Fish Oil Supplements Contain PCB?

The Bad Lawyer knows less than nothing about chemistry, but I think it might be a bad thing to ingest the compound polychlorinated biphenyl, or PCB. 

According to a lawsuit reported on at the San Francisco Chronicle an environmental group, Mateel Environmental Justice Group has filed a massive lawuit against the makers and sellers of Fish Oil supplements because those supplements contain that PCB stuff which they say is carcinogenic. You can get these supplements at yoru local CVS, RiteAid and GNC. 

I've never been a supplement sort of person but the Blonde Super Lawyer has always ingested these products, she still looks pretty healthy.  I mean she hasn't keeled over yet.  But if you are taking these supplements, instead of helping make you healthy, they may be giving you cancer. 

Oh, the products named in the lawsuit are:
-- GNC Liquid Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
-- Nature Made Cod Liver Oil
-- Nature Made Odorless Fish Oil
-- Now Foods Double Strength Cod Liver Oil
-- Now Foods Salmon Oil
-- Now Foods Shark Liver Oil
-- Solgar 100 percent pure Norwegian Shark Liver Oil Complex
-- Solgar Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
-- Twinlab Emulsified Norwegian Cod Liver Oil
-- Twinlab Norwegian Cod Liver Oil

NYT On Campaign Cash and the Ohio Supreme Court

At it's website the New York Times has republished its fascinating, deeply-researched look at the "purchase" of the Ohio Supreme Court by corporate and monied interests.  One of the Justices featured in the story is Terrence O'Donnell, (pic) a former Cuyahoga County Common Pleas and Court of Appeals judge.  One of the more intriquing stories about Judge O'Donnell was omitted from the NYT article.

According to sources in Cleveland, the media there reported a number of years ago that Justice O'Donnell was parked outside of a saloon in the Cleveland party bar area called the "Flats" when more than ten-thousand dollars cash was stolen out of his car.  At the time Judge O'Donnell had already migrated from the Cuyahoga bench to the Ohio Supreme Court.  Cleveland laywers long speculated on how or why (1. a Justice of hte Ohio Supreme Court got +$10,000; and (2. why this amount of cash would be left in a dark parking lot outside of a bar? 

Justice O'Donnell is according to the NYT, a reliable vote contra to consumer and plaintiffs interests.  No surprise, you get the Judges you deserve in Ohio, or pay for--well, that seems to be the lesson.  The Adam Liptak and Janet Roberts article in the Times is much more than a collection of anecdotes, the report looks at the decisions of the Ohio Supremes which consistently breakdown along predictable lines based on corporate campaign receipts, reminiscent of the Caperton v. AT Massey Coal Company decision discussed here at Bad Lawyer in December.  I am told that Ohio lawyers are not surprised at the what the Times has discovered about their Supreme Court, what Ohio lawyers are surprised at is the failure of Ohio voters to make the same discovery.  But, isn't that the point of money?

Money is free speech, right?

Deputy Jails Himself, Tries to Blast His Way Out

An Adair County, Kentucky Deputy, Charles Wright somehow locked himself into a jail cell in the County new lockup.  He then tried to shoot his way out.  The story is at the Courier-Journal website.  

According to the Sheriff Ralph Curry, the deputy was claustrophobic.  He's also now unemployed.

Al Garcia, Esq.--Coked-Out Rapist

Al Garcia (pic) is a Minneapolis attorney and if allegations reported in the Minneapolis Star Tribune are true he is a coked-out rapist. 
Garcia, 50, who is currently being held in an Anoka County jail showed up for a client meeting with a 30 year old woman at her Minneapolis apartment building.  On the elevator up to her apartment attorney Garcia told her, "Girl you fine as hell."  The prospective client had asked Garcia to represent her in a consumer banking matter and according to her testimony she was prepared to sign business papers.  Instead Garcia pulled out a bag of cocaine and starts snorting and eating it, and then according to her testimony, violently raped her. 

There are bad lawyers, then there is Al Garcia.  This story makes me sick, because if true, the clear inference arises that this isn't his first victim.  This is the first victim who had the courage to come forward and report his criminal conduct.

$1 Million Dollar Verdict Against Wal-Mart Upheld

Fort Myers News Press is reporting that a million dollar verdict against Wal-Mart has been upheld by the Florida Court of Appeals. Linda Gail Wright slipped and fell in water and oil leaking from a a chicken rotisserie (yum!) at the Pine Island store.  Her injuries included serious neck injuries resulting in multiple surgeries.

Slip and fall cases are traditionally very difficult to prosecute. Tort law typically requires proof that the store actually knew that the hazard existed and failed to clean it up.  Further the person slipping on a substance has an affirmative duty to watch where they are walking.  By the way, slip and fall on natural accumulatons of ice and snow are almost never a basis for a claim agains the property owner.

Boys and Their Toys--Part 7 They Taser One of Their Own

Yeah, this story is quite a treat, the Gilbert, Arizona cops go over to a Gilbert Arizona (off-duty) cop's house.  They wake up their brother officer, and when he reacts in a less than gracious manner, they taser his ass.  No kidding.

A Jimmy T Archive Found!

It's been quite awhile since we've done fashion diktats at Bad Lawyer, in the interim, I thought I'd share a Jimmy T, archive I located at the Youngstown Vindicator website.  Ah, the sublimeness that is Jimmy T.

Handicapped Parking

A Massachusetss, Lawyer, Garrison Corben, got himself a one year suspension for using a handicapped parking placard to which he was not entitled.  MassLawWeekly has the story.  Perhaps there is a slightly more expensive parking ticket somewhere, but as far as I know, this is it.

Calling Someone "Gay" Is Still Defamatory In Texas

You gotta wonder about Texas, right? 

Since 2003 when the US Supremes decided Lawrence v. Texas, sodomy laws and by definition, the American Taliban laws against homosexuality have been unconstitutional.    But a U.S. District Court Judge in Texas, held this last week that when Rickey Smiley, a local radio host who called a security guard at a local airport, "gay," may be sued for defamation.  How is calling someone "gay" defamatory? 

The story can be explored at a great website, that I've been looking at this last week call On.point.com.

City Attorney, Grabs Some Sex, Loses License

Holland, Michigan deputy City Attorney, Carl Gabrielse (pic) met a woman at the courthouse who had a pending legal matter with the Cirty of Holland.  Gabrielse told her that he could reduce the charges if she would have sex with him in the bathroom.  She did, he did.  Now he's a convicted felon, and probably on his way to disbarment. 

The link is to the original Holland Sentinel story on the episode.