THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 20, 1997 TAG: 9701200072
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A9 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 107 lines
The court's rulings can reach into every home and pocketbook in the commonwealth. Some recent rulings:
Storm-damaged bulkheads
at Sandbridge
Waterfront Marine Construction Inc. vs. North End 49ers
Sandbridge homeowners wanted help in dealing with storm-damaged bulkheads. But the court ruled in April 1996 that the homeowners could not collect money from the company that built the bulkheads. Homeowners had sued after an engineer said the bulkheads were defective, the dispute wound up in arbitration, the company was ordered to pay, the repairs were never done and the bulkheads were ruined in a storm a few months later. The homeowners sued again, a judge let the case go back to arbitration and a panel again ordered the company to pay damages. The company appealed, arguing that this amounted to trying the same case twice. The court ruled that the second arbitration hearing violated the principle of res judicata - once a case has been decided, it cannot be re-litigated.
Justice Lacy delivered the opinion.
Governor's firing power
Wilder vs. Attorney General
Gov. L. Douglas Wilder wanted to fire former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry as lawyer for Virginia's pension fund because she criticized decisions by the retirement system's board of trustees. Terry's office sued, saying the governor did not have the power to fire her. She won her lawsuit, and Wilder appealed to the Supreme Court. In January 1994, the court upheld Wilder's effort. ``The governor's acts were not arbitrary and capricious,'' Leroy R. Hassell wrote in the 6-1 ruling.
Hassell delivered, Senior Justice Henry H. Whiting (filling in) dissenting.
Citizen involvement in government
Collins vs. City of Norfolk
Nearly 5,000 voters signed a petition and presented it to the Norfolk City Council asking for a referendum on spending projects - Nauticus and a ballpark. The city said it could not legally hold a referendum. Grocer Herbert Collins sued because Norfolk's charter allows petitions for referendum. The city argued that the state Constitution excludes spending decisions from the referendum process. In November 1992, the court denied the request. Reaffirming that Virginians cannot put all City Council decisions to a public vote, Justice A. Christian Compton wrote, ``The proposed referendum on two line items out of an 83-line capital improvement budget would give voters a line-item veto over the City Council's attempt to pass a budget.''
Compton delivered, no dissenting.
Lottery payoffs
Hughes vs. Cole
Friends shouldn't let friends buy their lottery tickets. In the case of Hughes vs. Cole, a group of North Carolina friends pooled their money to buy lottery tickets. Walter Cole bought the tickets in Virginia the week of the drawing for Sept. 12, 1992. The day after the drawing, he told his friends that he had the winning ticket and that he would not share the proceeds. The friends tried to get their share from the Lottery Department, to no avail. Chief Justice Harry L. Carrico in January 1996 delivered the decision, saying agreements to pool money in playing the lottery are not legally enforceable. The ruling marked the end of the battle for the men who were hoping to collect part of the prize claimed by Cole, a retired Elizabeth City longshoreman.
Carrico delivered, no dissenting opinion.
Lesbian mother child custody
Bottoms vs. Bottoms
Grandmother Kay Bottoms wanted custody of Tyler Doustou, the son of her lesbian daughter, Sharon Bottoms. In April 1995 the court denied Sharon Bottoms custody of her son. The justices ruled he should stay in the custody of his grandmother. The court noted the child could be subjected to ``social condemnation'' because his mother was living with a female lover. The justices believed awarding custody to the grandmother would be in the child's best interests.
Decision was 4-3.
Compton delivered, dissenting were Barbara M. Keenan, Whiting, and Elizabeth B. Lacy.
Quality education,
not equal education
Scott vs. Commonwealth
A three-year struggle by a group of poor school districts ended when the court ruled in April 1994 that the state Constitution requires legislators only to try to provide a quality education for all, and to guarantee minimum standards - not equal conditions. The court rejected a claim that state officials should be forced to change a complex funding formula to guarantee more money for poor rural and inner-city districts. Rural Hampton Roads schools are among the state's poorest, and urban school districts like Portsmouth and Norfolk find it difficult to provide high-cost programs and materials that underprivileged schoolchildren need. In its decision, the court acknowledged that current state funding results in disparities.
Justice Roscoe B. Stephenson delivered, no dissent. MEMO: Information compiled by News Researcher Diana Diehl from
Virginian-Pilot files, Norfolk Law Library.
KEYWORDS: RULINGS DECISIONS VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT