FATAL OVERSIGHTS: THE LEGAL IMPACT OF MISSING LIFE JACKETS IN BOATING ACCIDENTS

A single-vehicle accident occurred Thursday morning on southbound Interstate 5 east of Woodland, California, highlighting the ongoing safety concerns along this heavily traveled corridor. The California Highway Patrol responded to the incident at approximately 6:22 a.m., and reports indicated possible minor injuries to the driver. What Happened in the Woodland Area Crash According to CHP logs, the single-vehicle accident occurred on southbound I-5 in Yolo County during the morning commute. While the exact cause of the crash remains under investigation, solo vehicle accidents can result from various factors, including driver fatigue, mechanical failure, road conditions, or external circumstances. The timing of this incident—during peak morning traffic hours—underscores the importance of heightened awareness and caution when traveling through high-traffic areas like Interstate 5, which serves as a major transportation artery connecting Northern and Southern…

A devastating hit-and-run collision on Interstate 880 in Fremont has left a motorcyclist seriously injured, highlighting the dangerous consequences of fleeing the scene of an accident. The incident occurred on June 12, 2025, at approximately 5:14 PM on northbound I-880 near State Route 84, prompting an immediate emergency response and ongoing investigation by the California Highway Patrol. Details of the Fremont Hit-and-Run Accident The collision occurred on the busy freeway’s right-hand shoulder, with the motorcycle and rider initially positioned in the #4 lane before the impact. According to preliminary reports, a white vehicle struck the motorcyclist and immediately fled the scene, leaving the injured rider without assistance. Emergency medical services and fire personnel responded quickly to provide critical medical care to the victim. The California Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies have comprehensively investigated this hit-and-run incident.…

A US federal judge on Friday refused to order the immediate release of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, despite ruling that the initial arrest and continued detention lacked a lawful basis. Judge Michael E. Farbiarz of the US District Court for the District of New Jersey found that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated federal law when they arrested Khalil last year without proper legal authority. Khalil, a lawful permanent resident and Palestinian rights activist, was arrested in 2024 amid increasing federal crackdowns on pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Federal officials sought his removal based on alleged inaccuracies in his immigration paperwork and a determination by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that Khalil’s continued presence would compromise a compelling foreign policy interest. While Farbiarz rejected the paperwork-based removal claim, he found the secretary’s determination could not withstand…

Life Insurance lawyers need to know the statute and case law that deals with life insurance policies after a divorce.    The relevant statute is Texas Family Code, Section 9.301. To start with, a 1994 opinion from the Fort Worth Court of Appeals, says that one spouse can designate his or her estate as the beneficiary of the policy, at the expense of the other spouse, absent a showing of actual or constructive fraud.  The opinion is styled, Street v. Skipper. A 1981 opinion from the Eastland Court of Appeals says that policies may contain provisions automatically divesting a spouse of any interest in the proceeds, if the parties are “legally separated” or divorced.  This opinion is styled, Pilot Life Insurance Company v. Koch.  Also, according to a 1987 opinion from the 14th District Court of Appeals, the divorce decree may divest the former spouse of any right to the insurance proceeds.  That opinion is styled, Novotny v. Wittner.…

For the Balkinization symposium in honor of Ken Kersch Carol J. Nackenoff Ken Kersch was not only a superb scholar but a good friend.I knew something about Ken before I met him in 1997.  His father and I were members of the Horatio Alger Society, a small group of book collectors, researchers, and fans of late 19th and early 20th century series books for boys and girls. I learned that Ken, a lawyer, had gone back to graduate school to get a Ph.D. in Government from Cornell.  His father wanted to hear what I thought about Ken’s career prospects, and I offered some positive words.Ken and I met at a Northeastern Political Science Association panel in Philadelphia, when he was working on his dissertation.  As a discussant for a panel on which his paper had been placed, I was struck by how astute, ambitious, careful, mature, and creative Ken’s scholarship was. This was no ordinary graduate student, I said to myself.  He subsequently won the…

A recent case out of the Middle District of Florida, The Peninsula at St. John’s Center Condominium Association, Inc. v. Amerisure Ins. Co., 2025 WL 1547631 (M.D.Fla. 2025) discusses what a party must do to RIGHTFULLY recover under a Coblentz agreement under Florida law: “In Florida, a party seeking to recover under a Coblentz agreement must prove: (1) coverage; (2) a wrongful refusal to defend; and (3) that the settlement was objectively reasonable and made in good faith. “Florida law clearly states that liability of an insurer depends upon whether the insured’s claim is within the coverage of the policy. This remains true even when the insurer has unjustifiably failed to defend its insured in the underlying action.”  “A determination of coverage, therefore, is a condition precedent to any recovery against an insurer.” The party seeking recovery has the burden “to allocate the settlement amount between covered and…

