Vioxx new trial ruling [US DC] News
Vioxx new trial ruling [US DC]

In re: Vioxx Products Liability Litigation, Barnett v. Merck & Co., US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, August 30, 2006 [rejecting as "grossly excessive" a $50 million jury award against Merck in compensatory damages for a retired FBI agent who claimed Merck's painkiller Vioxx caused his heart attack, and ordering a new trial]. Read the full text of the ruling [PDF]. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Supreme court overturns racially restrictive covenants

On May 3, 1948, the Supreme Court ruled that racially-restrictive covenants violate the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, even covenants between private individuals. In Shelley v. Kraemer, the Court overturned a covenant among members of a neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri that restricted home sales to only white families.

World Press Freedom day

May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. On May 3, 1845, Macon B. Allen, the first African American to practice law in the United States, was admitted to the Massachusetts bar. Learn more about Allen's admission.