RSSFlorida Jury Awards $23.6 Billion to Widow of Michael Johnson in Smoking Lawsuit Against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company … What Happened to Personal Responsibility?
Sorry, I am no fan of the cigarette industry, but I am one of personal responsibility. I generally cannot stand the smell of cigarette smoke and don’t understand why anyone even uses them, but this jury verdict is absurd and needs to be overturned by appeal.
An Escambia County, Florida jury awarded the widow of of a 36 year old man who died of lung cancer $23.6 million. The verdict included more than $16 million in compensatory damages. Cynthia Robinson claimed that smoking killed her husband, Michael Johnson, in 1996 at the age of 36 after he had smoked from the age of 13. The widow stated that R.J. Reynolds was negligent in not informing him that nicotine is addictive and smoking can cause lung cancer. The lawyer for the plaintiff’s said that because of the juror’s age, he had to shoe how the tobacco industry presented its product before the public awareness campaigns on tobacco risks and dangers in the 1990′s. HUH? Robinson’s attorneys, Christopher Chestnut also went on to say, “The jury wanted to send a statement that tobacco cannot continue to lie to the American people and the American government about the addictiveness of and the deadly chemicals in their cigarettes.” HUH?
A Florida jury awarded a widow $23.6 billion in punitive damages in her lawsuit against tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, her lawyer said.
Cynthia Robinson claimed that smoking killed her husband, Michael Johnson, in 1996. She argued R.J. Reynolds was negligent in not informing him that nicotine is addictive and smoking can cause lung cancer. Johnson started smoking when he was 13 and died of lung cancer when he was 36.
The jury award Friday evening is “courageous,” said Robinson’s lawyer, Christopher Chestnut.
“If anyone saw the documents that this jury saw, I believe that person would have awarded a similar or greater verdict amount,” he said.
The Escambia County trial took four weeks and the jury deliberated for 15 hours, according to the Pensacola News Journal. The verdict included more than $16 million in compensatory damages, the newspaper said.
Chestnut said five of the six jurors who heard the case were 45 or younger, which meant he had to show them how the tobacco industry presented its product before the public awareness campaigns on tobacco risks and dangers in the 1990s, he said.
Okay, let’s do the math for the obviously challenged Florida jury. I guess this one might be as clueless as the Florida jury that deliberated in the Casey Anthony murder case. For 50 years we have been warned that smoking is hazardous to our health, where was Michael Johnson during that time?
FIRST … WHO DOES NOT KNOW THAT CIGARETTES ARE HARMFUL TO YOUR HEALTH AND CAUSE LUNG CANCER?
United States was the first nation to require a health warning on cigarette packages.
Now for the numbers.
- Michael Johnson died in 1996 at the age of 36 from lung cancer.
- This means the deceased would have been born in 1960.
- Johnson would have begun smoking in 1973 as the story above states he began smoking at the age of 13.
- WHAT PARENT ALLOWS THEIR CHILD TO SMOKE AT THE AGE OF 13?
- All 50 states bad laws banning sales to minors by 1950. The most common age of restriction for cigarettes and tobacco products today applies to persons under the age of 18. In an effort to ensure stricter enforcement 11 states have lowered the age of restriction from 21 to 15 (Tobacco Merchants Association, 1971: 1-2).
- The smoking age was 18 meaning for 5 years the decease was breaking the law and smoking as a minor. Who’s fault was that?
- In 2006 Florida state Supreme Court tossed out a $145 billion class-action verdict. That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths.
- In 2008 on behalf of her late husband, Michael Johnson Sr.
- 2014 a Florida jury awards $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco.
Now for some more relevant numbers.
- On June 12, 1957, Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney declared it the official position of the U.S. Public Health Service that the evidence pointed to a causal relationship between smoking and lung cancer.
- The 1964 report on smoking and health had an impact on public attitudes and policy. A Gallup Survey conducted in 1958 found that only 44 percent of Americans believed smoking caused cancer, while 78 percent believed so by 1968. In the course of a decade, it had become common knowledge that smoking damaged health, and mounting evidence of health risks gave Terry’s 1964 report public resonance.
- The Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 (Public Law 89–92) required that the warning “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health” be placed in small print on one of the side panels of each cigarette package. The act prohibited additional labeling requirements at the federal, state, or local levels.
- In June 1967 the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its first report to Congress recommending that the warning label be changed to “Warning: Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Health and May Cause Death from Cancer and Other Diseases.”
- In 1969 Congress passed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act (Public Law 91–222), which prohibited cigarette advertising on television and radio and required that each cigarette package contain the label “Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.”
- In 1981 Congress enacted the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act of 1984 (Public Law 98–474), which required four specific health warnings on all cigarette packages and advertisements:SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Quitting Smoking Now Greatly Reduces Serious Risks to Your Health.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking by Pregnant Women May Result in Fetal Injury, Premature Birth, and Low Birth Weight.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide.
