Law Music Video - The Long Arm of the Law

This week's installment in the "Law Music Videos" series is The Long Arm of the Law by Warren Zevon. Law music videos played before your class starts will positively contribute to learning.

Guest Blogger: Henry Lowenstein - Punitive Damage Award: Time = Money

Henry Lowenstein from Coastal Carolina University sent in the following:

I thought you might be interested in this just published case from the Court of Appeals in South Carolina on punitive damages. Cody P. v. Bank of America, August 23, 2011.

The 11 page opinion is  written in very plain language is a good walk through for students of the Court's logic in determining punitive damages that pass constitutional muster and those that violate due process (re:  U.S. Supreme Court in BMW v. Gore, and, State Farm Ins. v. Campbell.)

The case is interesting from a business standpoint as it involved the failure of the Bank of America to properly handle a conservatorship account (trust account) that is set up by the Probate Court in this state to protect the insurance proceeds for a disabled child. At the end of the day, experts testified that it would have taken the bank one hour to properly set up the account with their established safeguards.  So the punitive award was calculated to equal the earnings of the Bank of America for one hour......$1,583,000.

editor's note:  I added the image below:

source of image: South Carolina Lawyers Weekly

Featured Case: Stambovsky v. Ackley - A Ghostly Silence Undermines Contract

Helen Ackley's beautiful victorian house in Nyack, NY was for sale. From the opinion of the Appelate Division of  NY Supreme Courts:

Plaintiff, to his horror, discovered that the house he had recently contracted to purchase was widely reputed to be possessed by poltergeists, reportedly seen by defendant seller and members of her family on numerous occasions over the last nine years. Plaintiff promptly commenced this action seeking rescission of the contract of sale.

Stambovsky, a resident of NY City, was not familiar with the local folklore surrounding the house at 1 LaVeta Place when he paid a $32,500 deposit on a $650,000 purchase contract. But, Ackley had made no secret of the paranormal activity in her house, writing an article for Reader's Digest entitled, "My Haunted House on the Hudson" and listing her residence on local haunted house tours.

Normally, a seller has no obligation to disclose "defects" in the house. Caveat Emptor has been the legal rule of the day.  But, as Judge Rubin points out in his decision:

From the perspective of a person in the position of plaintiff herein, a very practical problem arises with respect to the discovery of a paranormal phenomenon: "Who you gonna' call?" as a title song to the movie "Ghostbusters" asks. Applying the strict rule of caveat emptor to a contract involving a house possessed by poltergeists conjures up visions of a psychic or medium routinely accompanying the structural engineer and Terminix man on an inspection of every home subject to a contract of sale.

This very practical decision rests also on other solid grounds:

In the case at bar, defendant seller deliberately fostered the public belief that her home was possessed. Having undertaken to inform the public- at large, to whom she has no legal relationship, about the supernatural occurrences on her property, she may be said to owe no less a duty to her contract vendee.

Stambovsky was allowed to rescind the contract.  I imagine that Ackley's subsequent advertisements  read: "Haunted House For Sale!"

See UPDATE on this case here.

The Stambovsky House: photo credit: http://www.berfrois.com/2011/04/the-law-is-a-white-dog/ 

Photo credit: http://nyackphotos.blogspot.com/2010/03/haunted-house.html
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Photo credit: http://ktransit.com/Kavanagh/Ghost/ghost.htm

"Little Pink House" to Become a Movie

When I read Jeff Benedict's, Little Pink House, I did not get what I was expecting.  I got something much more enjoyable and satisfying.  I was expecting to gain some insight into the US Supreme Court's landmark eminent domain decision in Kelo v. New London.  Instead, I was treated to the opportunity to meet Susette Kelo and the other residents of the Fort Trumbull section of New London, Connecticut and the government officials who were responsibile for the decisions that affect people's lives. For students, there will be no great insight into the judicial decision-making process. But there will be the unmistakable lesson that beyond the words on the paper and the legal principles, all these judicial decision affect the lives of real people in real ways. Too often students are willing to accept judicial decisions as foregone conclusions.  I hear students react to cases  droning complacently, "The court had no choice, because that is the law."  This book will help students realize that judicial determinations are the product of choices - choices made by government officials at all levels, by business leaders, by corporate managers, by regualr people and, even by judges. And those choices have consequences.

