As of Thursday, more than 100 people have joined a lawsuit against the US government concerning water contaminated with jet fuel. The plaintiffs seek legal remedy under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which provides for compensation for personal injury, death, or property loss or damage from a negligent or wrongful act of an employee of [...]
Search Results for: Federal Tort Claims Act
The US Supreme Court Thursday released the list of oral arguments it will hear during the January 2023 session. The court will hear seven arguments in a session that begins on January 9, 2023. The court will first hear arguments in the cases of In re Grand Jury and Ohio Adjutant General’s Department v. Federal [...]
US Supreme Court will consider liability shields for online platforms, seven additional new cases
The US Supreme Court Monday granted certiorari in nine new cases, including two cases on liability shields for online platforms. In Gonzalez v. Google, the court is asked to consider the scope of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which broadly shields online platforms from liability for content posted by the platforms’ users. Reynaldo [...]
The US Supreme Court Wednesday made it harder to individually sue federal agents who violate constitutional rights. In a 6-3 decision the court limited the use of the 1971 case Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents to establish grounds for a lawsuit. Bivens allowed federal agents to be individually sued for violating the Fourth Amendment, [...]
Hague court rejects 'Ogoni Nine' widow lawsuit against Shell
The District Court of The Hague Wednesday rejected a suit brought by four Nigerian widows against oil giant Shell for allegedly helping corrupt witnesses testifying against their late husbands, who were executed in 1995 by the Nigerian government following protests against Shell’s exploitation of the Niger Delta. In 1995, former military ruler Sani Abacha executed [...]
US Supreme Court to hear cases on Congressional war powers, arbitration, trains
The US Supreme Court Wednesday granted certiorari to three new cases concerning Congress’s war powers, arbitration, and the Locomotive Inspection Act. These cases are Torres v. Department of Safety, Viking River Cruises v. Moriana, and Ledure v. Union Pacific Railroad. The issue in Torres v. Department of Safety is whether the Congressional war powers under the US constitution [...]
Limiting Bivens: The US Supreme Court's Reluctance to Allow Lawsuits Against Federal Agents
In the aftermath of the George Floyd protests, the legal doctrines shielding law enforcement from accountability have become increasingly scrutinized, with qualified immunity by far the most well-known (and most controversial). But on November 5, the Supreme Court announced it will hear at least one of three cases that address another form of immunity for [...]
Federal appeals court rejects Pulse Nightclub shooting case against social media giants
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected a lawsuit against Google, Facebook and Twitter on Monday, concerning the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando. Plaintiffs, a group of victims of the massacre, sought damages against the social media giants. The plaintiffs made two arguments. The first was that the companies violated anti-terrorism [...]
In India, with the daily Covid-19 cases plummeting about 90 percent from the peak of the first wave last year, the pandemic appeared to be under control by March 2021. In April 2021, however, India saw the world’s worst second wave, with new cases exceeding 400,000 a day, breaking the world record for the most [...]
Mexico sues US gun manufacturers in federal court over claims of fueling violence
The government of Mexico filed a complaint on Wednesday against eight gun manufacturers, holding companies and distributors, alleging tort claims based on a “deadly flood of military-style and other particularly lethal guns” across the border from the US into Mexico. The complaint named several major gun manufacturers as defendants, including Smith & Wesson, Barrett, Beretta, Century, [...]