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Plagiarism Ruling Under Scrutiny

First off today, Natalie Stechyson of The Windsor Star is reporting on a Supreme Court case in Canada that is raising questions about when and if it is acceptable for a judge to plagiarize his or her rulings. The case centers around a family that filed suit against a hospital after a complication with a birth left their child severely brain damaged. The family sued the hospital and the trial court awarded them $4 million in damages. However, upon evaluation of the judge’s decision, it was found that the trial judge had lifted some 321 paragraphs (out of 368) near-verbatim and without attribution from submissions from the applicants (plaintiffs). Lawyers for the hospital appealed the ruling, claiming that the level of copying indicated that the judgment did not represent the judge’s analysis. The appeals court agreed with that and rejected the judgment, prompting the family’s lawyers to file a petition with the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court of Canada heard the matter on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 but the ruling is not expected immediately.