The Oprah Interview as a Truth Commission

LESLEY WEXLER

Illinois Law professor Lesley Wexler explains how Oprah’s interview with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle might illuminate how a formal truth commission to deal with legacies of racism and colonialism might function in the British empire. Professor Wexler describes the purpose and function of state-operated truth commissions and notes the similarities and differences between those and the interview.

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Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, Inc. v. Holcomb

Docket: 20-1445

Opinion Date: March 9, 2021

Judge: Frank Hoover Easterbrook

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Government & Administrative Law, Transportation Law

Owned by the Indiana Finance Authority, the Indiana Toll Road has been operated since 2006 by a lessee, ITR. What ITR can charge depends on state law. In 2018, ITR paid the state $1 billion in exchange for permission to raise by 35 percent the tolls on heavy trucks. The district court dismissed a suit under the Commerce Clause, reasoning that Indiana, as a market participant, was exempt from rules ordinarily applied under the Commerce Clause. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, stating that the increase is valid even if it discriminates against interstate commerce. The tolls are neutral with respect to the origins, destinations, and ownership of the trucks. The court also reasoned that when a state participates in, rather than just regulates, the market, it may discriminate in favor of its own citizens and declined to find that tollways “are different.” The court noted the history of private ownership of roads.

Medical Protective Company of Fort Wayne v. American International Specialty Lines Insurance Co

Docket: 20-1831

Opinion Date: March 9, 2021

Judge: KANNE

Areas of Law: Insurance Law

In 2002, Dr. Phillips performed a hysterectomy on Bramlett; she died from complications days later. Bramlett’s family sued Phillips, his clinic, and the hospital. Phillips and his clinic held a $200,000 MedPro professional liability insurance policy. The hospital settled for about $2.3 million. Under Texas law, an insurer who rejects a settlement demand (Stowers demand) within policy limits that a reasonably prudent insurer would accept will later be liable for any amount awarded in excess of the policy limit. MedPro refused two $200,000 Stowers demands. A jury returned a $14 million verdict. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Texas capped Phillips’s liability at $1.6 million. The Bramletts sued MedPro. The parties settled for a confidential amount. MedPro asked its insurer, AISLIC, to cover the settlement. AISLIC refused. The district court rejected MedPro's claims under an exclusion, finding that MedPro’s rejections of the two Stowers demands were Wrongful Acts that MedPro could have reasonably foreseen would lead to a claim. On remand, the district court held that MedPro could invoke coverage without having to prove that it actually committed a “Wrongful Act,” and found that a claim was not first asserted against MedPro for its failure to settle for policy limits before the 2006 AISLIC Policy incepted. A jury found that MedPro did not commit a “Wrongful Act.” The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The district court properly held that MedPro was covered by the 2006 Policy before the jury decided the issue of exclusion. The earlier interpretation of the policy did not require a holding that MedPro never committed a “Wrongful Act” necessary to invoke coverage. MedPro can invoke coverage because the claim that it settled was not brought before the policy period began.