Public Justice

May 1, 2012 In Updates

New Mexico Supreme Court Preserves Consumer’s Right to a Day in Court

The New Mexico Supreme Court has rejected a title lender’s attempt to force one of its customers into arbitration rather than take her case to court.The state’s high court ruled in the case of Kim Rivera, who had put up her $15,500 truck as collateral…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Ninth Circuit: Federal Banking Laws Do Not Preempt California Debt Collection Statute

In Aguayo v. U.S. Bank, the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Public Justice that national banks cannot ignore state debt collection laws that protect consumers.Public Justice represented Jose Aguayo, who bought a car from a southern California dealership, which then assigned his…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

West Virginia Agrees to Clean Up 171 Abandoned Coal Mines

Running a coal mine isn’t cheap. And the costs don’t end once a mine stops operating.When mines are abandoned by private operators in West Virginia, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is supposed to take over and clean up the sites. But the state has…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Public Justice Team in Running for ‘Consumer Attorney of the Year’ Award

The Public Justice legal team that prevailed in state and federal court cases on behalf of a medically neglected immigration detainee with cancer has been named a finalist for the Consumer Attorneys of California’s coveted “Consumer Attorney of the Year” Award. The team includes Conal…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Town of Telluride to Challenge Uranium Mill in Denver Court

he Town of Telluride, Colo., is taking its opposition to the licensing of the planned Piñon Ridge Uranium Mill in Montrose County to court in Denver. The Telluride Town Council voted unanimously to retain the legal services of Public Justice to litigate the case.The ongoing…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Town of Ophir Joins Telluride in Challenging Newly Licensed Uranium Mill in Southwestern Colorado

A second Colorado municipality is now challenging the licensing of Pinon Ridge Uranium Mill, which would be the first mill of its kind licensed in the U.S. in more than 25 years.The Town of Ophir (pictured in the valley at left) has joined the Town…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Public Justice Launches Food Safety and Health Project; Will Challenge Factory Farm Abuses, Other Threats to Public Health

Amid growing concern about food safety nationwide, Public Justice has expanded its wide-ranging docket to hold corporations accountable for the manufacture, distribution, and deceptive marketing of food and other products that endanger consumers’ safety, health, and nutrition.The national public interest law firm’s newly launched Food…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Groups Demand Enforcement of Food Safety Laws at Contaminated Egg-Producing Facilities

Some Texas egg producers have created breeding grounds for human health risks and state officials are letting them get away with it, according to a lawsuit joined today by Public Justice and the Center for Food Safety, two national public interest organizations.The action puts the…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

Female Coach Fired for Questioning Sports Equity at High School Reaches Settlement, Is Reinstated

A female lacrosse coach who was fired after raising questions about whether the athletic program at a south Florida high school was being fair to female athletes has been reinstated and her team will get to play in the school’s best athletic facility under terms…

May 1, 2012 In Updates

‘Bleed Air’ Case Against Airlplane Manufacturers Settles

Terry Williams, above left, a 42-year-old mother of two, is now permanently disabled. Years ago, this former flight attendant for American Airlines suffered severe injury to her central nervous system after being exposed to toxic “bleed air” — engine oil fumes emitted from a defectively…