The US Supreme Court unanimously ruled on Thursday that public-school students with disabilities may pursue discrimination lawsuits under the same standard of proof that applies when people sue other institutions for discrimination based on disability claims, sweeping aside a higher legal standard used by some lower courts. Writing for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts rejected the heightened test as textually unsupported. He stated: “Together [students with disabilities] face daunting challenges on a daily basis … We hold today that those challenges do not include having to satisfy a more stringent standard of proof than other plaintiffs.” The justices vacated a ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and sent the case back for new proceedings under the easier “deliberate indifference” benchmark. The decision came in A.J.T. v. Osseo Area Schools, a case brought by Ava Tharpe, a Minnesota teenager whose rare form of epilepsy…

The Legal Theory Bookworm recommends Advanced Introduction to Political Jurisprudence by Martin Loughlin. Here is a description: Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. In this Advanced Introduction, Martin Loughlin provides a concise analysis of political jurisprudence, a powerful but relatively neglected school of thought that offers a compelling account of the relationship between law and politics in the modern world. After presenting a historical sketch of its evolution in European thought, he outlines the basic conceptual framework of the subject and argues that, notwithstanding current strains, political jurisprudence continues to yield acute insights into the…

The latest issue of the International Criminal Law Review (Vol. 25, nos. 2-3, 2025) is out. Contents include: Special Issue: Corruption and International Criminal Law Anja Matwijkiw, Bronik Matwijkiw, Sunčana Roksandić, & Marc Engelhart, Crime and Corruption. Serious Economic Crimes and International Criminal Law—Shaping a New Era of International Law and Justice Ugljesa Ugi Zvekic, For an Effective Global Anti-Crime Governance: untoc and uncac Consolidated Héctor Olasolo, Pablo Galain Palermo, & R.J. Blaise Maclean, The Case for Considering Corruption as a Central Element of Governance: Institutional and Organizational Corruption and Complex Corruption Networks Sunčana Roksandić & Marc Engelhart, Environmental Corruption: Fighting Two Evils through International Criminal Law Alongside Introducing a Special Protocol to UNCAC and UNTOC Anja Matwijkiw, Corruption: From International Law and Ethics to Realpolitik and…

Israel / Iran Collection: Israel-Iran Conflict by Just Security Israeli Strikes Risk Driving Iran Toward Nuclear Weapons by Kelsey Davenport The Israeli Strike on Iran the U.S. Saw Coming, but Couldn’t Stop by Brian O’Neill The Strategic Stakes after Israel’s Opening Strikes on Iran by Nima Gerami U.S. Military Deployment “The Insurrection Act” by Any Other Name: Unpacking Trump’s Memorandum Authorizing Domestic Deployment of the Military by Elizabeth Goitein The Mounting Crisis of Militarizing Immigration Enforcement by William Banks and Mark Nevitt Mass Deportation Policy and the Constitution: My Testimony Before the Senate Spotlight Forum by Mary B. McCord The Military Parade and Protections of the First Amendment by Hayden Johnson and Katie Schwartzmann Russia-Ukraine War Russia’s Drone-Dropped Landmines Threaten Human Lives and Hard-Won Humanitarian Protections by Mary Wareham Yemen A Strategic Pivot is Needed for Long-term Peace…

Juan Pablo Perez-Leon-Acevedo (Univ. of Oxford) has published Rethinking Attribution Standards for State Responsibility Concerning Mass Atrocities (San Diego International Law Journal, Vol. 26, no. 2, 2025). Here's the abstract: Attribution of mass atrocities to states remains a central and contested issue in international law, particularly when such acts are carried out by non-state actors or through proxy forces. This Article analyzes how states may incur responsibility for mass atrocities by examining the legal standards developed in the Articles on the Responsibility of States for Internationally Wrongful Acts (ARSIWA) and the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.). Special attention is given to developments following the adoption of ARSIWA, including the evolving relationship between Russia and the Wagner Group, to assess how legal principles apply in modern conflict settings. While the ARSIWA framework remains applicable, the nature of mass…

The Porter Law Group recently secured a settlement in a significant medical malpractice case involving a negligently performed inguinal hernia repair that resulted in permanent nerve damage to the patient. The case highlighted serious deviations from the standard of care during both the surgical procedure and post-operative care. Has Your Health Suffered Due to Medical Negligence? Let us fight for the justice and compensation you deserve. Contact us today for a free, non-obligatory case evaluation. Contact Us The case centered around a right inguinal hernia repair performed in June 2020, where the surgeon failed to follow established surgical protocols by incorrectly placing surgical mesh outside the inguinal canal rather than reinforcing the inguinal floor as required by standard medical practice. This deviation was particularly…

