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From Los Angeles Times

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Match.com agrees to screen for sex offenders to settle lawsuit

The plaintiff, who was assaulted after a date with a convicted sexual predator, sought no monetary compensation. But the company's promise to screen all members is expected to spark a new industry norm.

by Carol J. Williams, Los Angeles Times

August 24, 2011

Match.com settled a lawsuit brought by a sexual assault victim by agreeing Tuesday to conduct background checks on all members to screen out known sex offenders.

Screenwriter Carole Markin proclaimed victory for the millions of singles who make use of online dating services, saying Match.com's commitment to security screening could prevent attacks such as the one she suffered last year on a second date with Alan Paul Wurtzel of Pacific Palisades, who had at least six previous sex offense convictions.

Wurtzel, 67, pleaded no contest to sexual battery last week. He faces a year in jail and five years' probation when he is sentenced Sept. 19.

Markin's suit, originally filed under the name Jane Doe, trained a spotlight on the perils of computer-generated hookups in an age when, as Match.com advertises, 1 in 5 relationships begins online.

Internet matchmaking services have long had disclaimers on their websites, warning clients that they bear no liability for physical, financial or other harm that occurs during use of their services. But legal experts said it was only a matter of time before courts recognized some responsibility of the billion-dollar operations to take affordable and readily available precautions to protect their members.

Match.com doesn't merely provide a platform for members to meet and arrange dates; it claims to be evaluating individuals and matching them for compatibility, said UC Berkeley law Professor Frank Zimring.

"What Match.com is saying is, 'Have we got a guy for you!' " Zimring said. "It's a prescriptive rather than facilitative dating service."

The availability of information on sex offender registries could create a duty on the part of the services to take at least minimal steps to bar sexual predators, legal analysts speculate. Liability experts predict that other online dating services will be obliged to follow Match.com's example to remain competitive.

"My sense is that as an enterprise, as a business, it's important for them to do some type of screening" to protect their image and remain competitive with services willing to be more proactive, said John Nockleby, who teaches torts and privacy law at Loyola Law School. "This kind of screening may be very limited [in rooting out predators] but it's not a huge expense."

Markin, 54, said she has been a Match.com member for seven years and had pleasant experiences in the past. She conceded she might have been lulled into a false sense of security even though she continued to exercise caution.

Wurtzel had seemed charming on a first date on a Sunday afternoon over coffee. She let him pick her up at her apartment for their dinner a week later because she'd injured her foot and didn't want to drive; he followed her to her door after dinner — a gesture she mistook as courtly — pushed her inside and forced himself on her.

"I didn't fight him for long because I was afraid he would hurt me," said Markin, who is 5-foot-3 and weighs less than 100 pounds. Wurtzel is at least a foot taller and weighs about 250 pounds, she said.

Markin didn't seek monetary compensation in her lawsuit and agreed to forgo any future claims against Match.com in the settlement.

"If I save one woman from getting attacked, then I'm happy," she said, explaining that she agreed to drop her anonymity to put a human face on the victims of Internet predators.

Robert Platt, an attorney for Match.com, said the company has no legal obligation to conduct security checks but believes the technological advancements of recent years "enables a sufficient degree of accuracy to implement this measure."

Markin's attorney, Mark Webb, predicted a "domino effect" among other matchmaking services. Indeed, eHarmony and Zoosk confirmed that they, too, were enhancing security for members.

"Zoosk is fully committed to implementing a sex offender screening process to help provide an additional layer of protection for our users," said co-founder and Chief Executive Alex Mehr.

Becky Teraoka, a spokeswoman for eHarmony, said of the sex-offender registry screening: "eHarmony has been doing this for years with subscribers who reside in the United States. It has allowed us to keep many known registered sex offenders off of our service."

Craigslist executives didn't respond to an emailed inquiry about their policy on screening out sex offenders. The company's website carries the disclaimer that "under no circumstances shall Craigslist be liable" for any damages sustained by users.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-match-20110824,0,3641265,print.story

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California mental hospitals are dangerous, legislators told

Violence is an increasing problem, as reflected by a patient's slaying of a psychiatric technician, witnesses say. More than 90% of current patients have been arrested or convicted of crimes.

by Lee Romney, Los Angeles Times

August 24, 2011

Reporting from Sacramento -- At an Assembly committee hearing on safety issues at the state's mental hospitals, lawmakers Tuesday received testimony about faulty alarm systems, daily assaults and an increasing number of patients with criminal histories.

Assemblyman Michael Allen (D-Santa Rosa) convened the Select Committee on Hospital Safety to explore solutions to violence at California's five psychiatric facilities.

"All you need to know is that last year we had over 8,000 aggressive incidents and over 5,000 injuries," said Allen, a former psychiatric nurse. "Every one of those incidents is a tragedy in its own right."

The hearing came 10 months to the day after Napa psychiatric technician Donna Gross was strangled by a patient with a history of predatory violence while on the outside grounds, where alarms do not work. Gross, 54, had spent nearly 14 years caring for the mentally ill. A family friend read a letter Tuesday from her adult daughter, Anna Bock, that stressed that reform has not come fast enough.

