Chronicling the high cost of our legal system
From the monthly archives:
Federal design standards have changed, so many little-used ADA sidewalk ramps in Berks County, Pa. and elsewhere will be torn up at great expense and replaced with new little-used ramps. “The borough [of Lyons, Pa.] has only a few sidewalks — with most yards running right to the street — so the ramps generally lead to areas that would seem difficult for wheelchairs to cross.” [Reading Eagle, h/t Tad DeHaven] More: Chris Fountain.
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Public-spirited litigants Western Sugar Cooperative, Michigan Sugar Company and C & H Sugar Company, Inc., have filed a lawsuit charging corn refiners with false advertising in their recent campaign to relabel high-fructose corn syrup as “corn sugar.” “The sugar producers seek an injunction to end the advertising campaign and also seek damages, including compensation for corrective advertising.” [PR Newswire]
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Washington Business Journal brings word of the list of demands by a “community group” to drop its opposition to the opening of Wal-Mart stores in Washington, D.C. Given such a welcoming attitude, isn’t it strange that so many major retailers have opened stores in suburban Maryland and Virginia, but not in the District?
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Because, really, there’s no detail too small for the government to regulate (via Virginia Postrel). More: Coyote.
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The maker of Botox is hit with a $212 million jury award [Richmond Times-Dispatch]
When an employee decides he doesn’t feel like fulfilling his job requirements, you might need to accommodate him, or be prepared to pay. [Steven Kreytak, Austin American-Statesman]
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A proposed Hawaii law would assign liability to guidebook writers for some injuries at risky tourist sites [WSJ]
A jury rejects a strained health-outlay recoupment claim. [Mass Tort Lit]
The so-called superinjunction is a gag order that “prevents the media from even reporting that an injunction was obtained,” and runs against the public generally rather than merely organizations named in the legal action. In Britain, which lacks a tradition equivalent to our First Amendment, courts regularly hand down these orders on the grounds of protecting litigants’ privacy, and controversy is mounting as a result. [Guardian and editorial, Kampfner/Independent, Katya Wachtel/Business Insider (on RBS executive case)]
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Individual liberty, free markets, and peace: the world's premier libertarian think tank. Publishes Cato at Liberty, where I blog on contemporary policy issues.