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CNN Live Today

Analysis of Legal Cases in News Today

Aired July 12, 2002 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We will bring in our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on some interesting legal cases that came across the wires today. Are you ready to talk about a few of these, Jeffrey?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Let's good, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's fire it up.

Let's talk about this All-Star Game lawsuit. This talk show host, Michigan talk show host, suing the county for the outcome of this week's All-Star game. I guess Dave Barber is saying it caused him to lose faith in baseball, so he's suing. Does he have anything here?

TOOBIN: Kyra, there is a technical legal phrase that applies to this case, which is, get a life. You know, this is totally ridiculous.

PHILLIPS: It's called publicity Jeffrey. He wants us to talk about it right now. Here you go. Tune in to Dave Barber's show.

TOOBIN: You think he's lost this lawsuit? He won, because here we are. The irony of this lawsuit is that baseball is doing such a good job of destroying itself, with, you know, whether it's steroids or, you know, trying to contract a number of teams, and of course, the great specter hovering over the game, the strike this summer. This is sort of piling on, but no, it is not a suit he is going to win, I'm afraid.

PHILLIPS: All right, we will stop giving this guy free publicity then.

Let's move to this other one, Jerry Springer. I guess "The Springer Show" is being sued by a murder victim's son. The sons of a woman who was murdered after she appeared on the Jerry Springer television program with her ex-husband, filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the show. What do you make of this?

TOOBIN: Kyra, I know you are too classy a person to ever watch "The Jerry Springer" show, but I, on the other, have watched the...

PHILLIPS: Are you sleazy enough, Jeffrey, to watch that show?

TOOBIN: I have seen "The Jerry Springer Show" many times. And the thing that I always wonder, is why don't more of the guests kill each other, not few. I mean, I'm always astonished that they don't have lots of these cases. People will remember that there is in a very serious light. There was the famous Jenny Jones case where a jury did award $25 million after one guest killed another. One of the legal concepts everybody talks about, that is really relevant in these cases is foreseeability. Is it foreseeable that these people would attack each other? Well, I actually think it is foreseeable.

So this one strikes me as -- I obviously don't know the details of this particular case, but I mean, I don't think it's entirely crazy that someone could sue, given how provocative those shows are.

PHILLIPS: Especially "Jerry Springer" show. I mean, the whole point is to get people on. They are going to cuss, and fight, and say these extreme things to make people tune in, and isn't that the whole point of these shows, is to kind of create an outburst? I mean, definitely hopefully not murder, but -- right.

TOOBIN: And I know from my experience. I did some reporting on this. They sign all sorts of waivers that say you won't hurt anybody, you agree to do this voluntarily, but you know, some of this stuff is so volatile that it is possible that these people will kill each other at when it's all over. These lawsuits always get a lot more publicity when they're announced than when they work through the system, but this isn't as crazy as the talk show hosts claiming a case against baseball.

PHILLIPS: Oh Dave Barber, not that we're mentioning his name again.

All right, finally, I know you are not to hot on this one, and you are probably going to tell me this was ridiculous, let's not even talk about. I read it, and I'm thinking, oh, poor little girl, 12- year-old girl taken to court, because she had an overdue library book. The city summoned her, and because her name was on a library card. She had to go court, she plead guilty, paid $15 fine. I mean, for a 12-year-old, they could probably come back and sue for disturbing her.

TOOBIN: Well, I actually don't think they can sue, but, you know, we thought it was good news since crime is so much reduced as over the past decade, because it really is. There is a lot less crime. Apparently the courts, at least in this one location in Colorado, are so lacking in business, that they are reduced to arresting 12-year-olds. I think it's -- I do think there will probably be a powerful deterrent effect. I doubt she will keep overdue library books again, but it does seem a bit overkill.

PHILLIPS: I'm with you on that. Jeffrey Toobin, we'll see you back in the next hour. We will talk about a number of other cases concerning Jeffrey -- or John Walker Lindh. We will talk about that case. And Robert Young Pelton, the photographer, right?

TOOBIN: Very good.

PHILLIPS: Next hour. See you then.

Thanks, Jeffrey.

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