"The damage by countless assaults on patients and staff has no doubt spread like a sickness to their families," Bock wrote. "Each moment that passes without change allows another split second for an attack to take place."

California Department of Mental Health officials testified that they were making slow progress in hiring more security and direct care staff. With more than 90% of current patients having been arrested or convicted of crimes, said acting department Director Cliff Allenby, it is time to reconsider staffing ratios, create special units for the worst aggressors and improve the safety of the grounds.

Allen, who plans more hearings, stressed his desire to set concrete goals to reduce violence and press for the funding needed to accomplish them — not assign blame.

But the tone of the testimony was critical.

Workers recounted being overburdened by paperwork and forced to work overtime. And daily assaults take staff members away from their jobs as they rush to the aid of patients or one another.

Dr. Patricia Tyler, a Napa psychiatrist, said staff members had written numerous memos to top mental health officials before Gross' death, complaining about safety lapses and outlining potential fixes. Nothing was done.

Division of Occupational Safety and Health Chief Ellen Widess said the agency had cited three state hospitals in the last year: Napa for an inadequate injury prevention plan and faulty alarm system, Metro for failure to recognize known safety hazards and Atascadero for an assault that left a staff member with head trauma.

The Department of Mental Health has appealed the citations so all ordered fixes are on hold — a fact that Assemblyman Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) called disheartening.

Asked by Assemblywoman Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) why it took a staff death for the department to commit to substantial changes, Allenby was blunt and brief. "We can't answer that," he said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-state-mental-hospitals-20110824,0,6638912,print.story

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From Google News

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Earthquake: What to Do in a Major Crisis

You're sitting at your desk, or in your kitchen, and all of a sudden the building begins to wobble. To some people, the 5.8-magnitude earthquake in central Virginia Tuesday felt like a gentle rolling. To others, closer to the epicenter, it was more violent.

And then it was over. People from New England to the Carolinas were left asking, "What was that?"

If you live in California or southern Alaska, you probably know what to do in an earthquake. But Easterners don't often feel tremors, and may not know how to react in a major emergency. The Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles in 1994 had a magnitude of 6.7 -- not quite ten times as violent as Tuesday's in Virginia -- and at least 33 people died.

Here are some pointers from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency if you are caught in a major earthquake:

If You're Indoors:

If You're Outdoors

Major Eastern Earthquakes Rare

Most people who felt Tuesday's earthquake did not need such advice; the quake was not violent enough. But brick and masonry buildings did sustain damage -- more than one would see in California with its stricter building codes. And the quake was a reminder than even in the East, even between fault lines, there can be risks.

The Cape Ann, Mass., earthquake of Nov. 18, 1755, felt from Halifax, Nova Scotia, south to the Chesapeake Bay, violently shook Cape Ann and Boston, where much of the damage occurred in landfill around the city wharfs,. The quake, estimated to have had a magnitude of 6.0 to 6.3, knocked down chimneys and stone fences. People aboard a ship 200 miles off the coast of Cape Ann felt the quake and feared they had run aground.

A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck western Ohio on March 9, 1937, cracking a schoolhouse in Anna, Ohio, breaking chimneys and walls, reducing the output of oil and gas wells and creating new springs where old springs had run dry. The quake could be felt as far away as tall buildings in Chicago and Milwaukee and in Toronto. It also was felt in Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Many people on the Eastern Seaboard on Tuesday admitted they were freaked out by the surprise earthquake. But many took it in good humor.

"My wife and I were married 36 years ago at the same hour, even to the minute, of the earthquake," said Dr. John Messmer, a professor at Penn State College of Medicine. "I told her our love made the earth move once again in honor of our anniversary."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/earthquake-caught-crisis/story?id=14367071

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Florida Court Denies Casey Anthony's Probation Appeal

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Casey Anthony must still report to serve one year's probation in Florida, after her appeal against a judge's ruling on the matter was denied Tuesday, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Judge Belvin Perry ruled earlier in August that Anthony had until Aug. 26 to return to Florida to serve 12 months' probation for a check-fraud conviction, upholding a sentence by Judge Stan Strickland.

Her attorneys filed an appeal in Daytona Beach with Florida's Fifth District Court of Appeal, arguing that she had served her probation while she was in jail awaiting her murder trial.

Anthony was acquitted of first-degree murder on July 5 in the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee.

"The petitioner and her lawyers were well aware that her probationary placement was not to begin until her release from confinement," the court order issued Tuesday stated.

Anthony was ordered by the court to report to an undisclosed location by 12:00pm Friday to meet with Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) officials.

"We're waiting for her," DOC spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.

The 25-year-old pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge in a trial that made headlines globally, claiming a babysitter kidnapped her toddler. After she was acquitted, she was released from jail and dropped from public sight.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/08/24/florida-court-denies-casey-anthonys-probation-appeal/?test=latestnews

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