The wrongful death suit over the 2007 death of Todd R. Murray, a member of the Ute Tribe, has the United States courts trying to figure out the scope of the ‘bad men’ provision written into a treaty drawn up in 1868. Murray was a passenger riding in a car being driven above the speed limit along highway 40 in Utah’s Utinah County, when two police officers tried to get the driver to pull over. Murray and the driver continued on, pursued by the two officers, until they reached reservation lands where the two men then got out of their car and ran in different directions.

Officer Vance Norton alleges that Murray shot two rounds at him after being ordered to the ground and that he responded by firing two rounds back. Neither one hit the other, and Norton claimed that, at this point, Murray turned the gun on himself, delivering a fatal shot into his own head. He later was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Officer Norton was the only witness to the final moments of Murray’s life, and his account of what happened is contested in the wrongful death suit.

Murray’s parents, the Ute Tribe, and the Ouray Reservation filed the suit, and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims threw the case out. Debra Jones, Murray’s mother, contends that Murray did not shoot himself but that he was shot by Officer Norton. Because there were no other witnesses and because the gun was destroyed when turned over to the government, Jones asserts that there is no way to prove that Murray shot himself. Jones filed another suit to this effect, and it was also dismissed by a lower court. In 2015, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals also upheld that previous decision.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now said that the case must be reviewed again by the lower courts, citing a ‘bad men’ clause in a 1868 treaty between the Ute and the United States. The provision states that if a non-Indian ‘bad man’ commits wrong to the people or property of the Indians that it is to be sent to the Commission of Indian Affairs and that they are to be ‘arrested and punished’. The person victimized is also to be reimbursed. It must now be determined whether the evidence was handled correctly or not, as this will determine whether the ‘bad men’ provision was indeed violated.

After a lengthy deliberation, a jury has awarded over $1 million to former Chula Vista Fire Chief Jim Garcia. The experienced fire chief argued that the city wrongly discriminated against him in two different categories when they ended his employment back in 2015. Garcia argued that both his age and his spinal cord injury played roles in his termination. Furthermore, his neck injury was work-related. Garcia and his attorney, Bradley Gage, effectively argued that the city knew about his medical problems when they terminated him and this was grounds for wrongful firing.

Garcia knew that his recent medical problems were negatively impacting his ability to do his job. He thought that it might be in the best interests of the public for him to leave; however, Garcia was terminated by the city without any notification or cause for his exit.

When Garcia asked the city for an explanation regarding his termination, the city simply told him that his position had been eliminated.

In fact, his position was not eliminated. Furthermore, many new positions were created by Garcia’s departure. Even worse, Garcia was more than qualified to fill many of these positions. According to Garcia’s complaint against the city, many of these positions were filled by significantly younger people who the city could presumably hire for a much lower price. This served as the impetus for Garcia to lodge his formal lawsuit. At the age of 58, Garcia had decades of experience which were certainly valuable to any city. As qualified as any young employee might be, they cannot replace the experience of Garcia, who provides significant benefit to public safety.

During Garcia’s time with the fire department, he received numerous awards and accolades including being recognized as Employee of the Year twice and receiving the Medal of Valor twice. After receiving such awards after a career dedicated to public service, it is understandable that Garcia was shocked by his termination. It appears that the court system was equally shocked as they awarded Garcia a settlement of over $1 million on the grounds of lost wages, both past and future, and damages due to emotional distress. Garcia said that he felt he could have worked another five years if given the opportunity.

Without a doubt, the NFL has been in the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons in the past couple of years. Between the national anthem protests, the concussion issues, and the fiasco surrounding deflated footballs, the NFL would undoubtedly like to bask in the glory of the season’s end; however, this proves only to be a pipe-dream. The NFL was recently hit by a lawsuit filed by cheerleaders demanding higher wages.

This has been an ongoing issue in the NFL even if it doesn’t receive the same type of media coverage as the issues that were mentioned above.

The cheerleaders for the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers make up a group of cheerleaders that have filed a lawsuit demanding higher wages from NFL teams. In total, the group of cheerleaders represents 26 of the 32 NFL franchises. People should note that the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears do not have cheerleaders. While the cheerleaders certainly aren’t demanding to be paid like the athletes on the field, they point to the mascots for the NFL teams who make somewhere between $25,000 and $60,000 depending on the team. The cheerleaders state that it simply isn’t fair that the mascot receives that kind of compensation in comparison to the work the cheerleaders put in.

The lawsuit has cast a shadow over the Super Bowl which was recently played in Houston, Texas. While the other issues may have already done that, the cheerleaders make a claim that the NFL has successfully manipulated the market to avoid paying its cheerleaders fair wages. Some people might be surprised to learn that this isn’t the first time the NFL has been sued by its cheerleaders. in 2014, the Oakland Raiders were the target of a lawsuit filed by its cheerleaders who were being paid less than $5 per hour at the time. The lawsuit was eventually settled or over $1.25 million.

In the past couple of years, there have been protections for cheerleaders enacted in the state of California; however, this lawsuit looks to institute changes that will happen on a league-wide level. It remains to be seen how the NFL will cope with this most recent distraction.