Showing papers on "Settlement (litigation) published in 2005"

Apologies and Legal Settlement: An Empirical Examination

Abstract: The conventional wisdom has been that U.S. legal culture discourages apologies. Defendants worry that apologies will be admissible at trial and interpreted as admissions of responsibility. In recent years, however, legal scholars have debated the merits of encouraging parties to apologize. Proponents of apologies claim that apologies will avert lawsuits and promote settlement. Consistent with this view, legislatures in several states have enacted statutes that make certain apologies inadmissible. In addition, some have argued that defendants might craft their apologies to better insulate them from legal liability (e.g., offering a mere expression of sympathy) in order to reap the benefits of apologizing while minimizing the risks. On the other side, however, critics of these so-called safe apologies have argued that apologies that avoid the legal consequences of apologizing are devoid of moral content and likely ineffectual. Much of this debate, however, has occurred in the absence of sound empirical data. The article reports the findings of two experimental studies in which participants were asked to read a vignette describing an accident, to take on the role of the injured party, to indicate whether or not they were likely to accept a settlement offer from the other party, and to respond to a series of questions about the situation. In the first study, a full, responsibility accepting, apology increased the likelihood that the offer would be accepted. In contrast, a partial, sympathy expressing, apology increased participants' uncertainty about whether or not to accept the offer. In addition, a full apology (but not a partial apology) resulted in more positive ratings of numerous variables that are thought to underlie the settlement decision. These underlying judgments provided the mechanism by which apologies influenced settlement decisions. Importantly for the debate over evidentiary protection for apologies, the nature of the applicable evidentiary rule did not influence the apologies' effect on settlement decisions nor did these rules influence participants' perceptions of the situation or the offender. Consistent with the results of the first study, the second study found that apologies influenced participants' attributions and perceptions of the situation and the offender. Overall, full apologies improved the participants' perceptions of the situation and the offender, while partial apologies did little to alter such perceptions. There were patterns in the data suggesting both that partial apologies may negatively impact perceptions where responsibility is relatively clear or where the injury is more severe and that partial apologies may positively impact perceptions where responsibility is relatively less clear or where the injury is relatively minor. In addition, and again consistent with the results of the first study, this study provided no evidence that the nature of the applicable evidentiary rule will influence participants' perceptions of the situation, the offender, or the apology. These findings provide some guidance for policymakers and litigants or potential litigants with difficult decisions to make about the appropriate evidentiary protection for apologies, whether to offer an apology to an opposing party in civil litigation, and how to respond to an apology so offered.

A Concise History of New Zealand

Abstract: New Zealand was the last major landmass, other than Antarctica, to be settled by humans. The story of this rugged and dynamic land is beautifully narrated, from its origins in Gondwana some 80 million years ago, to the twenty-first century. Philippa Mein Smith highlights the effects of the country's smallness and isolation, from its late settlement by Polynesian voyagers and colonisation by Europeans - and the exchanges that made these people Maori and Pakeha - to the dramatic struggles over land and recent efforts to manage global forces.

The Lord’s Resistance Army Case: Uganda’s Submission of the First State Referral to the International Criminal Court

Abstract: On December 16, 2003, Uganda referred the situation concerning the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was the first time that a state party had invoked Articles 13(a) and 14 of the Rome Statute in order to vest the Court with jurisdiction. For both Uganda and the ICC, the case presented an important opportunity. For Uganda, the referral was an attempt to engage an otherwise aloof international community by transforming the prosecution of LRA leaders into a litmus test for the much celebrated promise of global justice. Since 1986, LRA atrocities have wreaked havoc on the Acholi people of northern Uganda. Given the absence of any vital national interests, influential states have not been inclined either to pressure Sudan to stop harboring the LRA or to help government forces confront the insurgents. Instead, the burden was placed on Uganda to negotiate a peaceful settlement with a ruthless, cult-like insurgency. The imprimatur of international criminal justice, sought through the referral to the ICC, was a means of thrusting this long-forgotten African war back onto the international stage.

