Lawsuit

A lawsuit (or suit in law) is "a vernacular term for a suit, action, or cause instituted or depending between two private persons in the courts of law." The term refers to any proceeding by a party or parties against another in a court of law.

Sometimes, the term "lawsuit" is in reference to a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint. If the plaintiff is successful, judgment is in the plaintiff's favor, and a variety of court orders may be issued to enforce a right, award damages, or impose a temporary or permanent injunction to prevent an act or compel an act. A declaratory judgment may be issued to prevent future legal disputes.

A lawsuit may involve dispute resolution of private law issues between individuals, business entities or non-profit organizations. A lawsuit may also enable the state to be treated as if it were a private party in a civil case, as plaintiff, or defendant regarding an injury, or may provide the state with a civil cause of action to enforce certain laws.

Hedges v. Obama

Hedges v. Obama is a lawsuit filed January 13, 2012 against the Obama administration and members of the U.S. Congress by a group including former New York Times reporter and current Truthdig columnist Christopher Hedges, challenging the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA). The legislation permits the U.S. government to indefinitely detain people "who are part of or substantially support Al Qaeda, the Taliban or associated forces engaged in hostilities against the United States".

The plaintiffs contend that Section 1021(b)(2) of the law allows for detention of citizens and permanent residents taken into custody in the U.S. on "suspicion of providing substantial support" to groups engaged in hostilities against the U.S. such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban respectively that the NDAA arms the U.S. military with the ability to imprison indefinitely journalists, activists and human-rights workers based on vague allegations.

The principal allegation made by the plaintiffs against the NDAA is that the vagueness of critical terms in the NDAA could be interpreted by the U.S. federal government in a way that authorizes them to label journalists and political activists who interview or support outspoken critics of the Obama administration's policies as "covered persons," meaning that they have given "substantial support" to terrorists or other "associated groups".

Judicial Watch

Judicial Watch is an American conservative educational foundation, which, according to its website, "advocates high standards of ethics and morality in our nation’s public life and seeks to ensure that political and judicial officials do not abuse the powers entrusted to them by the American people." Judicial Watch uses the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law and other tools to investigate misconduct by government officials and litigation to hold to account politicians and public officials who engage in corrupt activities.

History

Judicial Watch was established in 1994 to promote "transparency, honesty, accountability, and integrity in government, politics, and the law."

Clinton Administration

Founded by conservative attorney Larry Klayman, Judicial Watch came to public attention after filing 18 lawsuits against the administration of Democratic U.S. President Bill Clinton and figures in the Clinton administration. An early lawsuit was filed by Judicial Watch on behalf of the Western Center for Journalism (WCJ) in 1998. The lawsuit alleged a retaliatory audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The WCJ was investigating the death of Clinton deputy White House counsel Vince Foster at the time.

Aaron Hernandez

Aaron Josef Hernandez (born November 6, 1989) is a former American football tight end and convicted murderer. Hernandez played college football for the University of Florida, where he was a member of a BCS National Championship team and was recognized as an All-American. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. Hernandez was released by the Patriots in June 2013 immediately after his arrest for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

On August 22, 2013, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player, in June 2013. On May 15, 2014, Hernandez was indicted for the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. On April 15, 2015, he was found guilty of first-degree murder in the Lloyd case, and is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.

Early years

Aaron Hernandez was born in Bristol, Connecticut, to Dennis Hernandez, who was of Puerto Rican descent, and Terri Valentine-Hernandez, who is of Italian descent. Dennis died from complications from hernia surgery in January 2006, when Aaron was 16. Dennis—who was known as "The King" in the city of Bristol—along with his twin brother, David, were local sports stars in their youth but also reportedly got into street fights and were involved in various crimes including assault and petty larceny. The pair would eventually straighten out their lives when they became fathers. By all accounts, Dennis was a doting father who instilled a hard work discipline in his two sons, honing their athletic abilities and emphasizing the importance of education.

United Airlines

United Airlines, Inc., commonly referred to as United, is a major American airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is the world's largest airline when measured by number of destinations served, and the second largest when measured by scheduled passenger-kilometres flown. United operates a comprehensive domestic and international route network, and has significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region. In the late 1920s, just prior to the use of the United Airlines name, The Boeing Company, currently one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, operated a predecessor airline.

United is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's first and largest global airline alliance. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express. Its main competitors are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines.

United operates out of nine airline hubs located in Houston, Chicago, Newark/New York, Denver, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Guam, and Tokyo. United also operates maintenance bases in Cleveland and Orlando in addition to the maintenance locations located at United's hubs. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston is United's largest passenger carrying hub handling 16.6 million passengers annually with an average of 45,413 passengers daily, while Chicago-O'Hare is its largest hub in terms of daily departures. The company employs over 88,500 people while maintaining its headquarters in Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower). Through the airline's parent company, United Continental Holdings, it is publicly traded under NYSE: UAL with a market capitalization of over $18 billion as of September, 2014.