100 Million suit filed in response to Sandy Hook

[Sel Nar]

http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/newtown-sandy-hook-school-shooting/hc-newtown-request-to-sue-1229-2-20121228,0,3515178.story

Uh.... I really can't debate this without going into hysterical laughter or feeling like my soul is being eroded by the sheer money-grubbing parasitic audacity of the lawyer, and the family of the one child that's behind this attempt to cash in on tragedy.

Pinsky's claim says the state Board of Education, the state Department of Education and the education commissioner failed to take steps to protect the minor children from foreseeable harm.

"As a consequence, the claimant-minor child has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined," the claim says.

Based on the claim, the shooter should have been known as a potential threat and stopped by law enforcement. I'm fairly certain that Minority Report Precognitives don't exist.

Your thoughts?

[Callie Del Noire]

I'm not sure if he's going for the money.. or using it as a hook to make them do some SERIOUS investigation work. I mean.. questions have to be asked about waht the killer was doing.. he had clear mental heath issues and they weren't being addressed.

That being said.. I can think of a HELL of a lot better ways to pursue a put to get more rigourous investigtion done if that is what this is about.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

Sounds like a law suit that will be thrown out unless the lawyer is hoping to simply cash in on jury sympathy.

[Oniya]

I hope it gets thrown out, especially since the parents who lost their children are far more entitled to recompense.  If it isn't, the judgement should be divided among all the families of all the school children.  (I doubt that the full 100 Million would be awarded, or if it is, that nearly that much could be collected, and once you divide it up among the families, it would be far less than the money-grubbing excess that this one guy is hoping to have all to himself.)

[Sasquatch421]

I hope it gets thrown out, especially since the parents who lost their children are far more entitled to recompense.  If it isn't, the judgement should be divided among all the families of all the school children.  (I doubt that the full 100 Million would be awarded, or if it is, that nearly that much could be collected, and once you divide it up among the families, it would be far less than the money-grubbing excess that this one guy is hoping to have all to himself.)

That's the only way I'd halfways agree with it... More then 1 should get the judgment if it comes to that. Although he would still have to get the permission to sue first and I don't know if that would happen. I mean the state really is not at fault for it are they?

[vtboy]

This is the sort of lawsuit that makes me want to burn my law license.

It would be quite another matter if evidence were to surface from an investigation revealing that authorities had concrete reason to expect an attack on the school from this twisted soul. But, the idea of commencing litigation over this heart wrenching episode in the bald hope, untethered to anything actually known, that such evidence might possibly come to light, is about as callous and mercenary a stunt as I am capable of imagining.

[Callie Del Noire]

This is the sort of lawsuit that makes me want to burn my law license.

It would be quite another matter if evidence were to surface from an investigation revealing that authorities had concrete reason to expect an attack on the school from this twisted soul. But, the idea of commencing litigation over this heart wrenching episode in the bald hope, untethered to anything actually known, that such evidence might possibly come to light, is about as callous and mercenary a stunt as I am capable of imagining.

So it's actually a money grab attempt and not a shock to force the State AG investigate? I'm curious from someone who sees this sort of thing.

[Songbird]

I really hope they throw this suit out. It's sad that there is always someone willing to sue after pointless tragedies such as this. I don't see how the school could possibly be held at fault for what happened. The focus now should be on healing and closure, and this lawsuit will only prolong the agony and impoverish the school district. Perhaps I am being harsh. After all, I've never experienced anything so horrific myself. But it seems to me that suing the school, and for such large amount, is incredibly insensitive.

[vtboy]

So it's actually a money grab attempt and not a shock to force the State AG investigate? I'm curious from someone who sees this sort of thing.

Twenty-seven people were murdered, twenty of them first graders, in a small town with an affluent and educated population. The massacre has drawn the attention of the world, and is becoming the center of a political maelstrom over gun control. It is unthinkable that scrutiny, by both law enforcement and the media, will be anything less than microscopic.

[Funguy81]

Wow.... that is just incredible. This lawyer has certainly raised the standard of truly heartless endeavors.

[Trieste]

Whether the investigation itself will be rigorous or not, there is no guarantee that it will be available to the families of the victims, the public, etc. While Connecticut has a Freedom of Information Act in place for state records, and while the statute appears to cover public schools and the courts, there is not necessarily a vehicle in place for disseminating information without a lot of effort, paperwork, and possible editing. Public records can be redacted, lost, or a number of other things.

Further, HuffPost mentions a number of school reports that the attorney (and presumably the families) finds to be of interest. The statements released and the mannerisms of the lawyer all point to this lawsuit NOT being about money. It appears that at least one family wants the state to take a serious look, with full disclosure, at school security.

And with their six-year-old hearing people dying over the intercom, can you really blame them? I can't. And I can't fault them using the civil law system to try to get what they want - that's what the civil courts are for, in point of fact.

[vtboy]

Whether the investigation itself will be rigorous or not, there is no guarantee that it will be available to the families of the victims, the public, etc. While Connecticut has a Freedom of Information Act in place for state records, and while the statute appears to cover public schools and the courts, there is not necessarily a vehicle in place for disseminating information without a lot of effort, paperwork, and possible editing. Public records can be redacted, lost, or a number of other things.