DIVORCE MEDIATION: Research and Reflections

Abstract: Mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) grew rapidly in the last few decades as a result of high divorce rates, frequent conflicts between parting parents, the resulting administrative burden on courts, and especially concerns about damaging effects on children and postdivorce family relationships. This article focuses on our longitudinal research involving randomized trials of mediation and adversary settlement to support the conclusions that mediation can: (1) settle a large percentage of cases otherwise headed for court; (2) possibly speed settlement, save money, and increase compliance with agreements; (3) clearly increase party satisfaction; and (4) most importantly, lead to remarkably improved relationships between nonresidential parents and children, as well as between divorced parents—even twelve years after dispute settlement. The key “active ingredients” of mediation are likely to include: (1) the call for parental cooperation over the long run of co-parenting beyond the crisis of separation, (2) the opportunity to address underlying emotional issues (albeit briefly), (3) helping parents to establish a businesslike relationship, and (4) the avoidance of divisive negotiations at a critical time for family relationships. We call for more research on mediation and other forms of ADR, as well as a renewal of the excitement and optimism of the “first generation” of mediators, qualities that are “active ingredients” in any successful social or psychological intervention.

The Role of Education in the Settlement of Young Refugees in the UK: The Experiences of Young Refugees

Abstract: It is important that young refugees' own perspectives in relation to their experiences and needs are considered if services are to be accessible and relevant for this group. Many young refugees have to remain silent about their experiences, wishes and feelings pre-exile, during journeys and on arrival in this country. It is only recently that the voices of young refugees have begun to be presented in literature and are beginning to be heard by practitioners and those involved in policy making in this area. This paper considers the particular role of education in the lives of young refugees. It briefly describes research in relation to key issues for young refugees and how education can aid settlement. It then goes onto to consider original research (undertaken by the author and Dr Rosemary Sales of Middlesex University) with young refugees, which looked at the perspective of the young refugees on factors that they identified as helping them settle and achieve in school. Students identified three key themes as important: the presence of specialist teachers; support from friends and the whole-school attitude to refugee children allowing them to feel confident to identify themselves as refugees. Within this final theme the issues of bullying, teachers' attitudes and links between home and school are considered.

The Batanes Archaeological Project and the "Out of Taiwan Hypothesis for Austronesian Dispersal

Abstract: This paper summarises the archaeological results of the Batanes fieldwork undertaken between 2002 and 2005 by teams from the Australian National University, the National Museum of the Philippines, and the University of the Phiiippines. The evidence is believed to support a Neolithic settlement of the Batanes from Taiwan before 4000 BP, followed by continuing contacts, lasting until at least 1300 BP, that involved a movement of slate and nephrite from Taiwan (possibly via Ludao and Lanyu Islands) to Batan and Itbayat. Evidence that initial Neolithic settlement of the Batanes came from the south, via Luzon, is not indicated in the assemblages so far excavated.

The contradictions of education policy: disadvantage and achievement

Abstract: In England, New Labour's Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners is presented as the most radical for a generation, addressing systemic weaknesses and enabling a new social democratic settlement to secure education in the public sphere. In this article the authors test these claims against proposals in the Strategy that acknowledge and seek to address the failure of the polity to ‘break the link between class and achievement’. The article highlights a number of inherent contradictions in the Strategy and argues that the central proposals of choice and diversity are unlikely to reduce the gap between disadvantage and achievement. The article concludes that until the principles of justice and democracy are restored to a constitutive settlement of education as a public service then the bond of class and inequality will simply be reproduced rather than challenged by education policy.

Can Judges Ignore Inadmissible Information? The Difficulty of Deliberately Disregarding

Abstract: Due process requires courts to make decisions based on the evidence before them without regard to information outside of the record. Skepticism about the ability of jurors to ignore inadmissible information is widespread. Empirical research confirms that this skepticism is well-founded. Many courts and commentators, however, assume that judges can accomplish what jurors cannot. This Article reports the results of experiments we have conducted to determine whether judges can ignore inadmissible information. We found that the judges who participated in our experiments struggled to perform this challenging mental task. The judges had difficulty disregarding demands disclosed during a settlement conference, conversation protected by the attorney-client privilege, prior sexual history of an alleged rape victim, prior criminal convictions of a plaintiff, and information the government had promised not to rely upon at sentencing. This information influenced judges’ decisions even when they were reminded, or themselves had ruled, that the information was inadmissible. In contrast, the judges were able to ignore inadmissible information obtained in violation of a criminal defendant’s right to counsel and the outcome of a search when determining whether probable cause existed. We conclude that judges are generally unable to avoid being influenced by relevant but inadmissible infor-

Trade remedies and world trade organization dispute settlement: why are so few challenged?

