Over the weekend, a Lake Oswego teenager, Cameron Rathmanner, crashed during an illegal street race in Washington County. The crash sent Mr. Rathmanner’s teenage passenger to OHSU with critical injuries as reported in the Oregonian. The reckless driving of Mr. Rathmanner is clearly grounds for punitive damages by his teenage passenger and her family. While there is no amount of money that can truly compensate a victim in this type of preventable tragedy, hopefully there is enough automobile insurance coverage to pay all past and future medical expenses as well as begin to make up a little bit for the pain, suffering, and rehabilitative challenges that undoubtedly lay ahead for the young passenger-victim. In addition, punitive damages are society’s way of deterring future reckless conduct through the civil justice system.
Archive for August, 2010
Lake Oswego Teenager Recklessly Injures Passenger in Weekend Street Race
Monday, August 30th, 2010Oregonians Should Check Their Freezers for Contaminated Ground Beef
Monday, August 9th, 2010On Friday, the FDA recalled a substantial amount of ground beef, including some distributed in Oregon. Although the recall just happened, the ground beef was sold between October 2, 2009 and January 12, 2010. Thus, some of this ground beef could still be in freezers throughout Oregon and other states. Fortunately, there is a simple way to check if your ground beef is subject to recall. According to the FDA, if the ground beef is subject to the recall, the package will bear establishment number “EST. 8268” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
This is a troubling recall because it’s reportedly prompted by e-coli illness contracted by at least seven people to date. E-coli is extremely dangerous and can cause permanent organ damage and death. It is highly recommended that Oregonians check the USDA labels for “EST. 8268” before defrosting any ground beef. You can view the complete FDA recall notice here.
Elena Kagan Confirmed as U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Thursday, August 5th, 2010Today, the Senate confirmed Elena Kagan as the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The vote total was 63-37. Justice Kagan will serve on the country’s highest court with two other female justices. In terms of access to justice and consumer protection issues, it is presumed by most, but not really known publicly, that Justice Kagan will be a strong advocate for the civil justice system. If so, she will appropriately replace one of the Supreme Court’s greatest plaintiff/consumer advocates, Justice John Paul Stevens.