Further, HuffPost mentions a number of school reports that the attorney (and presumably the families) finds to be of interest. The statements released and the mannerisms of the lawyer all point to this lawsuit NOT being about money. It appears that at least one family wants the state to take a serious look, with full disclosure, at school security.

And with their six-year-old hearing people dying over the intercom, can you really blame them? I can't. And I can't fault them using the civil law system to try to get what they want - that's what the civil courts are for, in point of fact.

Assuming that in so high profile a case the state would be so venal and foolish as to redact, lose or otherwise eliminate inculpatory public records, rather than turn them over to those organs of government charged with investigation, what makes you think it would not do the same in the face of demands from a private litigant? We are not talking about national security secrets here. It is extremely difficult to make public records disappear, since knowledge of their existence is often shared by a large number of people and digital fingerprints are extraordinarily difficult to erase. And, let's not forget there are political and public service careers to be made by exposing any official misfeasance that may have been responsible for the carnage.

While I am willing to assume honorable intentions on the part of the parents, I am just not moved by this tort lawyer's claim that his nine figure lawsuit is not about money but about "protecting the kids." His factually vacuous claims that educational authorities failed to "review and carefully scrutinize" unquoted reports and "other submissions," and failed to "to provide a safe school setting," are pablum. If he's got something, let him at least say what is before he turns this unimaginable tragedy into farce.
 

[Trieste]

Information is power and there are some civil servants who like to have power. On top of that, the labyrinth of red tape behind which a series of documents can get lost, especially given the passage of time, is impressive. Thirdly, litigation paperwork is treated, in my personal experience, with a certain amount of care and weight that may or may not go alongside materials requested via freedom of information laws.

The simple fact of the matter is that he has alteady drawn attention to the documents he wants, or news agencies have done it for him. Whether he receives permission to sue at this point or not, he has at least gotten it noticed. That's not necessarily a loss.

Finally, I can't decide whether it is very jaded or quite naive to think that one man could turn the murder of over two dozen people into a farce. Come on, now.

[vtboy]

Information is power and there are some civil servants who like to have power. On top of that, the labyrinth of red tape behind which a series of documents can get lost, especially given the passage of time, is impressive. Thirdly, litigation paperwork is treated, in my personal experience, with a certain amount of care and weight that may or may not go alongside materials requested via freedom of information laws.

The simple fact of the matter is that he has already drawn attention to the documents he wants, or news agencies have done it for him. Whether he receives permission to sue at this point or not, he has at least gotten it noticed. That's not necessarily a loss.

Finally, I can't decide whether it is very jaded or quite naive to think that one man could turn the murder of over two dozen people into a farce. Come on, now.

Well, perhaps "farce" was a bit over the top, though I don't see how the sentiment is any more "jaded" than the reflexive assumption that civil servants, in the wake of this massacre, will destroy, redact, lose or otherwise quash documents that have any bearing on the safety procedures in effect at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.   

This lawyer did more than merely draw attention to documents he wants; he availed himself of the media megaphone to make accusations. Moreover, his statements do not imply he is looking for documents, but that he has reviewed documents. If there is something in them that would support the accusations he is making, why not say what it is? Litigation strategy does not require playing cards close to the vest when the other player already knows what they are.

[Trieste]

Well, I didn't say they would do it on purpose, just that it happens.

As far as specific strategies go, I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. However, I can say from experience in trying to track down safety reports for a university that even when something is supposed to be public record, it can be like pulling teeth to get it. I don't know if grade school districts are worse or better about that. I can say that I agree with you that the way he is going about it is asinine. But I think he is anticipating a certain amount of CYA on the part of the administrators, and I don't think that's a particularly far leap to make.

[Callie Del Noire]

http://www.tricities.com/news/article_35434f30-00d3-522f-98f1-58f372591713.html

Okay.. I'm curious now.. a friend who lives close to where this went down pointed this article out to me. The incident got, as far as I can tell, damn little national attention.

Why are we so often pounded by tragedy and not showing how preventative measures CAN save lives. This incident shows up an event went from tragic event to suicide by cop with proper measures. You got, aside from the cop with a gun, intercomm systems set up to send out alerts. Locks on the doors, plans in place to hide the students and obstruct access in many ways to the students.

[Silk]

Sad thing is, people won't respond to it unless it threatens their money. So attacking the money is likely the best way to go about seeing change happen.

[Chris Brady]

http://www.tricities.com/news/article_35434f30-00d3-522f-98f1-58f372591713.html

Okay.. I'm curious now.. a friend who lives close to where this went down pointed this article out to me. The incident got, as far as I can tell, damn little national attention.

Why are we so often pounded by tragedy and not showing how preventative measures CAN save lives. This incident shows up an event went from tragic event to suicide by cop with proper measures. You got, aside from the cop with a gun, intercomm systems set up to send out alerts. Locks on the doors, plans in place to hide the students and obstruct access in many ways to the students.

Never attribute malicious intent when simple stupidity can easily answer.

To expand and clarify, people will forget, or simple bad luck, or a myriad of reasons as to why something like this happened and the response wasn't fast enough to avert a tragedy.  And given the tone of the article (which may be misrepresenting the intent of the lawyer) it felt to me that he (the lawyer) was trying to get something done in terms of the investigation.  And Trieste is right, bureaucracy is a mighty, and often daunting beast to deal with, and a lot of the time getting what you need from it is more effort than some people in it want to do.  And that's where things can sometimes fall through the cracks.