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OH: Legal costs warning raised over gun suit
Josey1
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Legal costs warning raised over gun suit
By Gregory Korte, gkorte@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati's lawsuit against gun makers may come at a "staggering" cost to city taxpayers, the chief lawyer for the nation's firearm industry told Cincinnati City Council on Tuesday.
But Lawrence G. Keane's appearance before the Law and Public Safety Committee was not enough to sway council members to vote to kill the 3-year-old lawsuit, which will continue - at least for now - to the evidence-gathering phase.
At its last regular meeting before the summer recess, the committee put off until August a vote on Councilman Chris Monzel's motion to end the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, given new life this month by a 4-3 Ohio Supreme Court opinion reversing lower court rulings dismissing the city's case, puts Cincinnati at the center of the national gun control debate.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence called the Ohio Supreme Court ruling "the most important legal victory ever achieved against the gun industry."
Mr. Monzel's motion revives age-old arguments about Second Amendment rights. "Guns don't kill people. People kill people," he said.
But he's also urging the city to drop the lawsuit for more practical reasons. With a $27 million budget deficit, the city simply doesn't have the money to wage a long, expensive lawsuit against an industry with almost unlimited legal resources, he said.
Mr. Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, urged Cincinnati to follow the lead of Boston, which dismissed its lawsuit in March. Boston lawyers said the litigation achieved its goal of "raising the nation's consciousness" about gun safety.
While the lawsuit would force the gun industry to release documents about its safety measures and marketing of firearms, the city would also bear the costs of proving its case. The city claims gun makers intentionally marketed guns that were prone to accidental shootings and that appealed to criminals.
"Virtually every city agency and department will be disrupted by this litigation," Mr. Keane said. "Thousands of police man-hours will be lost sifting through and copying police reports. And dozens of officers will end up giving day-long depositions instead of being on the street fighting crime."
The city's legal fees are relatively small. Class-action lawyer Stanley M. Chesley is taking the case on a contingency basis and will be paid 20 percent of any pretrial settlement or 30 percent if it goes to trial.
The city has authorized the payment of up to $100,000 in expenses, including $25,000 to the Brady Center. But the city has yet to receive a bill for any expenses, said Jean A. Geoppinger, a lawyer for Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley.
The lawsuit has so far endured two court decisions dismissing it, several narrow votes at City Council, and a lawsuit by former Councilman Charlie Winburn, who tried to block the city from spending money to pursue the action against gun makers.
http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/06/26/loc_legal_costs_warning.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
By Gregory Korte, gkorte@enquirer.com
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati's lawsuit against gun makers may come at a "staggering" cost to city taxpayers, the chief lawyer for the nation's firearm industry told Cincinnati City Council on Tuesday.
But Lawrence G. Keane's appearance before the Law and Public Safety Committee was not enough to sway council members to vote to kill the 3-year-old lawsuit, which will continue - at least for now - to the evidence-gathering phase.
At its last regular meeting before the summer recess, the committee put off until August a vote on Councilman Chris Monzel's motion to end the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, given new life this month by a 4-3 Ohio Supreme Court opinion reversing lower court rulings dismissing the city's case, puts Cincinnati at the center of the national gun control debate.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence called the Ohio Supreme Court ruling "the most important legal victory ever achieved against the gun industry."
Mr. Monzel's motion revives age-old arguments about Second Amendment rights. "Guns don't kill people. People kill people," he said.
But he's also urging the city to drop the lawsuit for more practical reasons. With a $27 million budget deficit, the city simply doesn't have the money to wage a long, expensive lawsuit against an industry with almost unlimited legal resources, he said.
Mr. Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, urged Cincinnati to follow the lead of Boston, which dismissed its lawsuit in March. Boston lawyers said the litigation achieved its goal of "raising the nation's consciousness" about gun safety.
While the lawsuit would force the gun industry to release documents about its safety measures and marketing of firearms, the city would also bear the costs of proving its case. The city claims gun makers intentionally marketed guns that were prone to accidental shootings and that appealed to criminals.
"Virtually every city agency and department will be disrupted by this litigation," Mr. Keane said. "Thousands of police man-hours will be lost sifting through and copying police reports. And dozens of officers will end up giving day-long depositions instead of being on the street fighting crime."
The city's legal fees are relatively small. Class-action lawyer Stanley M. Chesley is taking the case on a contingency basis and will be paid 20 percent of any pretrial settlement or 30 percent if it goes to trial.
The city has authorized the payment of up to $100,000 in expenses, including $25,000 to the Brady Center. But the city has yet to receive a bill for any expenses, said Jean A. Geoppinger, a lawyer for Waite, Schneider, Bayless & Chesley.
The lawsuit has so far endured two court decisions dismissing it, several narrow votes at City Council, and a lawsuit by former Councilman Charlie Winburn, who tried to block the city from spending money to pursue the action against gun makers.
http://enquirer.com/editions/2002/06/26/loc_legal_costs_warning.html
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Comments
Monzel wanted
case dropped
By Kevin Osborne
Post staff reporter
Cincinnati City Council will continue its three-year-old lawsuit against gun manufacturers, defeating an attempt by some of its members to dismiss the case.
