Declarations

Personal Responsibility

“My helmet prevented me from being a brain injury patient when I crashed my Harley two years ago.”

—U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters comments on legislation to Congress that seeks greater flexibility for states to target one of the leading causes of motorcycle deaths across the nation — riding without a helmet. An avid motorcyclist, Peters credits her helmet and riding gear for saving her life during a 2005 motorcycle crash. She urged motorcycle riders “to take personal responsibility for their safety by wearing a helmet every time they ride.”

Outpacing S&L Litigation

“The S&L crisis has been a high water mark in terms of the litigation fallout of a major financial crisis. The subprime-related cases appear on their way to eclipsing that benchmark.”

—Jeff Nielsen, managing director of Chicago-based Navigant Consulting, which reports that the number of subprime-related lawsuits filed in federal courts is dramatically outpacing the savings and loan litigation of the early 1990s. According to a study conducted by Navigant, the number of subprime-related cases filed in 2007 already equals half of the total 559 S&L cases handled by the Resolution Trust Corp. (RTC) over a multiple-year period. The subprime numbers represent only federal court filings.

Feeling Abused and Insulted

“The other members of the grand jury felt that our grand jury had been abused and insulted by both the district attorney’s office and the defense attorneys in the case.”

—Jeffrey Dorrell, an attorney who served as assistant foreman for a grand jury in Houston that indicted Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife Francisca Medina on a charge of tampering with a document and on an arson charge. The Harris County District Attorney later dropped the charges saying he did not have enough evidence to prosecute. The Associated Press reported the group filed a lawsuit so they can disclose details they heard to a new grand jury. They also want defend themselves from allegations that they were a “runaway grand jury.”

A Perception Problem

“There was a problem with perception by our members. … But there was nothing unethical or illegal about anything that was done.”

—Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge, commenting on the decision by House Majority Leader Gregg Piatt to return a $5,000 campaign contribution from a donor who sought legislation that would have helped insurance companies tied to the donor’s family. The donation was from Bradford Phillips, whose father, Gene Phillips, is connected to a bribery case involving former Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. The Associated Press reported that Piatt has said it is unlikely that he would accept future contributions from Bradford Phillips because it is a “lightning-rod issue.”