| Volume 144 Number 21 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Some of you are celebrating your second COVID-19 vaccination with the giddy enthusiasm that’s usually reserved for weddings, new babies, and other life events. You’re posting a photo of your vaccination card on social media. Please — don’t do that! You could be inviting identity theft. Click here for more.
Airbag issue prompts GM recall of a half-million vehicles
General Motors is recalling 557,023 vehicles. The vehicles have non-desiccated passenger front inflators containing phase-stabilized ammonium nitrate (PSAN) propellant.
These inflators may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, high temperatures, and high temperature cycling.
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you were married in the past, you may be eligible to apply for spousal Social Security benefits. “Spousal benefits are often underutilized,” says Ken Moraif, a certified financial planner at Retirement Planners of America in Plano, Texas. The exact amount you receive will be determined by factors including your age, work history and marital status. You can expect the following when applying for Social Security spousal benefits: Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Plaintiffs lacked Article III standing to maintain their action because they described only a general, regulatory violation, not something that was particularized to them and concrete. Plaintiff filed a class action in state court. Defendant removed the case to federal court, and the question of jurisdiction was appealed to the Seventh Circuit. The court first noted To establish standing under Article III of the Constitution, a plaintiff must demonstrate (1) that he or she suffered an injury in fact that is concrete, particularized, and actual or imminent, (2) that the injury was caused by the defendant, and (3) that the injury would likely be redressed by the requested judicial relief. Ordinarily, it is the plaintiff who bears the burden of demonstrating that the district court has subject-matter jurisdiction over her case and that it falls within "the Judicial Power" conferred in Article III. But more generally, the party that wants the federal forum, in this case the defendant, is the one that has the burden of establishing the court's authority to hear the case. The court concluded: Our job is to decide whether Thornley and her co-plaintiffs have Article III standing to pursue the case they have presented in their complaint. We have concluded that they do not: they have described only a general, regulatory violation, not something that is particularized to them and concrete. It is no secret to anyone that they took care in their allegations, and especially in the scope of the proposed class they would like to represent, to steer clear of federal court. But in general, plaintiffs may do this. Thornley v. Clearview AI, Inc., 984 F.3d 1241 (7th Cir. 2021) Click here for more.