Abstract: Antidumping and related trade remedies are the most popular policy instruments that many of the largest importing countries in the World Trade Organization system use to restrict international trade. While such trade remedies are also frequent targets of dispute settlement activity under the WTO, given that Panel and Appellate Body rulings have almost invariably found that some aspect of each reviewed remedy was inconsistent with WTO obligations, an open research question is why aren’t more remedies targeted by dispute settlement? This paper provides a first empirical investigation of the trade remedy and WTO dispute settlement interaction by focusing on determinants of WTO members’ decisions of whether to formally challenge U.S. trade remedies imposed between 1992 and 2003. We provide evidence that it is not only the size of the economic market at stake and the capacity to retaliate under potential Dispute Settlement Understanding-authorized sanctions that influence the litigation decision of whether to formally challenge a measure at the WTO. We also find that if the negatively affected foreign industry has the capacity to directly retaliate through a reciprocal antidumping investigation and measure of its own, its government is less likely to pursue the case on its behalf at the WTO. This is consistent with the theory that potential complainants may be avoiding WTO litigation in favor of pursuing reciprocal antidumping and hence “vigilante justice.”

NGO-government relations and immigrant services: Contradictions and challenges

Abstract: This article critically examines the “Canadian model” of immigrant settlement service delivery. This is a system where most settlement services are provided through community-based, including ethno-specific, agencies funded primarily by the various levels of government. Although this model has been widely celebrated as an efficient, immigrant-friendly, and inclusive model to be emulated elsewhere, we argue that it is a system in crisis. Rather than continuing to promote this model uncritically, we examine the roots of this crisis and in this light offer a reconsideration of a series of current policy issues in immigrant service provision in Canada.

From Struggle to Settlement: The Crystallization of a Field of Lesbian/Gay Organizations in San Francisco, 1969-1973

Abstract: From Struggle to Settlement: The Crystallization of a Field of Lesbian/Gay Organizations in San Francisco, 1969-1973 Elizabeth A. Armstrong Indiana University Department of Sociology Many scholars have noted that organizational sociology has not been very successful in accounting for organizational change (McAdam and Scott 2001). Drawing insights from social movement scholarship, organizational sociologists are currently attempting to develop better explanations for the origins and transformation of organizational fields. A number of scholars have observed that competition between multiple possible ways to organize an arena tends to occur immediately before a new framing of a field locks in (Fligstein 2001). This paper focuses on how moments of creativity or crisis come to a close thus producing a new "institutional settlement" (Zysman 1994). 1 argue that successfully arriving at a new institutional settlement depends less on the social skill of actors (Fligstein 200 1) then on actors simply having workable cultural materials in hw-id at precisely the right moment. I argue that moments during which new fields can crystallize tend to be quite short-lived. Institutionalization of a new form depends heavily upon timing, particularly whether or not a mobilized group of entrepreneurs with a viable project 1-iappen to be in the right place at this moment. I illustrate this by showing how the rapid demise of the New Left created one of these moments of opportunity, and that gay activists were better situated to be able to exploit this moment than some of their fellow activists in related movements.

Economic theories of settlement bargaining

Abstract: ▪ Abstract We briefly review two basic models of settlement bargaining based on concepts from information economics and game theory. We then discuss how these models have been generalized to address issues that arise when there are more than two litigants with related cases. Linkages between cases can arise because of exogenous factors such as correlated culpability or damages, or they can be generated by discretionary choices on the part of the litigants themselves or by legal doctrine and rules of procedure.

