Special Supreme Court Sneak Peak

Attention civil justice fans!  The U.S. Supreme Court is about to start a new term, so we thought we’d give you the heads up on some interesting cases coming your way…

Wyeth v. Levine:  We’ve already mentioned that this case was front-page news in the New York Times last week.  Expect to hear a lot more about it in the days ahead.  At stake are tens of thousands of product-liability suits by consumers against drug companies for causing injuries or death, and whether the pharmaceutical industry should have complete immunity when they put unsafe, sometimes lethal drugs on the market.  (Not to mention, Levine’s compensation for her amputated arm!)

Van de Kamp v. Goldstein:  Thomas Goldstein, imprisoned for 24 years on a wrongful murder conviction, says that prosecutors failed to share crucial information about a jailhouse informant’s testimony during his trial, leading to his wrongful conviction.  The justices must decide whether someone in Goldstein’s position may sue prosecutors for damages, or whether the prosecutors are entitled to absolute immunity. 

Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee: This case involves a kindergarten student in Hyannis, Mass., who was sexually harassed on the school bus by an 8-year-old boy. The parents sued the school district over their daughter’s treatment.  The suit was based on several different laws, one of which was federal Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded schools. Title IX doesn’t allow individual lawsuits, so the issue is whether a suit can still be brought under other laws, including the U.S. Constitution.

Ashcroft v. Iqbal: the court will consider whether Attorney General Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller can be “sued damages by the Muslim men who were rounded up and imprisoned under harsh conditions in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.”  The government settled with one victim, but another, “a 33-year-old cable television installer on Long Island at the time of his arrest” who was tortured in a Brooklyn prison, is pursuing his case.