TortsProf Blog

Wriggins on the Compulsory Auto Insurance/Individual Mandate Analogy

Jenny Wriggins (Maine) has a short piece on the analogy between compulsory auto insurance and the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act at the Scholars Strategy Network.

--CJR

VA: Facebook "Likes" Admissible, But Defamation Punies Award Cut

In a federal case in Virginia, the number of"likes" an allegedly defamatory Facebook page received was admissible, but a punitive damages award was reduced.  Peter Vieth of Virginia Lawyers Weekly has the story:

A federal judge says a dog trainer who claimed he was defamed by online accusations of animal abuse was entitled to tell a jury how many people “liked” the offending Facebook page, a federal judge has ruled.

Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge James Cacheris said the jury’s “grossly excessive” $60,000 punitive damages verdict in favor of the dog trainer should be cut by three quarters. Cacheris says the defendant can either accept the reduction of punitives to $15,000 or take a new trial.

The full story is here.

--CJR

Fraud in Indiana State Fair Fund Claims

The Associated Press reports that a woman has pled guilty for submitting false claims to the state tort fund created to compenstate the victims of the Indiana State Fair stage collapse in 2011.   This example raises the interesting question about how to prevent fraudulent claims when administering a compensation fund.

- SBS

Graham at CoOp

Over at CoOp, TortsProf Kyle Graham (Santa Clara) is guest blogging this month.  Check him out.

--CJR