High court to resolve class action fight; if class can't be certified for suit, can it be for settlement?

Article Abstract:

The US Supreme Court will decide in Amchem Products, Inc. v. Windsor, whether federal courts can, under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, certify class actions just for settlement, even though the claim could not be litigated as a class. The case will help decide whether federal courts can manage the long and costly claims resulting from some mass torts. Federal and state courts have more than 300,000 pending, and more than 50,000 new cases were filed in 1995. There is much scholarly difference of opinion about whether certification just for settlement purposes is possible.

United States, Management, Class actions (Civil procedure), Cases, Class action lawsuits, Multidistrict litigation, Asbestos

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Indigent defense system KO'd: unconstitutional in La

Article Abstract:

New Orleans, LA, judge Calvin Johnson recently held Louisiana's system of indigent defense unconstitutional and ordered the state Legislature to devise a new one. Johnson claims the system violates the state Constitution's requirement that it be uniform. Inadequate funding, according to Johnson, hinders proper defense efforts on behalf of indigent clients. Johnson's ruling is the result of a petition by public defender Rick Teissier, who complained that the public defender's office is denied adequate funding.

Economic aspects, Laws, regulations and rules, Legal assistance to the poor, Right to counsel

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New light on an old defense of 'secrets;' writ attacks a 1953 high court ruling

Article Abstract:

The continued struggle of survivors of a civilian killed in the crash of an Air Force plane in 1948 is discussed. They attack as spurious the government's protecting as a national security secret the information regarding this crash. The parallels of this case to that of Yasser Hamdi is also summarized, an alleged terrorist fighting his enemy combatant designation.

Accidents, Protection and preservation, Defense information, Classified, Classified defense information, Airplanes, Military, Military airplanes

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