recalled

Series: Chemical Companies, Big Tobacco and the Toxic Products in Your Home

Facebook Hit with Illegal Tracking Lawsuit

Twins Conceived In Vitro After Dad's Death Not Entitled to Benefits

Judge: Parole Officials Can Be Held Liable Over Sex Offender Restrictions

Video Depicts Alleged Abuse at Kansas Military School

Law Could Severely Limit Potential Damages in FAMU Hazing Lawsuit

Jury Awards Brothers $700K in Wis. Diocese Lawsuit

Supreme Court to Take Up Wiretap Lawsuit

Use of Electrical Device on State hHospital Patients Draws Scrutiny

Suit: Woman Conspired to Kill Her Husband

 

 

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Announcements

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Why I'm a member of TTLA...

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VIDEO: "We cannot sit back and expect others to do what we should do for ourselves." TTLA Member Reginald McKamie, Houston Click on the headline to watch the video.  

 

"1K Pays Your Way" TTLA Annual Conference

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Earn your registration fee for the 2012 TTLA Annual Conference by recruiting new TTLA members! Simply recruit $1,000 worth of new TTLA memberships, and earn free registration to the Annual Conference CLE at Hyatt Lost Pines – an $875 value. Clip on the headline to learn more.  

 

2012 Annual Conference Discover TTLA, June 6-8 at the Hyatt Lost Pines, Bastrop

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Join TTLA for our biggest event of the year, complete with 2 days of CLE programs, parties, receptions, committee meetings, Board of Directors meeting and our annual awards luncheon. Nestled in the tranquil Central Texas countryside, this year's Annual Conference also offers family-friendly activities, a golf tournament, tennis tournament and more! Click on the headline to learn more!  

 

Products

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Acura TL Sedans Recalled

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Honda Motors has issued a recall of 2007 and 2008 Acura TL sedans due to a potential fluid leak. The company said the power steering hoses in the vehicles may have deteriorated during use, which can result in the fluid leak and a loss of steering power. There are as many as 52,000 cars affected by the recall in the U.S.  Viknesh Vijayenthiran, Christian Science Monitor  05/17/2012

Read Article: Christian Science Monitor    

 

Series: Chemical Companies, Big Tobacco and the Toxic Products in Your Home

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The average American baby is born with 10 fingers, 10 toes and the highest recorded levels of flame retardants among infants in the world. The toxic chemicals are present in nearly every home, packed into couches, chairs and many other products. Two powerful industries — Big Tobacco and chemical manufacturers — waged deceptive campaigns that led to the proliferation of these chemicals, which don’t even work as promised.  Patricia Callahan, Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne, Chicago Tribune  05/22/2012

Read Article: Chicago Tribune    

 

Laws/Cases

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Facebook Hit with Illegal Tracking Lawsuit

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Last week a group of plaintiffs filed a $15 billion lawsuit in California against Facebook Inc. over claims the company was tracking users' Internet use - a violation of privacy. The suit - a consolidation of 21 similar cases - says Facebook "improperly tracked users even after they logged out."  Kit Chellel and Jeremy Hodges, San Francisco Chronicle  05/20/2012

Read Article: San Francisco Chronicle    

 

Twins Conceived In Vitro After Dad's Death Not Entitled to Benefits

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The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that twins born from in vitro fertilization after the death of their father are not entitled to Social Security survivor benefits. Florida law states children may not inherit benefits unless "conceived while the deceased parent was still alive." The court wrote that the application for benefits must be resolved under "state intestacy laws," which call for a denial of benefits.  Debra Cassens Weiss, American Bar Association Journal  05/21/2012

Read Article: American Bar Association Journal    

 

Judge: Parole Officials Can Be Held Liable Over Sex Offender Restrictions

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In the latest rebuke of state policies for classifying parolees as sex offenders, an Austin federal judge has ruled that top state parole officials can be held personally liable for continuing missteps. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin, in an order issued late Friday, blasted the state's continuing refusal to provide due process hearings before imposing restrictive sex-offender conditions on felons never convicted of a sex crime. Yeakel for the first time ruled that the seven-member state Board of Pardons and Paroles, 12 parole commissioners, state parole director Stuart Jenkins and other parole officials can face monetary damages for their actions.  Mike Ward, Austin American Statesman  05/22/2012

