Ever notice Repubs file all the REALLY frivolous lawsuits?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-eagles20dec20,0,5251990.story?coll=la-home-local

Case in point...this developer is trying to use RICO laws to silence Forest Service workers who issued a a negative environmental impact report on a RESORT he wants to build in a rather sanguin area of Big Bear Lake.

I really hope that some first amendment law office sees this and helps these people file for malicious prosecution..so far the justice dept has dragged their feet in representing these two employees.



Here's a little chunk of article:

FAWNSKIN, Calif. — Biologist Robin Eliason has been a model employee of the U.S. Forest Service since 1989, winning a certificate of merit every year and establishing a reputation as the government's expert on bald eagles in the San Bernardino National Forest.

But now Eliason, her husband, Scott, a Forest Service botanist, and their boss, San Bernardino National Forest Supervisor Gene Zimmerman, have had to hire their own attorney to defend them in a lawsuit accusing them of racketeering.



San Diego businessman Irving Okovita, who filed the suit, alleges that the Eliasons, Zimmerman and Sandy Steers, a local environmental activist, engaged in a criminal conspiracy to block the Marina Point development, a luxury condominium project Okovita wants to develop with an Arizona company in this hamlet on the north shore of Big Bear Lake.

Okovita sued under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a statute originally passed in 1970 to strengthen the government's arsenal against mobsters and drug lords. As time has passed, the law has been used against a variety of individuals and groups. Legal experts, however, said they believed this was the first time the law had been targeted at Forest Service employees.

The three Forest Service employees and Steers said the charges against them are patently false. The government workers maintain that they were acting in their official capacity as Forest Service employees and have done nothing wrong. Steers said Okovita's suit was brought partly "to intimidate other activists from speaking out. That won't work," she said.

[pleiku52cab]

1. Shrub's blather about trial lawyers

and the cost to 'John Q public' is a bunch of bullshit. Four out of five lawsuits are filed by corporations, and the percentage of those thrown out as being frivolous is much higher than individuals lawsuits.

[ThoughtCriminal]

2. Corporations in better position to file frivolous lawsuits

Often these suits have no legal basis and are designed purley to intimidate critics. The corporations already have large legal teams and can afford to initiate them, but the individual cannot afford to go to court. The cost of defending yourself against a frivolous corprate lawsuit can easily go to six-figures even if the case is dismissed the first day.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. Well that's why this case is important

think of all the harm they can with this if it were accepted

[WMliberal]

4. sort of like Bush suing that rental car company

in 1999? It's only frivolous when it hurts a contributer.

[salin]

11. missed that story - please do tell...

[WMliberal]

12. sure.

"In 1999, Bush sued Enterprise Rent-A-Car over a minor fender-bender involving one of his daughters in which no one was hurt. Although his insurance would have covered the repair costs making a lawsuit unnecessary, Bush sought additional money from Enterprise, which had rented a car to someone with a suspended license. In this case, Bush seemed to understand one of the most important functions of civil lawsuits — to deter further wrongdoing. The case settled for $2,000 to $2,500. Burger, Timothy, “Bush sued Enterprise Rent-A-Car over daughter’s fender bender,” Daily News, August 26, 2000; “Bush sued rental agency over fender bender,” Houston Chronicle, August 26, 2000."

http://www.centerjd.org/press/release/020126.htm

I just did a quick google search. I'm sure you can find that Houston Chronicle article.

[Selatius]

5. Corporations file 4 times as many lawsuits as individuals

http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1799

If a business is aggrieved by individuals, apparently it's okay that they get easy access to the courts, but it's not okay for people to get the same ease of access when they've been aggrieved by businesses.

“Corporations think America is too litigious only when they are on the receiving end of a lawsuit,” said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. “But when they feel aggrieved, businesses are far more likely to take their beef to court than are consumers.”

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. kick

[Kathy in Cambridge]

7. KICK

[Sara Beverley]

8. Now that is something the media should be reporting!!!

They are the ones with most of the suits about "Christmas." But the lawyers love them. I hope the suits cost them a fortune.

[pnb]

9. How do you know it was filed by a Repub?

BS suit but how do you know it was filed by a Repub? I couldn't find that in the article, unless I passed over it.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

13. How do we know it wasn't?

I think the larger issue is big business infringing upon the environment. That is usually what Republicans do.

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

10. Santorum's wife sued her chiropractor years ago. Hypocrites. nt

[LiviaOlivia]

14. Is Okovita a Canadian?

someone!