Post by dimarec on Jun 28, 2011 16:49:31 GMT -5
This HBO documentary seems interesting. About legal procedures in the US, it includes a discussion about the Mc Donald's Coffee lawsuit.
Hot Coffee Premieres on HBO, Monday, June 27 at 9 PM (E/P)/8 PM (C)
Premiering June 27 on HBO as part of the Summer Documentary Series
Interview with Democracy now
youtu.be/QGPU3GRWAYQ
At minute 1:59 she explains mandatory arbitration (waiving your right to the court system): it is frightening. (although I don't know if it is as absolute as it is pictured.)
hotcoffeethemovie.com/
Is Justice Being Served?
Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America’s legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this film, you will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.
hotcoffeethemovie.com/cast/
Cast
Stella Liebeck
On February 27, 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck ordered a cup of coffee from a drive-through window at a McDonald’s restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mrs. Liebeck was seated in the passenger’s seat of a parked car and, as she proceeded to add cream and sugar to her coffee, spilled the entire cup of scalding hot coffee on her lap. She suffered severe third-degree burns, years of expensive medical treatment, and a lawsuit that soon had the whole country talking. In Hot Coffee, Stella Liebeck’s personal legal battle over a spilled cup of coffee serves as a springboard into understanding our civil justice system.
Colin Gourley
Colin was born with cerebral palsy because of medical malpractice at birth. He received a $5.65 million award at trial to cover his medical expenses, but because of a Nebraska state-mandated cap on damages he could only collect $1.25 million, an amount that will not cover a lifetime of care. The film shows how the lawsuit cap has affected Colin and his family, as well as how dramatically different his life is compared to that of his identical twin brother, Connor.
Oliver Diaz
When state Supreme Courts were holding caps on damages unconstitutional, Karl Rove and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce masterminded a national campaign to unseat judges who stood in the way of “tort reform.” Hot Coffee explores the story of former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz, whose life was fictionalized in John Grisham’s book, The Appeal. When big business interests couldn’t beat Justice Oliver Diaz in his re-election to the Mississippi Supreme Court, despite millions of dollars spent on advertising, they found a way to have him criminally prosecuted on false charges, tainting his reputation and causing political hardship for years to come.
Jamie Leigh Jones
Hot Coffee also shows the success of the tort reform movement and its impact on average people in the form of mandatory arbitration contracts. The film introduces Jamie Leigh Jones, who was raped by co-workers when working in Iraq as a private contractor for KBR/Halliburton. When criminal charges could not be filed, she sought to hold Halliburton accountable for their misconduct, but a forced arbitration clause buried in her employment agreement meant she lost her right to a jury trial. While documenting Jamie’s story, the film follows Senator Al Franken’s first bill in the U.S. Senate, in which he successfully prohibited mandatory arbitration clauses passed for sexual assault in government contracts.
Also Featured in the Film
Jay Angoff
Tom Baker
Paul Bland
Ken Canfield
Joan Claybrook
Ralph D. Cook
Joanne Doroshow
Al Franken
John Grisham
Ernest “Sonny” Hornsby
Kevin Zeese
George Lakoff
Michael McCann
Craig McDonald
Stephanie Mencimer
Victor Schwartz
Wayne Slater
Kenneth R. Wagner
Peter Whitted, MD, JD
Alex Winslow
Hot Coffee Premieres on HBO, Monday, June 27 at 9 PM (E/P)/8 PM (C)
Premiering June 27 on HBO as part of the Summer Documentary Series
Interview with Democracy now
youtu.be/QGPU3GRWAYQ
At minute 1:59 she explains mandatory arbitration (waiving your right to the court system): it is frightening. (although I don't know if it is as absolute as it is pictured.)
hotcoffeethemovie.com/
Is Justice Being Served?
Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America’s legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this film, you will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.
hotcoffeethemovie.com/cast/
Cast
Stella Liebeck
On February 27, 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck ordered a cup of coffee from a drive-through window at a McDonald’s restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mrs. Liebeck was seated in the passenger’s seat of a parked car and, as she proceeded to add cream and sugar to her coffee, spilled the entire cup of scalding hot coffee on her lap. She suffered severe third-degree burns, years of expensive medical treatment, and a lawsuit that soon had the whole country talking. In Hot Coffee, Stella Liebeck’s personal legal battle over a spilled cup of coffee serves as a springboard into understanding our civil justice system.
Colin Gourley
Colin was born with cerebral palsy because of medical malpractice at birth. He received a $5.65 million award at trial to cover his medical expenses, but because of a Nebraska state-mandated cap on damages he could only collect $1.25 million, an amount that will not cover a lifetime of care. The film shows how the lawsuit cap has affected Colin and his family, as well as how dramatically different his life is compared to that of his identical twin brother, Connor.
Oliver Diaz
When state Supreme Courts were holding caps on damages unconstitutional, Karl Rove and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce masterminded a national campaign to unseat judges who stood in the way of “tort reform.” Hot Coffee explores the story of former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz, whose life was fictionalized in John Grisham’s book, The Appeal. When big business interests couldn’t beat Justice Oliver Diaz in his re-election to the Mississippi Supreme Court, despite millions of dollars spent on advertising, they found a way to have him criminally prosecuted on false charges, tainting his reputation and causing political hardship for years to come.
Jamie Leigh Jones
Hot Coffee also shows the success of the tort reform movement and its impact on average people in the form of mandatory arbitration contracts. The film introduces Jamie Leigh Jones, who was raped by co-workers when working in Iraq as a private contractor for KBR/Halliburton. When criminal charges could not be filed, she sought to hold Halliburton accountable for their misconduct, but a forced arbitration clause buried in her employment agreement meant she lost her right to a jury trial. While documenting Jamie’s story, the film follows Senator Al Franken’s first bill in the U.S. Senate, in which he successfully prohibited mandatory arbitration clauses passed for sexual assault in government contracts.
Also Featured in the Film
Jay Angoff
Tom Baker
Paul Bland
Ken Canfield
Joan Claybrook
Ralph D. Cook
Joanne Doroshow
Al Franken
John Grisham
Ernest “Sonny” Hornsby
Kevin Zeese
George Lakoff
Michael McCann
Craig McDonald
Stephanie Mencimer
Victor Schwartz
Wayne Slater
Kenneth R. Wagner
Peter Whitted, MD, JD
Alex Winslow