West
Judge Judy's son wants to see lawsuits in wake of deadly LA wildfires: Public officials 'personally liable'
EXCLUSIVE – As the California wildfires continue to blaze, a couple of popular TV judges say they’re ready to see some consequences.
The California wildfires have burned countless homes and taken over 20 lives as of this week. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have taken the brunt of the blame in the wake of the devastation. Some allege the leaders failed to secure enough resources for the blaze, while others have condemned Bass for going on international travel in the midst of the inferno and cutting the city’s fire department budget by millions.
Adam Levy and Tanya Acker, judges on Prime Video’s “Tribunal Justice,” told Fox News Digital they want to see some accountability. Judge Patricia DiMango serves as the third judge on the “Tribunal Justice” panel.
“I know a number of people whose homes have burned to the ground,” said Acker. “And I know the communities that have burned or are burning… It’s just a really hard time.”
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Acker explained she felt “blessed and lucky” because she only had to evacuate briefly and was able to return to her house.
Levy, the son of Judge Judy, who serves as a creator on “Tribunal Justice,” said he hopes to see some lawsuits in the wake of the inferno.
“I hope so,” he told Fox News Digital. “I do. But, you know, the problem is that when there are lawsuits filed, as the lawsuit that was recently filed down in New Orleans and the Bourbon Street massacre, if there is a judgment, if you can overcome issues of sovereign immunity and if you can overcome issues of third-party liability for the criminal conduct, right, of third parties and the issues of foreseeability which always come into play, taxpayers pick up the tab. I think that system has to change.”
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One lawsuit has popped up against Southern California Edison in response to the Eaton fire. Trial law firms McNicholas & McNicholas, Becker Law Group and Singleton Schreiber filed the lawsuit on behalf of the victims impacted by the fire, alleging that Southern California Edison failed to comply with essential electrical and fire safety standards, including failing to maintain power lines and overgrown vegetation, Fox 11 reported. The lawsuit referred to it as “gross negligence.”
Levy pointed fingers at public officials who he said “know that they are immune from any liability” and are “going to do whatever they have to do to remain in office.”
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“Despite the fact that the decisions that they’re making are putting the majority of their constituents at risk,” Levy said. “You have to. That’s my feeling. And that’s coming from me. And I was a former DA. I set policy. I set my budget, and I did it always with the safety of my constituents in mind… And unfortunately, there are people, there are politicians who don’t hesitate to do the wrong thing so long as it makes it more likely that they are re-elected. And we’ve got to change that. We have to make sure that public officials have skin in the game. And the only way we do that is by changing the tort laws.”
Acker said she hopes people won’t start dragging LA into a really divisive national conversation, but agreed that people are entitled to ask questions of California leadership.
“There’s a difference between sort of trying to dig in and get at the root cause of something and just sort of trying to score political points,” Acker said. “I think the latter is not helpful, but that doesn’t mean that… We have to figure out how and why this happened. And people need to be held accountable for decisions that they made or didn’t make. And, you know, we’ve got to make sure that we do a better job of protecting this community going forward. So, you know, tough questions should be asked. I mean, and the time for doing that, I think, is going to continue for the foreseeable future because there’s a lot to figure out here.”
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“I think that we need to have a really rigorous investigation as to what happened so we can prevent this from happening again,” she later added. “And we really need to dig in and help these communities rebuild.”
As for the reports that looters have started to take advantage of the communities in flames, Acker held nothing back.
“I cannot think of anything more despicable than trying to prey on homes and properties that have been devastated, victimizing people who are already going through one of the worst moments of their lives,” Acker told Fox Digital. “I cannot think of anything more despicable… I’m pleased that our district attorney has indicated that his office will be taking a tough position, a tough stance on those who are preying on people. And I mean, I just I can’t think of anything more abhorrent.”
The Santa Monica Police Department has arrested 39 people in evacuation zones since the start of the Palisades Fire, SMPD told Fox News. Suspects were caught with daggers, window-breaking tools, masks, gloves and narcotics and other “burglary tools,” according to police.
“This community is really going through one of the worst moments in its history. And to exacerbate that pain by victimizing people,” Acker continued. “And I just – I can’t, I have no words for it. And I hope that those who engage in those kinds of activities are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent possible.”
The second season of “Tribunal Justice” debuts on Prime Video on Monday, January 27, with new episodes every weekday.
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Washington
U.S. presidents who weren’t inaugurated outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
While Monday’s inauguration ceremony for President-elect Donald Trump is set to break with tradition and take place inside the Capitol due to dangerously low temperatures, it’s not the first presidential swearing in to take place in an unusual place — one president was even sworn in aboard a plane.
The first inaugurations in U.S. history didn’t happen in Washington, D.C. President George Washington was sworn in for his first term on April 27, 1789, on a balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, which was serving as the temporary capital of the U.S., according to the Library of Congress. He was sworn in for his second term at the Senate Chamber of Congress Hall in Philadelphia.
The first inauguration in Washington, D.C.
John Adams was also sworn in as president in Philadelphia. It wasn’t until Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration that the swearing in ceremony was moved to Washington, D.C. Jefferson took the oath of office inside the U.S. Capitol in 1801.
“Wanting to get away from pomp and circumstance associated with aristocracy, he simply walked the few blocks from his boarding house to the Senate, where he was sworn in by Justice John Marshall,” according to the National Park Service. “When it was over, he simply walked back. Returning to the boarding house late for dinner, Jefferson took one of the only remaining seats at the far end of the table. Given the occasion, someone offered him a better seat near the fireplace. Staying true to his egalitarian platform, Jefferson refused.”
Being sworn in outside Washington
While most inauguration ceremonies in the years since have taken place in Washington, not all of them have happened there.
After President James Garfield was shot in 1881, then-Vice President Chester A. Arthur took the oath of office in New York City at his private residence shortly after Garfield’s death.
President Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in following the assassination of President William McKinley, who was shot on Sept. 6, 1901. McKinley was expected to recover, so Roosevelt, then vice president, went camping in the Adirondacks. Roosevelt rushed to Buffalo, New York, when he heard that McKinley was not expected to survive. He was sworn in as president on Sept. 14, 1901 at the Ansley Wilcox residence in Buffalo.
After President Warren G. Harding’s unexpected August 1923 death following an apparent heart attack, President Calvin Coolidge was sworn in at the Coolidge family home in Plymouth Notch, Vermont.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson was sworn in aboard Air Force One at Love Field in Dallas, Texas, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It was the first time a woman administered the oath of office. It was also the first and and only time a president took the oath of office on an airplane.
Inside the Capitol or outside, east or west
Jefferson brought the inauguration to Washington, but his ceremony took place inside. President Andrew Jackson in 1829 became the first president whose inauguration was held outside on the Capitol’s east portico. From Jackson’s inauguration until President Jimmy Carter’s in 1977, the ceremony largely took place outdoors in front of the Capitol’s east portico, according to the Library of Congress.
The inauguration was held in March until Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s second inauguration in 1937, so the threat of freezing cold temperatures were not as dire. But in 1841, William Henry Harrison’s inauguration was held on a bitterly cold day and he delivered the longest speech to date — and he died one month later of pneumonia.
President William Taft in 1909, amid heavy snow and strong winds, was sworn in at the Senate Chamber of the U.S. Capitol, although the parade still place outside.
President Ronald Reagan’s inauguration in 1981 was the first to happen on the west front of the Capitol, which has been the customary site in the years since. His inauguration for his second term, however, happened inside. Wind chills made it feel below zero on that day in 1985, so Reagan took the oath of office in the Capitol Rotunda.
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