Little Pink House is apparently being made into a Lifetime TV movie starring Brooke Shields as Susette Kelo.  I hope the movie does justice to the story.

Those of you who are not situated here in New England may not be aware of the ironic sequel to the story.  The massive governmental land grab that was approved by the court was to allow for a development to complement a nearby research campus built by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. The preferred developer for the parcel never got funded and never built anything and Pfizer ultimately abandoned the research campus that started the whole ball rolling.

A related post is here.

The Legislative Process

I have always thought it odd that few BLAW texts devote any significant space to the legislative process. Every text devotes a chapter (or more) to courts and the dispute resolution process.  There is coverage of juries, judicial selection, civil procedure, criminal procedure, stare decisis, judicial review, legislative interpretation by courts and many other topics that comprise the judicial process.  Why do we, as an academy, choose to largely ignore the legislative law-making process in the curriculum of a law class?

I use the old Schoolhouse Rock standby, Just a Bill on Capitol Hill, as an example of the "civics class" view of lawmaking (much in the way that high school students are informed that "law" is insulated from the effects of politics).


The "real" legislative process, of course, is imbued with interest group politics. Through lobbying, campaign contributions, astroturf organizing and other various methods, the best organized and well funded interest groups have a significant effect on what policies are enacted into law.

An article that appeared in the Hartford Advocate and the Fairfield County Weekly chronicled efforts of the Connecticut legislature to require disclosure labels for genetically engineered food. The article advises, "Colin O'Neil, a policy analyst with the Center for Food Safety in Washington, D.C. . . . says bills similar to Connecticut's genetically modified (or GM) food labeling measure have been repeatedly introduced in other state legislatures and in Congress, and have been blown away by the combined lobbying power of the food, agricultural and biotechnology industries."

Of course, it follows, unsuprisingly, that interest groups also heavily influence the administrative process. The US Supreme Court is likewise not immune from interest group influence. Perhaps this following parody of the Bill on Capitol Hill song is more appropriate.

Judicial Interpretation Illustrated

I favor using popular music to illustrate legal principles.

Prof. David Skover of Seattle University Law School has been quoted as saying that "all law is interpretation."  I am in complete agreement.  The following exercise illustrates this principle.

Folk music is an apt analogy for Common Law principles. Consider the legal principle such as, "a person who is negligent is liable for the damages that proximately result." Like a folk song, this principle is well known and accepted, but its precise origin may not easily be determined. Also like a folk song, the principle has been repeated and passed down through the oral tradition. And, also like a folk song, each "performance" of the legal principle (judicial decision) is the result of the performer's own particular interpretation of the song. The ultimate performance of a folk song depends on a number of factors including the versions of the song with which the performer is familar, the performer's own talents and abilities, and the effect that the performer wishes to create for the audience.  I would argue that a judicial decision is like a folk song performance. It  is a product of, among other considerations, the judge's understanding of the legal principle, the judge's talents in seeing the implications of the ruling for society, the judge's ideology regarding the proper role of judges and the impact that the judge intends the ruling to have on society (the audience).

Consider the three following performances of the old Irish folksong, Whiskey in the Jar.  They all come from a common melody and common lyrics - constituting "the law" of the song, if you will. But the performances are significantly different in tone, feeling and impact on the audience. So it is also with the law.

When I use these videos in class, I play about a minute of each for comparison purposes.








This one is extra just for fun. Who can resist Ireland's self-professed #1 Elvis impersonator?

Law Music Video - Put The Law on You

This week's installment in the "Law Music Videos" series is Put the Law on You by Natalie Merchant. Law music videos played before your class starts will positively contribute to learning.