Brianna Smith, Author at Legal Reader

Brianna Smith is a freelance writer and editor in Southwest Michigan. A graduate of Grand Valley State University, Brianna has a passion for politics, social issues, education, science, and more. When she’s not writing, she enjoys the simple life with her husband, daughter, and son.

Study Finds More and More Patients Paying High Out-of-Pocket Fees for Imaging Services

March 15, 2018

A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology suggests that “patients with private health insurance often face high out-of-pocket fees for advanced imaging.” The findings of the study were discovered after researchers examined “government data on out-of-pocket cost for imaging and other essential health services for 18,429 plans available in the U.S. private insurance marketplace last year.” Why are patients with private insurance allegedly paying more, though? How much more are they paying than other patients?

Edina High School’s Young Conservative Club Wins Free Speech Lawsuit

March 14, 2018

After filing a lawsuit against Edina High School, the school district, principal, and superintendent over alleged discrimination, student members of the Young Conservatives Club (YCC) recently agreed to a settlement that will result in their club being reinstated at the school. In filing the lawsuit, the YCC students “charged the school with violating students’ rights of freedom of speech and of association, equal access, and not abiding by federal laws and codes for the U.S. Flag.” But what did the school do to prompt the lawsuit in the first place?

Settlement Announced, Ending Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Pepe the Frog Paintings

March 13, 2018

A copyright infringement lawsuit was recently settled between the artist who “created Pepe the Frog” and Missouri native Jessica Logsdon. The artist, Matt Furie, originally filed the lawsuit because he alleged that Logsdon misused the “character to sell hate-promoting oil paintings.” This isn’t the first lawsuit Furie has filed over his character, Pepe, though. On his “campaign to reclaim his creation from far-right extremists who hijacked Pepe, mixing images of Furie’s ‘chill frog-dude’ with Nazi symbols and other hateful imagery,” he also filed a lawsuit against Infowars, a “conspiracy-promoting website…for selling a poster that included an image of Pepe.”

On 2nd Anniversary of Son’s Death, Father Files Wrongful Death Lawsuit Against City of Mission and Three Police Officers

March 12, 2018

Michigan resident David Green recently filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court “against the city of Mission and three of its police officers.” Why? Well, according to Green, the three police officers named in the lawsuit “fatally shot his mentally ill son” two years ago after allegedly failing “to use de-escalation tactics after he called police Feb. 22, 2016, seeking help for his 38-year-old son, David Green II.” The lawsuit also alleges that the officer’s “excessive force led to his son’s death.”

5 Infants Injured in Hospital Newborn Unit; Nurse Suspended

March 9, 2018

Hospital newborn units are supposed to be havens of safety, where tired parents often send their little ones so they can catch a few hours of sleep here and there shortly after the birth, or where infants receive their first round of vaccinations and other medicines. That’s why a recent story of infants allegedly being harmed in a newborn unit has so many people upset. According to a federal report issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, “five infants suffered serious injuries including a fractured skull, rib, and arm in the newborn unit of a Wisconsin hospital and the nurse who cared for them has been suspended.”

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed Against ‘America’s Got Talent’

March 9, 2018

‘America’s Got Talent,’ a reality competition show that features dancers, singers, magicians, comedians, and other types of performers, just got hit with some bad legal news. It turns out the show, along with the producers and network, NBC, is being sued in a wrongful death lawsuit. By whom, though, and why? For starters, the lawsuit was filed by the family of a “79-year-old woman claims she died three months after being injured in a fall from her wheelchair outside of where ‘AGT’ was filming” back in March 2017.

Why is the Rate of Pedestrian Fatalities on the Rise?

March 8, 2018

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, the roads are getting more and more dangerous for pedestrians. After decades of experiencing a decline in “the rate of fatal car accidents, numbers have crept back up in recent years,” especially those concerning pedestrian fatalities. Just how many pedestrians are losing their lives each year? Well, according to the most recent Transportation Department data, “nearly 6,000 pedestrians were struck and killed by vehicles on public roads” in 2016.

Image of Wayne State University's Old Main

Did Wayne State Decertify Christian Student Group Because of Beliefs?

March 7, 2018

A student organization at Wayne State University was recently decertified “for requiring its leadership to agree to a statement of beliefs,” according to a new lawsuit. The suit itself was filed on yesterday in federal court, and claims “Wayne State stripped the university’s chapter of InterVarsity of official student organization status illegally.”

Jury Awards Family of Deceased Mother of Three $3.9M, Ending Wrongful Death Suit

March 5, 2018

Late last week a jury agreed to a “nearly $4 million verdict…in the case of the wrongful death of a mother of three,” Garylyn Langell. In handing down the verdict, the jury agreed that “an ER doctor was culpable in Langell’s 2011 death,” not her family physician. In addition to the verdict, the jury “awarded past economic damages at $490,000, and past non-economic damages at $3.5 million.” But what happened? How did Langell die, and what role did the ER play in her death?

The Equifax Hack Just Got Bigger

March 2, 2018

Just when we thought news about the Equifax hack couldn’t get worse, the company announced yesterday that “an additional 2.4 million Americans were impacted by last year’s data breach.” Unlike the millions of other Americans impacted by the hack, however, these new 2.4 million consumers “had significantly less personal information stolen,” according to the announcement. For example, Equifax claims the “additional consumers only had their names and a partial driver’s license number stolen by the attackers, unlike the original 145.5 million Americans who had their Social Security numbers impacted.”

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