The Centre for Private International Law & Transnational Governance of the University of Aberdeen is organising a webinar on Cross-Border Protection of Children under the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention: Practical Perspectives from Contracting States. The event will be held on 30 June & 1 July and is part of a research project led by Professor Katarina Trimmings, which evaluates the effectiveness of the 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention in the UK and other Contracting States. See webinar registration and further details Cross-Border Protection of Children: The 1996 Hague Child Protection Convention | School of Law – University of Aberdeen This research project examines the legal framework for the cross-border protection of children, focusing on the 1996 Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in Respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children (‘the 1996…

The Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act (TAKE IT DOWN Act), enacted on May 19, 2025, is the first federal statute that criminalizes the distribution of nonconsensual intimate images, including those generated using artificial intelligence (AI), known as “deepfakes.” The first known deepfakes—synthetic images, audio, and videos that look hyper-realistic and depict real or fictional individuals—appeared on Reddit, an online discussion platform, in 2017 when a user posted pornographic videos with the faces of female celebrities superimposed on other bodies. Deepfakes are created using advanced machine learning techniques designed to produce content that is often indistinguishable from real media. Deepfakes can have many beneficial uses. In medicine, deep learning algorithms can locate cancerous tumors with a high level of accuracy and even predict whether cancerous regions have spread. In…

In the case of SFR Services, LLC v. American Coastal Insurance Company, No. 2:22-cv-505 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 7, 2025), the testimony of a Forensic Engineering Expert Witness played a pivotal role in determining the cause and extent of property damage following Hurricane Irma. The case illustrates how expert analysis, even when based on virtual inspection, can meet legal standards of admissibility under federal law. Background of the Case SFR Services, LLC filed a lawsuit against American Coastal Insurance Company (ACIC) for failing to pay for damage caused to a property during Hurricane Irma. SFR, acting as the contractor and assignee of the insured, alleged that the insurer breached its obligations under the policy by denying or underpaying for covered losses. Continue reading

A motorcyclist sustained minor injuries in a three-vehicle collision that occurred Wednesday afternoon in south Sacramento, highlighting ongoing safety concerns for motorcycle riders on California roadways. The incident, which happened near a busy Sacramento intersection, serves as a reminder of the unique vulnerabilities motorcyclists face in traffic. Details of the Sacramento Motorcycle Accident The collision occurred around 2:00 p.m. near the intersection of 47th Avenue and 44th Street, just west of State Route 180. According to California Highway Patrol (CHP) reports, the crash involved a motorcycle, a gray Toyota Sequoia, and a third vehicle that was also listed in the incident report. Initial emergency reports indicated that the motorcyclist was found down in the middle of the roadway, requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency crews were quickly dispatched to the scene to provide assistance and manage traffic flow in the affected area. Emergency Response and…

San Marcos, TX – A truck driver is in custody following a crash that injured at least three people and involved multiple vehicles. The incident happened Wednesday afternoon near SH 80 and the southbound frontage road. San Marcos Police, Fire Department, and EMS responded to the scene after a semi-truck reportedly failed to reduce speed and struck four vehicles stopped at a red light. Authorities say the driver left the scene but was later located and stopped by law enforcement. Three individuals were taken to area hospitals for treatment. Charges are pending against the driver for leaving the scene. The injured deserve answers, justice, and compensation Due to their large size and massive weight, semi-trucks need a greater distance to stop safely and avoid a collision with the vehicle in front of them. Large commercial trucks that follow too close or speed in reduced or stopped traffic areas are playing with danger. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)…

TTI Outdoor Power Equipment has issued a recall for certain RYOBI 40-Volt 24-Inch Cordless Hedge Trimmers due to a safety defect that poses a risk of laceration. The company reports that the trimmer’s blade may start unexpectedly if the safety or trigger control is pressed on its own, without the required simultaneous activation, creating a risk of serious injury. To date, 27 incidents have involved unintended blade activation. Sixteen of those cases involved injuries, ranging from minor cuts to serious lacerations. Consumers are urged to stop using the recalled trimmers and contact the company for repair or replacement options. Contact The Ammons Law Firm for Legal Help Involving Defective Products Contact The Ammons Law Firm today for a free consultation to discuss your case and learn more about your legal options. You may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages caused by this defective product.  …