Read Article: Austin American Statesman    

 

Video Depicts Alleged Abuse at Kansas Military School

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The mother of a 14-year-old boy says a cellphone video depicting her son struggling to stand on two broken legs is proof that her son was harmed while attending a Kansas military school and supports claims in a federal lawsuit that the school encouraged a culture of abuse. The 3:39-minute video clip obtained exclusively by the Associated Press depicts Jesse Mactagone of Auburn, Calif., at St. John's Military School wobbling and pleading for help as an instructor tries to make him stand. Both of the boy's legs were broken during the four days in August 2011 that he attended the school. He no longer attends the school. Mactagone and the families of six other students filed a federal lawsuit seeking unspecified damages, claiming the school allowed and encouraged abuse. St. John's has settled nine previous abuse lawsuits filed since 2006. However, law enforcement authorities in Kansas have declined to file assault charges against anyone at the school, citing a lack of evidence.  Associated Press, Detroit Free Press  05/22/2012

Read Article: Detroit Free Press    

 

Law Could Severely Limit Potential Damages in FAMU Hazing Lawsuit

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With every troubling new revelation about Florida A&M University’s Marching 100, the pending civil case against FAMU seems to grow stronger for the parents of Robert Champion, the drum major who died from being hazed on a charter bus in Orlando. But the prospects of Robert and Pamela Champion collecting a large financial settlement or jury award is another matter. That’s because the university enjoys the legal protection of sovereign immunity, which could severely limit the amount of money the Champions ultimately collect if they win a lawsuit.  Stephen Hudak, The Orlando Sentinel, Boston Globe  05/22/2012

Read Article: Boston Globe    

 

Jury Awards Brothers $700K in Wis. Diocese Lawsuit

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An Outagamie County jury on Monday awarded two brothers $700,000 in a fraud trial against the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay.The civil jury found the diocese responsible Monday for concealing a former priest's history of child molestation. Brothers Todd and Troy Merryfield sued the diocese in 2008, alleging the diocese was aware the Rev. John Feeney sexually assaulted others before 1978, when it assigned him to Freedom's St. Nicholas Church. Feeney was convicted in 2004 for the sexual assaults of the Merryfields and has already served his prison sentence.  Ashley Halsey III, San Antonio Express News  05/22/2012

Read Article: San Antonio Express News    

 

Issues

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Supreme Court to Take Up Wiretap Lawsuit

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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that challenges the constitutionality of secret wiretapping of international calls and e-mails. The court will consider if Americans who have regular business dealings with overseas clients have the right to challenge the "sweep of this surveillance." The case was originally tossed out, but was narrowly revived in a New York appeals court.  David G. Savage, LA Times  05/21/2012

Read Article: LA Times    

 

Use of Electrical Device on State hHospital Patients Draws Scrutiny

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The Department of State Health Services has prohibited the use of a controversial treatment at its public psychiatric hospitals after officials say they learned that a doctor performed unauthorized research on aggressive patients with serious mental disabilities. On Tuesday, the health agency ordered the psychiatric hospitals it oversees not to use cranial electrotherapy stimulation, a treatment that uses a hand-held device to transmit mild electrical currents into a patient's head.  Andrea Ball, Austin American Statesman  05/22/2012

Read Article: Austin American Statesman    

 

Wrongful Death

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Suit: Woman Conspired to Kill Her Husband

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A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against a Georgia woman, accusing her of conspiring to have her husband murdered in 2010. The suit says the woman "actively participated in the planning of the murder" of her husband and was having an affair with the man who actually pulled the trigger. The lawsuit seeks to protect family assets for the benefit of the couple's two children.  Christian Boone , Atlanta Journal-Constitution  05/18/2012

Read Article: Atlanta Journal-Constitution    


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