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The Stoddard Firm Blog

Landlords Are Responsible for Preventing Fire Deaths, Even in Case of Arson

There’s a popular myth that landlords are never legally responsible for any damage caused by arson. Even people who have never heard this myth repeated will often assume that, if an individual criminal can be blamed for the fire, then the property owner can’t be. This is not true. The reason is fairly simple: landlords have a duty to take all reasonable steps to prevent people from being harmed by fire on their properties, and preventing fires from starting is only part of that task. ...

Atlanta’s Sex Trafficking Problem Continues to Traumatize Youth

It’s no revelation that Atlanta has a serious problem with sex trafficking. In 2014, Urban Institute published a study examining sex trafficking in eight of the U.S’s most notorious cities. Based on their findings, Atlanta’s sex trafficking industry had expanded significantly in the previous decade, surpassing even Miami’s. Ever since these numbers came to light, Atlanta has been trying to shed its “Sex Trafficking Capital” reputation, with new anti-trafficking programs and stronger anti-t...

Violent Crime Thrives on Landlord Apathy

Criminal violence is a massively complex issue with many interconnected factors. The behavior of landlords may not be the sole root of the problem, but it does play a much bigger part than many people realize. Once it becomes common knowledge that violence often happens on a particular property, and the perpetrators get away with it, other potential perpetrators become emboldened to hurt people on that property. In fact, that’s often how crime hotspots form — one or two businesses prove th...

Forklift Safety Is Still a Serious Issue for Big Box Stores

Jobs that involve using forklifts, or even being near them, carry abnormally high risks of death and catastrophic injury. This isn’t news. It’s been understood for decades. Yet very little progress has been made toward better protecting forklift operators and their coworkers. In the year 2020, there were 78 fatal forklift accidents and 7,290 nonfatal forklift injuries in the U.S. Those numbers are quite average, dating back to at least 2011. The changes that swept many industries in 2020, ...

Farming Equipment Should Be Engineered for Safety as Well as Efficiency

Among non-farmers, farming is often thought of as a peaceful, low-stakes career. Farmers themselves often tell a different story — as do the cold, hard statistics of the industry. Aside from the demanding physical work, and the uncertainty that comes with shifts in weather, insect activity, disease, and other factors, agriculture has the tenth highest death rate of all civilian jobs. The vast majority of those deaths are caused by vehicle and equipment accidents. While some of the chall...

Georgia Has Added Human Trafficking to a Crucial List of Serious Crimes

Whether you’ve been casually following the story of bill SB-461, or you’re just now hearing about it being signed into law, you might be wondering how human trafficking could ever have been considered anything but a serious crime. Using force, deception, or other methods to coerce people into providing commercial sex or other unregulated labor is an obvious violation of human rights. The human trafficking industry ruins lives, and the fight to eliminate it has passionate bipartisan support...

MARTA May Finally Be Forced to Make Real Safety Improvements

This blog has reported time after time (after time, after time), on the MARTA transportation system’s abysmal safety record. After each new tragic incident, we’ve had to draw the frustrating conclusion that not much has changed, and not much appears to be changing. At long last, this pattern may have broken. Right now, the transit system is working with multiple private consulting firms, at a cost of $2.2 million, to overhaul its safety and incident-response policies. Of course, MART...

Construction Workers’ Lives Depend on Strong Safety Protocols, Onsite and Offsite

When a structure is unsafe and needs to be repaired or rebuilt, construction workers are the ones who venture into close proximity with the danger, in order to correct it. This is one part of why construction is one of the most dangerous careers in the U.S. Quality construction work is essential to making the world safe for everyone, but it is possible to make the work itself safer as well. When a construction worker is injured, it’s almost always due to a faulty piece of equipment, a safe...

There’s Still No Sign of Safety Improvements at MARTA Train Stations

Train stations don’t need to be dangerous places. There’s no ironclad reason why MARTA commuters should have to stand next to sheer drops, leading down to electrified rails and into the path of the trains themselves, without so much as a handrail to protect them. Airports don’t gather passengers along the side of the runway as they wait for their planes. High rise buildings don’t leave their elevator shafts hanging open when the elevator car itself is elsewhere. Yet train stations, includi...

Apartment Complexes with Swimming Pools Must Follow Safety Codes

Swimming pools are understandably popular amenities, especially in warm states like Georgia. In the absence of solid safety precautions, however, they can also be extremely dangerous. Nearly 4,000 people die by drowning in the U.S every year, and children are especially vulnerable. Drowning is the top cause of death for children aged 1-4, with residential pools being the most common setting. According to the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, most of these drownings happen outside of d...