Council voted 5-3 Wednesday to reject a proposal by Council Member Chris Monzel seeking to drop the lawsuit.
Monzel {ndash} who, like several of his colleagues, wasn't on council when the lawsuit was launched {ndash} said the effort is a waste of the city's limited resources.
Police officers will be required to copy documents and be interviewed for the case, keeping them from more important duties, Monzel said.
"It's time they could be out on the streets, stopping crime," he said.
Monzel was joined by his fellow Republican, Pat DeWine, and Charterite Jim Tarbell in opposing the suit.
Initially, Monzel wanted City Council to delay a vote until August so he could attempt to sway opinions on the issue, but the group's Democratic majority wanted a decision before they began their summer break today.
Lawsuit supporters were Vice Mayor Alicia Reece and Council Members Minette Cooper, John Cranley, David Crowley and David Pepper. Council Member Paul Booth was absent.
In the lawsuit, Cincinnati officials contend that flawed marketing and distribution place guns in the hands of criminals and children leading to murders, shootings and suicides that imperil public safety.
Also, the city argues handgun makers are negligent for failing to design safer weapons and should ante up millions of dollars to reimburse the city for the cost of emergency responses to acts of gun violence.
"It's an important suit," Cooper said. "It can help the city a lot."
City officials have hired noted product liability specialist Stan Chesley to handle the lawsuit. Chesley took the case on a contingency basis, and will be paid 20 percent of any pretrial settlement or 30 percent of any damages awarded at trial.
The city has authorized the payment of up to $100,000 to pay for Chesley's expenses, but he hasn't yet submitted a bill for the case, which was filed in April 1999.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence is assisting Chesley in the case.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to reinstate the city's twice-dismissed lawsuit against the gun industry. The court's majority didn't hold gun manufacturers liable, but only ruled the issue deserved exploration at trial.
http://www.cincypost.com/2002/jun/27/guns062702.htmlPublication Date: 06-27-2002
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
The U.S. attorney for Nebraska traveled the state this week, telling local police he wants to bring gun crimes into federal court.
"We want to make your neighborhoods as safe as possible by making sure that those who use guns in the wrong way are taken out," U.S. Attorney Mike Heavican said in Lexington on Wednesday.
Traveling with officials from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the state Crime Commission, Heavican also visited North Platte and Scottsbluff. He said prosecutors had been contacted in Omaha, Lincoln and the Grand Island area.
Congress recently allocated money to encourage use of federal courts, where penalties are stiffer, in gun crimes, Heavican said.
Heavican said he wants county attorneys to route appropriate cases to his office.
http://www.journalstar.com/latest_reg.php?story_id=9700
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
June 28, 2002
Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
12500 N.E. Tenth Place
Bellevue, WA 98005
www.ccrkba.org
NEWS RELEASE
BELLEVUE GROUP QUESTIONS STALL BY CITY ATTORNEY IN JAMES KELLY GUN CASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Waldron (425) 454-4911
BELLEVUE, WA - A month has passed since Seattle Urban League President James Kelly was accused of flashing a concealed handgun during an argument with another man on the grounds of Rainier Beach High School, yet the Seattle City Attorney's office claims it has not finished an investigation and, as a result, has taken no action.
Kelly, a leader in the African-American community, is a well-known advocate of extremist gun control measures, including this state's Gun Free School Zone law, which he allegedly violated the night of May 29. Newspaper accounts of the incident indicated that Mr. Kelly also possesses a Concealed Pistol License, further evidence of his philosophical hypocrisy.
Today, Joe Waldron, executive director of the Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, accused the city attorney of stalling and stonewalling on this case.
"James Kelly is an outspoken proponent of strict gun control, and has been quick to demand that gun law violators be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," Waldron stated. "So, what's taking so long for the city attorney to move on this case? Is the city applying a double standard of justice? Is the city attorney afraid Kelly might accuse that office of racism?
"It would not be surprising," Waldron continued, "to learn Kelly expects special treatment. He has recently been exposed as a hypocrite following the shooting of a King County sheriff's deputy by an African-American man. Kelly has been quick to draw the race card in several shootings of black suspects by white police officers, but when a black man murders a white cop, suddenly Kelly says race is not an issue.
"James Kelly obviously lives by the dual standard," Waldron stated, "on race and guns. He carries a gun for personal protection, while supporting laws that would deny others that same right. He allegedly carried that gun on school property, in violation of a law he supported, and reportedly flashed it to intimidate another man during an argument, violating yet another state gun law.
"James Kelly is not above the law," Waldron concluded, "and his position in the community should not prevent the city attorney from holding Kelly to the same standard he would establish for everyone else. Enough time has passed for a case review. The city attorney should either charge Kelly and prosecute him, or explain to the public why not."
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?cmd=view&articleid=2501
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878