September 18, 2007
Erwin Chemerinsky loses -- and wins
Here's a "man bites dog" sort of story: California's notorious Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a wise decision yesterday. The ridiculous lawsuit against Caterpillar, launched by relatives of Rachel Corrie and various Palestinians, had been rejected earlier by a federal district court, and the Ninth Circuit Court affirmed that dismissal yesterday. The suit claimed the company was liable for her death when she was crushed by a Caterpillar bulldozer operated by the Israel Defense Forces in front of which she placed herself in protest. Redstate.com has the details of the Appeals Court findings.
You can read what supporters of the plaintiffs had to say about their appeal, and when you do, note who argued the case: none other than Erwin Chemerinsky, recently hired, then fired, and now apparently re-hired as dean of the officially unneeded law school the University of California Irvine campus wants to establish.
It appears that even the most liberal Circuit Court of Appeals in America found that Chemerinsky's case was wrong. Unfortunately only on technical grounds.
Hat tips: Ed Lasky and Richard Baehr