I am of the belief that if cigarette tobacco is so bad, then make them illegal to use. Otherwise, it is just a way of the local, state and federal government making tax money off of lung cancer. It is an individual’s choice to smoke. Sorry folks, unless you were born prior to 1965 or your terminal lung cancer occurred prior to then, you have no one to blame but yourself. For nearly 50 years there have been warning labels on cigarette packages.
EXACTLY HOW MANY WARNINGS DOES ONE NEED BEFORE THEY REALIZE THAT SOMETHING IS HAZARDOUS TO THEIR HEALTH?
Casey Anthony Still Claims that Zanny the Nanny (Zenaida Gonzalez) Was a Real Person at Defamation Deposition
Casey Anthony continues to say that there was a Zanny the Nanny and she is sticking to it. Sorry Casey, you can’t have it both ways, although try you will.
In a defamation deposition, Casey Anthony, the tot-mom who was found unbelievably “not guilty as sin” in the death and murder of her daughter Caylee Anthony, continues to say that there was a Zanny the Nanny, Zenaida Gonzalez. Casey Anthony was questioned on January 23 in a deposition where a transcript of the deposition was filed Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., federal court. However, at her murder trial former Casey Anthony defense attorney Jose Baez told jurors that Casey made up the story.
During her murder trial, Anthony’s attorney Jose Baez told jurors the baby sitter story was fabricated. During the deposition, Anthony’s attorney Cheney Mason said she was not responsible for Baez’s statements in court. [Hmm, wasn't Cheney Mason there too?]
click on pic to watch VIDEO
Casey Anthony maintains that a baby sitter her attorney acknowledged was fabricated at her 2011 murder trial is a real person.
Anthony, who has been in hiding since her trial, was questioned in a Jan. 23 deposition related to her ongoing bankruptcy proceedings. A transcript of the deposition was filed Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., federal court.
Anthony was acquitted in the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. After Caylee disappeared in 2008, Anthony told investigators a baby sitter named Zenaida Gonzalez had kidnapped the toddler. The Kissimmee, Fla., woman sued Anthony, claiming her reputation has been ruined.
According to the transcript, Anthony told Gonzalez’s attorneys she met the baby sitter at Universal Studios in 2006 and the women were friends for a little over a year. She said she left Caylee in her care on one occasion in 2006.
The baby sitter did not actually kidnap Caylee, nor did the woman suing for defamation, Anthony said. She declined to answer the attorneys’ questions about why she had lied to investigators.
Anthony waited a month before reporting Caylee missing. The trial ended in her acquittal on the murder charge, but she was convicted on charges of lying to law enforcement.
Dylan Farrow Discusses Sex Abuse Allegations Against Woody Allen In Open Letter In New York Times
Dylan Farrow, the adopted daughter of Woody Allen, pens an open letter in the New York Times that should, if they have not already done so, make all question why they have a favorite Woody Allen movie. She detailed the alleged sexual abuse she endured at the hands of Woody Allen. Farrow said she was spurred to comment after Woody Allen was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Globes. An award that when you look back on the fact that Allen was never charged with any sexual abuse crimes even thought prosecutors back in the 90′s said there was probably cause to do so makes you just question what the Golden Globes were thinking. As Dylan Farrow concluded, “Imagine a world that celebrates her tormenter. Are you imagining that? Now, what’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?
What’s your favorite Woody Allen movie? Before you answer, you should know: when I was seven years old, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim, closet-like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother’s electric train set. Then he sexually assaulted me. He talked to me while he did it, whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret, promising that we’d go to Paris and I’d be a star in his movies. I remember staring at that toy train, focusing on it as it traveled in its circle around the attic. To this day, I find it difficult to look at toy trains.
On a personal note in an open response to Dylan Farrow, I was once a Woody Allen fan and did once consider ‘Manhattan,’ ‘A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy’ and ‘Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask’ my favorite movies. However, that was then and this is now. Since the sexual abuse allegations in the early 90′s I have pretty much put Woody Allen in the “ick” category and with the likes of those like O.J. Simpson, where we know they are guilty, even though it was never proved. Recently, we can add the lies of Casey Anthony to that same list. Dylan, just know that it is not a world that celebrates Woody Allen, it is a deranged, without class, morals or character few that do. However, we are glad that you survived the abuse.
One does have to ask why do celebs who behave badly get rewarded? Yes, Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse. Allen was honored at the Golden Globes last month with the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.Maybe he should have been honored with the Roman Polanski award instead.
Today, I consider myself lucky. I am happily married. I have the support of my amazing brothers and sisters. I have a mother who found within herself a well of fortitude that saved us from the chaos a predator brought into our home.