Does the Plaintiff Matter? an Empirical Analysis of Lead Plaintiffs in Securities Class Actions

Abstract: The PSLRA's lead plaintiff provision was adopted in order to encourage large shareholders with claims in a securities fraud class action to step forward to become the class' representative. Congress' expectation was that these investors would actively monitor the conduct of a securities fraud class action so as to reduce the litigation agency costs that may arise when class counsel's interests diverge from those of the shareholder class. Proponents of the provision claimed that there would be substantial benefits from having institutional investors serve as lead plaintiffs. Now, ten years later, the claim that the lead plaintiff is a more effective monitor of class counsel in securities fraud class actions continues to be intuitively appealing, but remains unproven. In this paper, we inquire empirically whether the lead plaintiff provision has performed as projected. We break the lead plaintiffs into five categories: public pension funds; other institutional investors; single individual lead plaintiffs; aggregate groups of individual lead plaintiffs and groups containing both individuals and entities. Our data shows that courts fairly consistently favor financial institutions over other types of investors when there is a contest among them to be appointed lead plaintiff. We find that the public pension funds have much larger dollar claims than any of the other groups, and have the largest, or close to the largest, claims of any investors in the case in which they appear as lead plaintiffs. We then analyze a sample of 388 securities fraud class action settlements to further investigate the effect of the lead plaintiff provision. Our first hypothesis is that PSLRA and the lead plaintiff provision have increased the dollar amount of settlements in securities fraud class actions. Our results show that after controlling for estimated losses, market capitalization of defendant firms, the length of class period and the presence of parallel SEC actions, the dollar amount of post-PSLRA settlements are not statistically significantly different from those in the pre-PSLRA cases in our sample. We also find that the ratio of settlement amounts to estimated provable losses - which is the most important indicator of whether investors are being compensated for their damages - was statistically significantly lower in the post-PSLRA period. In other words, the lead plaintiff provision and the PSLRA may have made investors worse off. We next analyze the determinants of institutional investors' decision to become lead plaintiffs in the cases in our sample. Using a logit regression analysis, we find that institutions are more likely to become lead plaintiffs in cases involving larger provable losses, with longer class periods, with larger defendant firms, and when there is a parallel SEC enforcement action. Importantly, we find that the presence of an institutional lead plaintiff improves the securities fraud settlement, even holding constant estimated provable losses, firm market capitalization, the length of class period, and the presence of an SEC enforcement action. Third, we examine whether recoveries are significantly different among settlements when a single (non-institutional) plaintiff represents the class compared with the lead plaintiff being either an aggregation of individuals or a group comprised of individuals and a non-institutional entity. We find that the single individual lead plaintiff does best in the smallest cases, and performs worst in the larger cases. Groups perform relatively better than individuals in larger cases. Finally, we investigate press reports that institutions are aggressively lobbied by plaintiffs' law firms to appear as lead plaintiffs in "pay to play" schemes, with political contributions being made in exchange for institutional investors' agreement to become a lead plaintiff and select a preferred law firm as class counsel.

Learning and Bargaining in Dispute Resolution: Theory and Evidence from Medical Malpractice Litigation

Abstract: Lengthy legal procedures and high legal costs are among the main drawbacks of the current litigation system in the United States. This paper studies the dispute resolution process with special emphasis on the dynamic patterns of litigation and settlement as well as the legal costs incurred and associated payments. I propose a dynamic bargaining model of dispute resolution with learning, estimate the model using micro data on medical malpractice disputes, and use the estimated model to assess the impact of proposed tort reforms. In my model the plainti¤ and the defendant do not have a common prior on the probability of winning court judgment

New world settlement evidence for a two-stage neolithic demographic transition

Abstract: The adoption of an agricultural village lifeway roughly coincided with a great increase in the absolute number of humans and in the size of human communities. This increase in the growth rate of human populations has been called the “Neolithic demographic transition” (Bocquet-Appel 2002:637). It is one of the fundamental structuring processes of human history, and is therefore highly relevant to the comparative study of cultural and social evolution at a global scale. Albert Ammerman and L. Luca Cavalli-Sforza (1971), in their original formulation of the demic diffusion hypothesis, provided a model for the Neolithic demographic transition. In their scenario, the transition to an agricultural economy led to “an increased net reproductive rate, lasting for some generations until a new plateau of population density consonant with the carrying capacity of the land was reached” (p. 687). The transition was therefore, in their view, a two-stage process. In the first stage, reduced mortality and/or increased fertility produced rapid population growth. In the second stage, limitations of the natural environment produced a lower population growth rate. In subsequent publications, Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza (1984; Ammerman, CavalliSforza, and Wagener 1987) have argued that both the timing of the onset of the Neolithic in Europe and

Secrecy and Safety

Abstract: We provide a model showing that the use of confidential settlement as a strategy for a firm facing tort litigation leads to lower average safety of products sold than would occur if the firm were committed to openness. A rational risk-neutral consumer's response in a market, wherein a firm engages in confidential settlements, may be to reduce demand. A firm committed to openness incurs higher liability and R&D costs, though product demand is not diminished. We identify conditions such that, if the cost of credible auditing (to verify openness) is low enough, a firm prefers to eschew confidentiality.

