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Here is an interesting non-published decision out of the Kentucky Court of Appeals regarding the relationship of punitive damages to compensatory damages and the reprehensibility of the conduct:
HICKS V. ARCHIE
Punitive damages more about reprehensibility than just ratio to compensatories
RENDERED: APRIL 18, 2008; 10:00 A
NOT PUBLISHED: DATE RENDERED: 4/18/2008
Interesting read for those interested in the Brandeis legacy and are more than happy to list Brandeis School of Law on their resume' (actually those who graduated under that name rather than those who graduated before the name change!).
Two things from this post. Good for UofL Law to have not only an archivist of the Brandeis and Harlan collection, but also that Scott Campbell has a blog monitoring the discussion on these two giants of Supreme Court jurisprudence with roots in Kentucky. From his "about" page - "A current awareness tool dedicated to publicizing appearances of Louis D. Brandeis of John Marshall Harlan on the web and in the media. If you know of any new articles, web pages, etc. featuring Brandeis or Harlan that you want me to list here, leave me a comment and tell me about them."
I present his opening paragraph and leave it you to read the rest:
It has been almost 70 years since Brandeis retired from the Supreme Court and during that time his place in the pantheon of all time great justices has seemed so secure that it is rare to see a negative word written about him. So it’s all the more startling to find a new article in the North Carolina Law Review that not only casts Brandeis in an unflattering light, but also calls into question many of the decisions reached by the Court since 1932.
Federal prosecutors investigation at UofL reported at WAVE3, click on UofL, prosecutors confirm investigation on campus for full story. See, WHAS11 video by clicking here.
Another video in the news is http://www.whas11.com/video/index.html?nvid=256593 regarding Hardin County man suing KSP.
Pol Watchers' Blog with the Herald Leader reports on indictments obtained by AG Conway:
HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU Nine people have been indicted in connection with a pattern of abusive behavior against adult residents of Community Presence, Inc., an adult-care facility in Carter County, Attorney General Jack Conway said Tuesday. Each of the nine is charged with abuse of an adult, unlawful imprisonment, and wanton endangerment in the first degree. Each of the defendants could (click on heading for rest of story).
I enjoyed the Brandeis quote from Ariana Levinson's faculty blog post at "Faculty Blogs: Employees as Corporate Stakeholders and Minimum Labor Standards". She details to law review articles worth reading by those in the labor and employment law fields.
The premise of the first, Kent Greenfields' Reclaiming Corporate Law in a New Gilded Age, is that "[t]he time has come to reclaim corporate law as a topic of wide debate and progressive concern." He argues that "while corporations should be appreciated for their special ability to create wealth, they should also be treated warily, given the form and power bestowed on them."
He quotes Justice Brandeis,
The prevalence of the corporation in America has led men of this generation . . . to accept the evils attendant upon the free and unrestricted use of the corporate mechanism as if these evils were the inescapable price of civilized life and, hence, to be borne with resignation. Throughout the greater part of our history a different view prevailed. Although the value of this instrumentality in commerce and industry was fully recognized, incorporation for business was commonly denied long after it had been freely granted for religious, educational and charitable purposes. It was denied because of fear. Fear of encroachment upon the liberties and opportunities of the individual. Fear of the subjection of labor to capital. Fear of monopoly. Fear that the absorption of capital by corporations, and their perpetual life, might bring evils . . . . There was a sense of some insidious menace inherent in large aggregations of capital, particularly when held by corporations.
Liggett v. Lee, 288 U.S. 517, 548 (1933) (Brandeis, J., dissenting).
"Reading the Mind of Congress: Legislative History Research on the Internet" 
KURT X. METZMEIER, University of Louisville - Louis D. Brandeis School of Law
The article discusses using U.S. Congressional resources on the Internet, in particular the Library of Congress' Thomas website. The paper focuses on how to use these tools to determine the legislative intent behind a statute.
From Herald Leader is more on the story of the Ohio historian between a rock and a hard place in historical rock retreived from the Ohio River. For a little history, the Ohio River follows the Indiana name as the River of Many White Caps, was part of the original Virginia land grant up to the other side, and thus Ohio derives it name from the river and not vice versa. Meanwhile, back to the story:
An Ohio historian could face hard time, all because of a rock.
A Kentucky grand jury indicted Steve Shaffer on Thursday for leading efforts to pull an eight-ton boulder known as Indian Head Rock from the Ohio River.
SCOTUS decision reported in Herald Leader. Also, see SCOTUSWiki summary of decision with history, links, and analysis at KRS v. EEOC.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Kentucky's retirement system does not discriminate against older workers.
The court, in a 5-4 ruling, says the retirement system reasonably takes age and length of service into account when structuring benefits for disabled workers who are eligible for retirement.
The following story reports on lawsuit filed following police chief's death in Powell County:
The widow of a slain central Kentucky police chief is suing a city and the man charged with killing him.
Ruth Lacy filed the suit in Powell Circuit Court this month against Clay City and James Barnett. Barnett, 37, is charged with murder in the death of Clay City Police Chief Randy Lacy in June 2007.
The suit accuses the city of negligence, claiming Randy Lacy was forced to work extended hours without pay or training. Barnett is accused in the suit of firing the fatal shots into Lacy's head.
Ruth Lacy is seeking unspecified damages.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Barnett.
