Thursday, January 24, 2019
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge granted motion to compel production of internal documents generated as a result of alleged excessive force incident at Youth Development Center, rejecting attempt to withhold them based on an asserted privilege for “self-critical analysis,” the Maine peer review privilege pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 501, or a standalone federal common-law peer review privilege
- Law Court: Claim preclusion does not bar a subsequent suit brought in District or Superior Court by a person who was not an actual party to Small Claims action
- US District Court ME: Magistrate Judge recommended denial of § 1983 claim arising out of transportation contractor allegedly depriving plaintiff of constitutional rights: “if a government official is aware or obviously should have been aware that the third-party’s practices present a genuine risk of a constitutional deprivation, but the official does not take readily available measures to mitigate the risk, the government official can be legally responsible for the deprivation”
- Maine Superior Court: Motion to dismiss tort action between former spouses denied because, in part, prior divorce judgment was not res judicata because of different remedies in divorce and tort actions; and, although allegedly defamatory statements in Protection From Abuse court complaint were absolutely privileged, republication of complaint to third parties outside of court is not necessarily privileged
- Maine Superior Court: No right to jury trial because relief sought in Maine Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act claim was primarily equitable, despite inclusion of claim for monetary damages in prayer for relief
- Maine Supreme Judicial Court: Comments due January 25, 2019, on the Court’s proposed legislation regarding transparency and privacy in court records, which would make civil case information primarily public
- MHRC: January 28th Agenda and Consent Agenda posted
