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14 ¦ DECEMBER 21, 2020 NEWS

¦ From HEINOUS on PAGE 13 Prior to the settlement, the office of the Attorney
born. And if they did, they would have seen Tianna General, which represented the state and those sued
was in distress and passing blood clots in her cell. In including Scott Semple, then-commissioner of the
addition, none of the nurses there had any training state Department of Correction, filed a motion to
on the signs of pre-term labor or delivery,” dismiss and a motion for summary judgment. Both
Laboy, who is serving a seven-year sentence for motions were turned down.
assault, is eligible for parole in July 2022. She was 19 “The mission of the Office of the Attorney
years old when she gave birth. She began serving her General was to get rid of the case. They failed.
prison sentence in August 2017, six months prior to Another challenge was the aggressive posture
giving birth. in which the Office of the Attorney General ap-
The state settled with Laboy on Dec. 9 for $250,000. proached litigation from the get-go,” Krayeske
But not before an avalanche of letters were sent to said Thursday.
the Attorney General’s Office, and numerous people Elizabeth Benton, spokesperson for the Office
and organizations were called to speak on Laboy’s of the Attorney General, issued a short statement
behalf, Ward said. Thursday morning.
“This was a heinous and horrific incident. Part of That statement says: “We believe this settlement
our strategy was to get the Attorney General’s Office serves the best interests of all involved. The Office of
to acknowledge how heinous and horrific this was. the Attorney General is committed to the fair treat-
We waged a public relations campaign. We notified ment of all incarcerated individuals.”
Planned Parenthood, members of the Democratic In court pleadings, the state said, “the claims
Town Committees in Connecticut, and the State brought by Karine Laboy (Tianna’s mother) are
Central Democratic Committee in the state. We frivolous on their face and unsupported by case
also notified the ACLU and NARAL Pro-Choice law.”
Connecticut, to let them know about this horrible The $250,000 settlement will be split in separate
situation Tianna and her daughter were born into categories, Ward said. They include a special needs
due to no fault of their own,” Ward said. trust for the baby, a special needs trust for Laboy,
The Attorney General’s Office did push back, and to cover attorney fees costs.
Ward said. ¦

“I think, though, they settled due to the pressure Robert Storace covers legal trends, lawsuits and
we put on them. We did a settlement conference in analysis for the Connecticut Law Tribune. Follow
June and their offer was in the low five figures. It was him on Twitter @RobertSCTLaw or reach him at
insulting,” Ward said. 203-437-5950.

How U.S. Court Ruled Whether France’s
Right of Publicity Law Is Descendible

By Stan Soocher

Battles over celebrities’ estates often end up in liti- right-of-publicity protection in another nation is
gation, but a recent court ruling involving the descendible. The Cousteau Society Inc. v. Cousteau,
estate of French oceanic explorer, environmen- 3:19-cv-1106 (D.Conn. 2020).
talist and documentary filmmaker Jacques Cousteau Protection of the right of publicity varies glob-
included a not-often-seen right of publicity con- ally, either directly, through related laws or not
sideration: how a U.S. court determines whether at all. Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who died in 1997,

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