The Construction of the Geography of Immigration as a Policy Problem: The United States and Canada Compared

Abstract: The release of 2000 U.S. Census and 2001 Canadian Census data sparked significant interest in immigrant dispersal outside major urban centers. This article analyze show the meaning of immigration settlement patterns is socially constructed by using a comparative textual analysis of newspaper coverage of census findings as well as government documents and think tank studies. The authors argue that in Canada, immigration settlement is interpreted as a national policy problem necessitating federal state intervention, whereas presentations in U.S. print media construct immigration settlement as the outcome of choices made by individual immigrants and, thus, as local policy problems. In each case, construction of immigrant dispersal draws on national mythologies and omits alternative interpretations of the geography of immigrant settlement.

A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from Their American Homeland

Abstract: On 25 August 1755, the New York Gazette printed a dispatch from Nova Scotia: "We are now upon a great and noble Scheme of sending the neutral French out of this Province, who have always been our secret Enemies..." John Mack Faragher tells the story of the expulsion of 18,000 Acadians in gripping prose. Following specific families through the anguish of their removal, he brings to light a tragic chapter in the settlement of America.

Rome's Religious History: Livy, Tacitus and Ammianus on their Gods

Abstract: Acknowledgements Note on the texts 1. Introduction 2. Livy and the invention of Roman religion 3. Gods and men in Livy 4. Tacitus and the restoration of Rome 5. Ammianus and a final settlement 6. Conclusions Bibliography Index locorum Subject index.

System and method for offering a futures contract indexed to entertainment revenue

Abstract: A method of trading includes performing a transaction of a futures contract between a buyer and a seller. The futures contract is associated with at least one entertainment event and comprises a purchase price and a settlement date. The method concludes by performing a settlement of the futures contract based at least in part upon the purchase price and a value associated with the entertainment event at the settlement date. The entertainment event is associated with a security and the transaction of the futures contract is performed in conjunction with the issuance of the security to the seller.

Refugees and regional settlement: Balancing priorities

Abstract: Settling refugees in country towns is not the answer to dwindling regional populations unless support services are improved, according to Janet Taylor and Dayane Stanovic. In this report they look at the settlement experiences of two recent refugee groups (Iraqi and Sudanese) in the Victorian towns of Shepparton, Colac and Warrnambool.

Managerial Opportunism during Corporate Litigation

Abstract: Using a large sample of litigation events involving publicly listed defendants, we document a surprising fact. The resolution of litigation through a court's decision dominates settlement of litigation from the shareholders' point of view, even when the firm loses. We develop a model using agency costs within the firm to explain why the market views settlement as a negative outcome on average and find empirical evidence supporting the implications of the model. Specifically, firms with weak corporate governance settle litigation more quickly, and the market reacts more negatively to settlements involving firms with higher agency costs. POLITICALLY, THERE ARE FEW ISSUES that are more contentiously debated than tort reform in the United States. The argument is usually framed from the perspective of various opposing stakeholders in the process; proponents of reform contend that the system is too often used frivolously to extort wealth from business, while opponents of reform point out that it is the best means of protecting other stakeholders (customers, employees, neighboring communities, etc.) from damages inflicted by the operations of business. Certainly, there is ample evidence to prove that both statements are true at the margins. But often left out of the policy debates is the forgotten stakeholder in corporate litigation: the shareholders who must ultimately bear the cost of the litigation.

Outbreak of tularaemia in Golcuk, Turkey in 2005: report of 5 cases and an overview of the literature from Turkey.

Abstract: Tularaemia was diagnosed by TaqMan RT-PCR and microagglutination tests in 5 patients, all from a new settlement constructed after the earthquake of 1999. During the follow-up, 129 more cases were found in this settlement (data from the local Health Care Authority). In this study, clinical features of 5 cases are presented briefly, and the Turkish literature on past outbreaks of tularaemia is reviewed.

