Former Miami Beach building official gets 18 months in corruption case
The third Miami Beach building department employee caught taking bribes from a scandal-tainted developer pleaded guilty Monday, agreeing to serve 18 months in jail.  Mohammed Partovi, 54, pleaded guilty to two counts of “unlawful compensation’’ for accepting a Rolex watch and cash from Michael Stern, a troubled Miami Beach developer who has repeatedly been accused of fraud and forgery in lawsuits relating to his real estate business.

Documentary Gives Hot Issue Caffeinated Jolt
“Everybody knows — or thinks they know — the McDonald’s case,” said Susan Saladoff, who put her legal practice aside to direct and produce the film. “But they really don’t know it at all. I didn’t do this to become a filmmaker. I made this movie because I had something to say that needed to be said, and nobody else was saying it, at least to regular folks, to the public.” That message may be getting across. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post, reviewing the film at the Sundance Festival, wrote that it provided “the kind of narrative that sends audiences out of the theater thinking in a brand-new way about something they thought they understood.” ... One of several strands in the film, Ms. Liebeck’s story shows how tort reformers deftly spun her case and others to nudge public opinion and argue for the need to shut down what industry advocates called “jackpot justice.” The film also lays out facts of the case that are rarely heard.  89 related articles

HBO Documentary Films: Summer Series - Hot Coffee (HBO)
HOT COFFEE examines the dangers of so-called “tort reform” and its threat to our civil justice system. Using the now-infamous legal battle over a spilled cup of McDonald’s coffee as a springboard, the film follows four families, including McDonald’s plaintiff Stella Liebeck and KBR/Halliburton plaintiff Jaime Leigh Jones, whose lives have been profoundly affected by their inability to access the courts, and examines the role of corporations and a complicit media in promoting “tort reform.” 89 related articles

Southborough couple have a $1 million money pit
Ever since they moved into the house at 22A Lovers Lane in 2005, Kathryn and Christian Culley say their long-awaited "dream home" has been nothing but a nightmare. The garage was too small to fit their car. Weeks later, water began flooding the basement. Over time, doors couldn't be shut, and floors started creaking. The Culleys didn't know it, but their house was shifting... During the course of the legal proceedings, builder Gary Cato lost his license, as did two engineers, John Greendale and Carlos Ferreira, who both admitted to stamping plans improperly. After a monthlong trial, a jury awarded the Culleys $1.1 million in damages, an amount that was to be tripled automatically because of the fraud and building code violations... A year later, though, the Culleys haven't seen a cent. They are still looking for resolution.  That's because Middlesex Superior Court Judge Thomas Murtagh threw out the jury's verdict, saying it went "against the weight of the evidence and was likely due to misapprehension, confusion or passion."

'Hot Coffee:' Facts, Fiction, and Corporate Greed
...did you know that the coffee served to Stella Liebeck was 50 to 60 degrees hotter than what you brew in your coffeemaker at home? That Ms. Liebeck received third-degree burns over 16 percent of her body: the worst burns her treating physician had even seen? That over a ten-year period before Ms. Liebeck was horribly burned more than 700 people reported burns from McDonald's coffee? That McDonald's representatives admitted at trial that its coffee was so hot it was "not fit for consumption" when sold? That the judge who presided over the trial described McDonald's conduct as "callous" and "willful, wanton, and reckless"? Probably not.

A trail of stalled or abandoned HUD projects
The federal government’s largest housing construction program for the poor has squandered hundreds of millions of dollars on stalled or abandoned projects and routinely failed to crack down on derelict developers or the local housing agencies that funded them.  Nationwide, nearly 700 projects awarded $400 million have been idling for years, a Washington Post investigation found. Some have languished for a decade or longer even as much of the country struggles with record-high foreclosures and a dramatic loss of affordable housing.

SLAPP Suit Bill 1565 Heard by Senate Committee on State Affairs
Senate Committee on State Affairs (Part I) Apr 04 advance to 1:07

Citizen Participation Act Takes Aim at Frivolous Lawsuits: Citizens, Journalists and Homeowners Testify in Support
On Monday the Texas House Committee on Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence held a hearing on The Citizsen Participation Act, a law designed to protect Texans from frivolous lawsuits that target their First Amendment rights. The Citizen Participation Act is a bi-partisan effort at aimed at supporting the rights of all Texans affected by frivolous SLAPP suits....Also testifying was Janet Ahmad, of San Antonio, and the president of Home Owners for Better Building. Ahmad shared details of how she was sued for racketeering by KB homes because she organized protests of the builder. Hearing:Senate Committee on State Affairs Apr 04 advance to 1:07

Justice Run Amuck in Fannin County: The Egert Case
In 2005 the Egerts were victims of two Fannin County homebuilders who had a history of taking money upfront and then walking off the job. The builders also had a history of retaliation. One victim canceled an interview with this reporter because they "feared revenge" if their story went public.  In over half a dozen interviews, people were either scared or embarrassed about their monetary loss to these homebuilders. In spite of this, the Egerts' plea for help from Fannin County District Attorney Richard Glaser fell on deaf ears.  Instead, he brought false charges against them while supporting the homebuilders in every way.   But how does a DA charge and prosecute innocent people without evidence?  Here are the ten steps that resulted in the Egerts' conviction.