L.A. Awards $9.5M Settlement In Wrongful Death Case

Two years have passed since 16-year-old Naomi Larsen was “fatally struck by a taxicab near Dockweiler State Beach” while “crossing Vista Del Mar with her friends,” but now her family has been granted some closure. Just last Wednesday, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to pay $9.5 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the teenager’s parents, Stacey Larsen and Steven Potovsky, who “argued that the death of their daughter was a “foreseeable tragedy” because the city had failed to ensure safe ways for pedestrians to cross from the beach to their parked vehicles on the street.” According to the lawsuit, the highway was “hazardous to pedestrians, but the city did nothing to fix the problem.”


Of Course Lois Lerner Wants Privacy

Remember ancient history, all the way back in 2013, when the world was a much simpler place and the news of the day was that the IRS had supposedly “singled out” Tea Party organizations for further scrutiny before allowing them tax-exempt 501(c)(4) status? It’s been a while, but those events are still shaking out in the legal system.




Trump Tells Dreamers to ‘Rest Easy’ Despite Publicized Raids, Arrests, and Deportations

On Friday, President Trump told Dreamers to ‘rest easy,’ reaffirming his administration’s commitment to target criminals for deportation rather than children brought to the United States illegally as children. The term “Dreamer” is used to refer to individuals making use of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, commonly abbreviated as DACA. The program was


Racial Discrimination Lawsuit Against Fox Gets Bigger

The racial discrimination lawsuit against Fox News is growing. It started when two African American women spoke out against the discrimination at the network, and now, just last week, seven other African American Fox News employees intend to join in on the lawsuit, according to New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman. But what happened to warrant such a lawsuit?


Children’s Shelter Settles Lawsuit Over Sex Trafficking Allegations

A settlement has been reached between the Florida Keys Children’s Shelter, two other Monroe County nonprofits, and a 17-year-old girl who was sold into sex trafficking after the agencies failed to protect her, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, Our Kids of Miami/Monroe and Wesley House Family Services was also “named in the suit” that was filed by the girl back in March of 2016 in U.S. District Court in Miami.


Private Prison Group Petitions Texas Legislature to License Its Facilities to Hold Children

A top operator of private prisons is requesting the Texas legislature to license its facilities to hold children due for deportation alongside their parents. Citing studies which show that holding children alongside their parents eases the psychological burden of incarceration, GEO Group is petitioning Texas lawmakers to introduce legislation allowing the practice. GEO Group is


Eleven Republican Attorneys General Sign Up to Help Exxon Mobil Deny Climate Change

A group of 11 Republican attorneys general are objecting to an investigation into whether or not oil giant Exxon-Mobil violating consumer protection laws by downplaying the dangers of global warming. Reuters reports that “[…] Top prosecutors for Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin, all of whom are Republicans,


Dartmouth Agrees To Settlement Over Water Contamination

At long last, a settlement has been reached between Dartmouth College and the family of Richard and Debbie Higgins who claim, according to a lawsuit, that they “suffered health problems from drinking well water contaminated by runoff from a site where the college once dumped animals used in scientific experiments.” According to a statement issued by the college, Dartmouth and the family “have reached a negotiated settlement of all claims related to contamination of the drinking water well at 9 Rennie Road.” The settlement, according to the college, will allow the Higgins family to “move on with their lives in a new location.”