PublicNuisanceWire.com

Chris Horner, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, and Deception to Keep You Misinformed, spoke to Public Nuisance Wire about the implications of Climategate.

“The greens already plan to file [lawsuits] early and often,” CEI's Chris Horner observes. “What this does is embolden defendants, lawmakers, and even judges."

Given the subprime mortgage debacle and the spate of foreclosures around the country, it’s no surprise that city governments are looking for someone to blame. But our nation's courts are refusing to validate this scapegoating effort.

Is it fair for the EPA to change its air-quality policies in a state without input from the citizens who will be affected by them? That's the question many in Utah are asking.

At the end of December, Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr and other city and county officials filed suit against Wells Fargo for allegedly targeting black homeowners for high-interest subprime mortgages.

While a number of recent studies suggest that smoking bans cut down on heart attacks, critics argue that the data they rely on have been skewed or misinterpreted.

Mississippi 's tort reform, passed in 2004, has helped reduce medical malpractice claims by as much as 90 percent.

Several Texas cities recently triumphed over online travel companies in court, obtaining a $20 million award for allegedly delinquent hotel taxes. But city officials in Anaheim, Calif. pursuing a similar course may not be so lucky.

Critics say the verdict represents a politically correct determination to vilify tobacco companies and ignore smokers' assumption of risks.

Eight of California’s largest cities and nine of its largest counties spent $504.1 million to deal with lawsuits over a two-year period. Tom Scott of California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse talked to Public Nuisance Wire about these startling figures.

A new report from California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse shows that eight of the state’s largest cities and nine of its largest counties spent $504.1 million to deal with lawsuits over the course of fiscal years 2006-2008.

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) has filed a brief in the Supreme Court case of McDonald v. Chicago and expects a decision favoring gun rights. SAF President Alan Gottlieb spoke to Public Nuisance Wire about the ramifications of such a victory.

On November 16, the Second Amendment Foundation filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court case of McDonald v. Chicago, challenging the constitutionality of the city’s ban on handguns.

Gun owners believe their Second Amendment rights will be compromised if the health care bill sponsored by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus is passed.

The recent health care bill passed by the House specifically prohibits financial incentives for states that implement caps or limits on malpractice awards and attorneys fees.

Last month the Hopi Tribe issued a resolution declaring local and national environmental groups unwelcome on Hopi land.

With a plethora of new asbestos cases coming to fruition, San Francisco County Superior Court is proposing the creation of a single asbestos department.

J. Russell Jackson, a partner with Skadden Law who defends companies’ products and advertising in trial and appellate courts, spoke to Public Nuisance Wire about the ramifications of the Fifth circuit's Comer decision.

On October 16, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit became the second federal appeals court in less than a month to reverse a trial court decision that had thrown out a climate change lawsuit for presenting a nonjusticiable political question.

In an exclusive interview with Public Nuisance Wire, Lisa Perrochet of Horvitz & Levy explains some of the negative consequences of public nuisance suits.

Last July, the Supreme Court of Rhode Island held that the state “cannot allege” facts sufficient to state a claim for common law public nuisance against lead pigment manufacturers. In the upcoming Santa Clara v. ARCO case, the same rules may apply.

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray believes the people's Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is fundamental and cannot be denied by state and local governments. He outlined his perspective in an exclusive interview with Public Nuisance Wire.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- After the U.S. Supreme Court granted full review to examine the case of McDonald v. Chicago and its implications for Second Amendment rights, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray announced he would join in the arguments.

Harold Kim of the U.S. Chamber's Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) believes that the Second Circuit's recent decision in Connecticut v. American Electric Power is something to be alarmed about.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has revived a New Jersey statewide class action suit against Snapple, finding that federal regulation does not preempt consumer fraud claims involving Snapple’s “All Natural” labeling.

RICHMOND, VA. -- Philip Morris USA announced on August 13 that it would appeal a Ft. Lauderdale jury verdict awarding $5.3 million in compensatory damages to the family of a former smoker.

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Florida passed tort reform legislation in 2003 to control excessive litigation in workers’ compensation cases and contain medical costs. N. Michael Helvacian of the National Center for Policy Analysis explains the impact.

BOISE, Idaho -- A federal judge ruled in July that the US Forest Service cannot use an advisory committee’s report on whether domestic sheep pose a disease risk to bighorn sheep because the committee was improperly formed.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Nearly 400 neighbors of Battlefield Golf Club sued Dominion Virginia Power in March, seeking damages and the removal of 1.5 million tons of fly ash from the site.

England's Carbon Reduction Commitment won't go into effect until next year, but the police force charged with investigating possible infractions is already being viewed as a public nuisance.

UNITED KINGDOM -- Although Britain's Criminal Justice and Police Act of 2001 has been around for a while, one element of it has caused quite the backlash in 2009 . . .

Gilles Blackburn, whose wife froze to death while the two were lost in the British Columbia backcountry, is suing the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, search-and-rescue officials, and ski-resort officials for negligence.

HARTFORD, Ct. -- Once reserved for small disputes, public nuisance claims have become the weapon of choice for plaintiffs’ attorneys eager to circumvent statutes of limitations, causation and product identification requirements, etc.

CLEVELAND, Oh. – Last month’s decisive victory for 21 investment banks, in which a federal district judge dismissed the city of Cleveland's 16-month-old lawsuit against the subprime lenders, was met with mixed emotions in the legal community.