Research Associates
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Volume 9, Number 1    Our 20th Year  January, 2001

Law is the witness and external deposit of our moral life,"
Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes

BRIEF RELIEF

  1. Liability of user of highway as against other party or police for failure to remove debris from highway following accident causing subsequent accident.
  2. Research to determine if OSHA or its equivalent state statute support a private cause of action.
  3. N.Y. Law on revocation of driver’s license of non-resident driver and right to discovery in motor vehicle offense.
  4. Material on death penalty and racial discrimination.
  5. Preparation of complaint for improper discharge and general research.
  6. Research regarding applicability of foreign state sales tax and obligation of N.Y. Corporation to collect same.
  7. N.Y. criminal matter – research regarding defendant’s failure to testify and verdict of guilty.
  8. Obtaining insurance company rating information.

MATTERS OF INTEREST

Supreme Court Held 6-3 that a highway checkpoint program whose primary purpose is the discovery and interdiction of illegal narcotics violates the Fourth Amendment. The Court restated the general rule that a search and seizure is ordinarily unreasonable in the absence of individualized suspicion of wrongdoing. City of Indianapolis v. Edmund, No. 99-1030

Second Circuit Publication of an outside investigator’s report to shareholders and to the public at large does not permit liability unless the action is "grossly irresponsible." Konikoff v. The Prudential Inc., No. 99-9185, December 8, 2000.

Absent an agreement to the contrary, under New York Law a dissolving law firm is entitled to the value of a contingent fee award at the time of the firm’s dissolution. Santalucia v. Sebright Transport, No. 00-7228, November 9, 2000.

In all constructive discharge cases, the statute of limitations begins to run on date that an employee gives definite notice of an intention to retire. Flaherty v. Metromail Corporation, No. 00-7467, December 19, 2000.

Ninth Circuit Civil Procedure: The district court correctly ruled that 26 U.S.C. 7431 action for unauthorized disclosures of tax return information is precluded by the exclusivity provision of 7433 because the alleged disclosures occurred in the course of tax collection activity. Schwarz v. USA, No. 99-55618, December 8, 2000.

Criminal Law: Petitioner’s self-incriminating statements to police before an after she was advised of her Miranda Rights must be suppressed. The government deliberately employed improper tactics in order to secure incriminating statements and the taint of those tactics infected Petitioner’s subsequent confession. United States v. Orso, No. 99-50328, December 8, 2000.

Evidence/Criminal Law: Finding of fact establishes that, a matter of law, appellants were overnight guests, and had a legitimate expectation of privacy in the trailer while staying there for food and rest. Appellants may contest the search and seizure on substantive Fourth Amendment grounds. USA v. Gomez-Orduno et al, No. 99-10443, December 14, 2000. See Minnesota v. Olson, 495 U.S. 91 (1990

New York Court Criminal Law & Procedure, Evidence: An ex parte Darden hearing is a requirement, rather than a matter of discretion, to establish probable cause when arresting a defendant using a confidential informant available for interrogation before a judge. People v. Edwards, No 1, No. 163 (N.Y. December 19, 2000).

Constitutional Law, Criminal Law & Procedure: The trial court is not required to consider pro se speedy trial motions of defendant represented by counsel. A court ordered lineup without defendant’s counsel present violates the Sixth Amendment, and using a tainted lineup is not harmless beyond reasonable doubt when there is a reasonable possibility that it contributed to the verdict. People v. Rodriguez, No 1, No. 150 (N.Y. December 19, 2000).

Discrimination The EEOC has issued final regulations on whether employees who waive the right to sue for discrimination in return for a severance package must return the severance money if they later claim the waiver was invalid. The regs implement a 1998 U.S. Supreme Court decision which allowed an employee who waived her right to sue for age discrimination to claim that the waiver was invalid under the Older Worker’s Benefit Protection Act. 29 U.S.C. Sect. 626. (Oubre v. Entergy Operations, Inc., 522 U.S. 422.)

PUBLICATIONS OF INTEREST

You Got Mail But Your Employer Does Too: Electronic Communication and Privacy in the 21st Century Workplace, Amy Rogers, Journal of Technology Law & Policy, Spring 2000, vol. 5, iss. 1

Adoption, Identify, and the Constitution: The Case for Opening Closed Records, Naomi Cahn, Jana Singer, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, December 1999, vol. 2, iss. 1

Not So Candid Camera, Please: Law Enforcement Officers Violate the Fourth Amendment When The Media Tags Along, Missouri Law Review, Vol. 65, No. 3, Summer 2000

Does an At-Will Employee Have a Contract Sufficient to Support a Race Discrimination Claim Against an Employer under 42 U.S.C. 1981? The University of Memphis Law Review, Vol. 30, No. 4, Summer 2000

The Psychological and emotional Abuse of Children: Suing Parents in Tort for the Infliction of Emotional Distress, Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment Law & Practice, Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 2000

Capital Punishment, the American Conscience, and the End of Executions, Roger Jay Lifton and Greg Mitchell. Two authors argue that the death penalty may be on the way out.

The Vanishing Line Between Law and Popular Culture, Richard K. Sherwin. A law professor fears the law is being mistaken for the movies.