Overlawyered: Chronicling The High Cost Of Our Legal System

March 16 roundup

  • “A new target for tech patent trolls: cash-strapped American cities” [Joe Mullin, Ars Technica] Crowdsourcing troll control [Farhad Manjoo, Slate] “Why patent trolls don’t need valid patents” [Felix Salmon] “Why Hayek Would Have Hated Software Patents” [Timothy Lee, Cato] Et tu, Shoah Foundation? [Mike Masnick, TechDirt]
  • Cory King case: “Not Everything Can Be a Federal Crime” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato]
  • “Ban on smoking in cars with young children clears Md. Senate” [WaPo]
  • On religious exemption to birth control mandate, NYT wrestles with unwelcome poll numbers [Mickey Kaus]
  • “Undocumented Law Grad Can’t Get Driver’s License, But Hopes for Fla. Supreme Court OK of Law License” [ABA Journal]
  • Department of Justice launches campaign against racial disparities in school discipline [Jason Riley, WSJ via Amy Alkon]
  • James Gattuso and Diane Katz, “Red Tape Rising: Obama-Era Regulation at the Three-Year Mark” [Heritage]

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4 Comments

  • The expansion of 18 U.S.C § 1001, which criminalizes the knowing and willful making of materially false statements in “any matter within the jurisdiction of” the United States,

    Basically, you can’t safely say anything to anyone. We are all felons.

    • By Mannie

  • “Not Everything Can Be a Federal Crime”

    [citation needed]

    You can certainly argue that not everything should be a federal crime, but virtually every action can be a civil rights violation of some sort based on race, religion, ethnicity, age, sex, gender, handicapability, addiction status, weight, height, body odor, hair length, status of tattoos or body piercings, oral hygiene, clothing preference, and on and on and on. Don’t even think of looking at me funny or I will sue you for discrimination.

  • Could the school discipline disparaties possibly be related to actual differences in the rate of misconduct?

    Gasp!

  • Don’t even think of looking at me funny or I will sue you for discrimination.

    Go for it, Jerry. I’m giving you the “Glare” right this very minute. 🙂

    • By Bill H