Louisiana court rules state government immune in Katrina ‘wrongful death’ suit News
Louisiana court rules state government immune in Katrina ‘wrongful death’ suit

[JURIST] The Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal [official website] has upheld the dismissal of a wrongful death suit brought by Herbert Freeman, Jr. against the state of Louisiana, the city of New Orleans and public officials. Freeman's 91-year-old wheelchair-bound mother, Ethel Mayo Freeman, died September 1, 2005 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center where she and her son sought refuge after their home was flooded by Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive]. Four of the court's five judges voted Wednesday to uphold the 2007 ruling by Orleans Parish Civil District [official website] Judge Robin Giarrusso dismissing the suit. The majority agreed that the state's immunity statute requires there be a showing of willful misconduct in order to hold the state liable, but dissenting Judge Charles R. Jones said that the immunity issue was being decided prematurely.

Freeman's lawsuit against the federal government – including former FEMA [official website] Director Michael Brown and Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff [official profile] – was also dismissed [JURIST report] last year. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.