just another litigious orgy

[breakingnews]

Interesting tidbit from today's paper, though it just furthers my frustration with the U.S.'s overly litigious society. I frequently take issue with Americans who feel that any type of adversity is immediately someone else's fault. People in this world should be their own liability. Unless, of course, you are the victim of gross negligence or criminal behavior. (I know, I know, this is where all the grey area comes into play, but whatever.)

So facility managers can no longer just be concerned about icy sidewalks? You must be aware and accomodating to the mere presence of a person on your property? Yes, transportation, libraries are in fact public places, but there are standards dictated by the commuters and library-goers - the very people whose taxes pay for these services (usually).

I don't like that a porn shop opened up 50 feet from my apartment building. Can I sue because it draws a less-desireable crowd to my neighborhood? Because it's open 24 hours a day and is a magnet for crime and drug trafficking? (It is, in fact, noticeably so.) After all, the last time I checked, my street is public property, and while the physical buildings are likely privately owned, the porn shop's glowing neon sign makes it part of the public domain.

He suffers from ailments including diabetes, heart and kidney problems, and nerve damage, and says unpaid medical bills caused him to lose the apartment two years ago, making him homeless again.

Of course it did.

Do you think you could make a fresh start with $115,000?

Man who won library suit sues NJ Transit

WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. - A homeless man who sued and received $230,000 after being ejected from a library in northern New Jersey is suing NJ Transit for kicking him and other homeless people out of train stations.

Richard Kreimer, 55, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Monday seeking at least $5 million in damages against the transit agency, the city of Summit, nine police officers and several other defendants, claiming he and other homeless people have been unlawfully thrown out of train stations since August.

He also wants a federal judge to decide whether the stations are public or private property, and whether people who are not ticketed passengers have the right to be in them.

"As soon as you walk into a train station and you look like a bum, the cops come right over to you," said Kreimer, who is acting as his own lawyer.

A NJ Transit spokeswoman and Summit's city attorney both said they had not seen the lawsuit Monday and declined to comment on it.

Kreimer garnered national attention in 1991 after suing Morristown, the Morris Township public library and the police department over his treatment there. The library threw him out at least five times, claiming his body odor and the way he looked at library patrons offended them.

Kreimer received $230,000 from the harassment suit. A federal judge ruled the library's rules on hygiene were unconstitutional. That ruling was later overturned, but not before Kreimer had been paid.

About half the money went to pay lawyers in the case; the rest is gone, spent on living expenses in Lakewood, Colo., where Kreimer rented a town house from 1993 until 2000, and in Woodbury, where he lived from 2000 until 2003.

He suffers from ailments including diabetes, heart and kidney problems, and nerve damage, and says unpaid medical bills caused him to lose the apartment two years ago, making him homeless again.