As part of a class action settlement, the City of New York will shell out $15 million to 22,000 people who were wrongly arrested for panhandling, a charge that was ruled unconstitutional since 1983. That comes out to about $681 for each person in the lawsuit which isn’t that much when you consider that some of them spent actual jail time for committing an act, that ultimately, was perfectly legal.
Every now and then, the FDA needs a good kick in the balls and today, a federal judge did just that, when he ruled that the government may be going too far by requiring tobacco brands to plaster gross-looking images all over their products. Read more »
People of all faiths died in Lower Manhattan on that frightful day in September almost 10 years ago, so it’s understandable why an atheist group is opposed to the resurrection of the World Trade Center Cross at the site, it’s not a Christian graveyard after all. Read more »
A group of bitchy old rich people who oppose the Prospect Park bike lane are suing the city. They claim the DOT provided shoddy data, misled the public about its advantages, and are demanding it be removed. The colorful lawsuit was filed late Monday in Brooklyn Supreme Court and as Streetsblog notes, reads more like a snarky blog than a legal document. Give it a read (PDF doc).
Traditionally, when a patron gets into a fight with a bouncer, no matter what the venue, the latter wins and then some. But not this time. Joseph Wright was rushed to the hospital after “wanna-be reality TV star” Rashidah Ali allegedly clawed his face during a fracas at Greenhouse in late January reports the Daily News. It took 50 stitches to close the deep gash. Wright filed a $10 million lawsuit against Ali, which should just about cover his bruised ego as well.
Some 67-year-old guy in Detroit went to the Burger King and received a deadly punch from an employee, instead of the pleasurable dining experience he was expecting. Read more »
Two weird stories in the NY Post involve cats, New Jersey, NYC, and the law. Just one more and we could have a trend on our hands (which are covered with bites and scratches!). Read more »
Down in beautiful, sun-kissed Florida, a bagel man and a pizza man are suing each other over the right to use a method of water filtration that turns regular ol’ water into magical, New York City-like water in just 14 simple steps. The system, says the bagel man, “reinsert[s] those nuances that make it Brooklyn water.” Nuances. Read more »
Adding to their mounting bill, the NYPD’s tactics for dealing with Critical Mass riders will cost the city $965,000 in a settlement reached with 83 people who were wrongly detained between 2004 and 2006. As the AP reports, this payout doesn’t include the lawsuits surrounding the ’04 Republican National Convention. (Photo: Will Sherman)
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and the Park 51 are countersuing the 9/11 first responder who is suing them for $350 million on behalf of America, dumbness and bigotry.
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