Declarations

Jumping the Uber Gun

“We jumped the gun, and we shouldn’t have.”

—Jean Shiomoto, director of the Department of Motor Vehicles in Sacramento, Calif., said in a Jan. 23 statement that the agency is rescinding a notice that said private drivers for ride-sharing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. must have a commercial license plate or risk getting a citation, because of uncertainty about how the law relates to more recent regulations affecting ride-share operators.

No Caps = HellholeTEXT

“Missouri will continue to be a judicial hellhole.”

—Missouri Senate Majority Floor Leader Ron Richard, R-Joplin, says a constitutional amendment capping punitive damages in lawsuit awards is a top priority of his for the legislative session. Proponents of noneconomic damage caps say they create more certainty for businesses, hospitals and doctors, and lessen the possibility of the state becoming a “judicial hellhole.”

Police Presence Needed

“These are crimes of opportunity, these people are lying in wait. … You need to have a police presence.”

—Lawyer Harry Widmann commenting on the effect of understaffing at the New Orleans police department. The force has lost about 500 officers since Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 and it is now down to about 1,150 – far fewer than the 1,600 that Mayor Mitch Landrieu would like. Widman’s California colleague was beaten unconscious in December after he was attacked on his way back to his hotel in New Orleans’s French Quarter, and citizens are worried about what might happen during the city’s famous Mardi Gras celebrations this year.

Concussion Lawsuit

“Under the guise of providing entertainment, the WWE has, for decades, subjected its wrestlers to extreme physical brutality.”

—The opinion of two former professional wrestlers, Vito LoGrasso and Evan Singleton, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Philadelphia last month. The plaintiffs are accusing their former employer, WWE, of “selling violence” while ignoring concussions that they say left them with serious brain injuries.