But others are still scared, vulnerable, and struggling for the courage to tell the truth. The message that Hollywood sends matters for them.
What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis CK? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?
Woody Allen is a living testament to the way our society fails the survivors of sexual assault and abuse.
So imagine your seven-year-old daughter being led into an attic by Woody Allen. Imagine she spends a lifetime stricken with nausea at the mention of his name. Imagine a world that celebrates her tormenter.
Are you imagining that? Now, what’s your favorite Woody Allen movie?
George Zimmerman Pulled Over for the THIRD Time by Police Since Acquitted for Murder Charges in Death of Trayvon Martin
As the Daily Mail reports … So much for George Zimmerman keeping a low profile after his acquittal for murder charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman was pulled over for the third time since his his “not guilty” verdict of murder charges. This time police stopped him in Brevard county, FL and given a written warning dated August 19, 2013 at 11:06 a.m., from FHP, Zimmerman had improper tag display on his Honda truck and that his vehicle’s excessive tint needed to be corrected. Zimmerman told the police that he had installed the heavy tinting because he had been receiving death threats since being acquitted of murder.
George Zimmerman was pulled over by police for the third time since his acquittal, it emerged today.
Zimmerman was stopped by Florida Highway Patrol troopers in Brevard County on August 19 just after 11am.
He received a written warning for having an improper tag display on his Honda truck and was told the window’s excessive tint needed to be corrected.
He told the trooper he installed it after he was acquitted because he had been receiving death threats.
Fox News has the other two incidents:
Since being acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin in July, Zimmerman has been pulled over twice prior to this for speeding — once in Texas and once in Lake Mary.
He was let off with a warning in the Texas incident and fined $256 in the latter.
Damn, how many times is this dude going to continue to pop up in the news? One would think he would want to melt into society and never be head from again, for his own sake. Who would have ever thought that Casey Anthony would have done a better job of keeping out of the public sight than George Zimmerman?
Post-Zimmerman Murder Trial: CNN and HLN Sink Like a Rock … CNN Drops 32% in Viewership and HLN Falls 50%
Following the George Zimmerman murder trial, both CNN and HLN plummet back down to earth as CNN drops 32% in viewership and HLN falls 50%.
Obviously networks that devoted time to the George Zimmerman murder trial were going to see a gain in viewership during the trial. Both CNN and HLN did so. CNN showed the trial during the day, although many individuals most likely watched the live feeds on the internet from local Florida media. HLN also devoted a lot of time during the Zimmerman trial because many of their shows are crime related. It only made sense that their ratings would have increased, much the same they did during the Casey Anthony murder trail. I actually have to disagree, for one of the few times, with Breitbart’s analysis of the loss of viewership following the Zimmerman trial. The reason why CNN and HLN experienced a severe drop in viewership was not because of Nancy Grace and her anti-Zimmerman sentiment or that CNN lost viewers because of their refusal to call Zimmerman a Hispanic. It was not because many of the hosts and guests openly rooted against Zimmerman or continued to falsely call the murder of Trayvon Martin a racial hate crime. This was not a case of losing viewers during the trial, it was not until after.
Nancy Grace doing herself no favors in further fanning the flames of racism as she did not get the verdict she wanted in the George Zimmerman murder trial
The reason why CNN and HLN lost viewers is simple. It is the same reason why they gained them. Both networks devoted much of their air time to a news story that many people wanted to watch. Obviously people were going to tune in to the daily trial and then watch the follow up of the pundits discussing the days activities, jury testimony, evidence presented, hosts opinions, guest analysis and court room antics. It only makes sense that when the carnival comes to town, people attend. However, when it is over, so is the viewership. People were interested in the trial, not post trial. That always happens when ever any big time trial plays on on TV. When the trial is over, the networks viewership sinks back to what they previously were prior to the inflated one’s caused by the trial in the first place. No matter the fact that Nancy Grace, Jane Velez-Mitchell, CNN and HLN wanted to cling on to their new found ratings even after the trial was over was not going to happen. In the end, it is simply a matter of supply and demand.
Considering their previous lows, both CNN and HLN enjoyed respectable viewer gains in the month of July, but the latest ratings that look at a full week of post-Zimmerman trial viewership shows that both networks might be falling back to earth. TV Newser reports that last week, CNN saw its viewership plummet -32%. HLN fared even worse with a -50% drop-off.
Fox News, however, continues to dominate its cable news competition. In all of cable, Fox beat CNN and MSNBC combined during primetime and ranked 4th in total primetime viewers, behind only the USA Network, TNT, and the History Channel.
In total day viewers, Fox News ranked 5th in all of cable.
TV Newser reports that “CNN placed 36th in primetime and 31st in total day, while MSNBC placed 32nd in both categories.”
HLN did not rank in the top 40.