Tourism and Remote Mountain Settlements: Spatial and Temporal Development of Tourist Infrastructure in the Mt Everest Region, Nepal

Abstract: More than three decades of tourism in the remote mountain communities of the Everest region in the Nepalese Himalaya have transformed the shape, size and functions of traditional human settlements. Tourism-induced demands for accommodation have not only resulted in significant housing constructions, but traditional family dwellings have been converted into modern tourist accommodations as well. The growth of settlements and housing styles follow a pattern dictated by the mobility of tourists and their needs rather than the traditional functions of a rural settlement. Five major types of settlement, defined by their development stages, size and function, can be identified. These settlements have gone through several transitions, for example, from a herding village to seasonal tourist centres and into permanent settlements. This paper discusses the spatial and temporal effects of tourism on settlement development patterns and processes in the Everest region of Nepal. It contributes to the understanding of s...

Data Collection Techniques for Informal Settlement Upgrades in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract: Informal settlements pose a major challenge for managers and planners of developing world cities. Failure to intervene in a manner that improves residents' quality of life may lead to social and political unrest. Due to continually changing internal social and political environments in these settlements and to frequent changes in the arrangements of shacks, spatial and social data need to be collected more frequently than for conventional development tasks. What are needed are simple, low-cost techniques that preferably involve community members in collecting the data. Palmtop computers, group workshops, and voice recordings incorporated into digital records, digital still and video imagery, and semi-automated feature extraction techniques are methods that have been developed and tested in a number of settlements in Cape Town, South Africa, along with one in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and that can be used to address these needs. Introduction The burgeoning informal settlements that accompany rapid urbanisation in Africa, Latin America, and Asia constitute a major challenge for land managers, because informal settlements may house 30 to 80 percent of a developing world city's population (UNCHS 1996). Improving the conditions of the urban poor is critical to social and political stability, and there is the potential for urban violence and social unrest as social disparities become more acute (Farvacque-Vitovic' and Godwin 1998). Managing informal settlements involves, amongst other things, planning and controlling where they are located and how and where they grow; improving the social, economic, and basic health conditions in them; and ensuring that residents in these settlements and neighbouring communities enjoy social justice. Addressing all these objectives requires current, accurate, social, and spatial information, and informal settlements hold certain unique challenges in this respect due to their complexity and frequently changing social conditions. Land tenure security is important in many improvement strategies because it provides the much needed stability for these strategies to succeed. Thus, much of the data collection and information management effort should be directed toward security and equity in the land tenure system. In this paper we describe a number of techniques to collect social and spatial information. These techniques were developed during projects to upgrade informal settlements in a number of ongoing case studies in Cape Town that started in 1995. The techniques were developed primarily in studies of the Marconi Beam and Imizamo Yethu ("through collective struggle"--Xhosa) settlements in Cape Town. Some of the ideas and techniques were also developed and applied in several other informal settlement upgrade cases in and around Cape Town (e.g., Brown's Farm, Wallacedene, parts of Khayelitsha), and the Manzene informal settlement in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. Two of the techniques were first tested in a rural land reform case in the village of Algeria, some 230 kilmoeters northwest of Cape Town, which is not an informal settlement, because the social and local political environment in the village was far more stable than in the informal settlements. The Algeria village proved to be ideal for first testing ideas in a situation where some of the factors that may exist in informal settlements (e.g. high levels of conflict, continual change) and that may have impeded the experimental processes, were absent. We begin by describing the historical context of the large number of informal settlements in Cape Town, followed by brief histories of the Marconi Beam and Imizamo Yethu settlements. We then describe a number of general social and political characteristics of informal settlements in southern Africa. These sections demonstrate why social and spatial data need to be collected frequently, especially when major change is occurring in the wider society. …

Sunset Limited: The Southern Pacific Railroad and the Development of the American West, 1850-1930

Abstract: This book presents a history of the Southern Pacific Railroad and how that railroad influenced the development of the western states in America The book contains fourteen chapters, divided among five parts The five section headings are as follows: I Foundations; II Land Settlement; III Water; IV Agriculture; V Conservation The Sunset Limited was a luxury passenger train run by the Southern Pacific Railroad It traveled between New Orleans, Louisiana and San Francisco, California