Overlawyered » Arizona

U.N. enlists U.S. lawprof to scold U.S. on Indian land rights

Walter Olson — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:33:21 +0000

As noted earlier, last week U.N. Human Rights Council rapporteur James Anaya (who also happens to be a lawprof at the University of Arizona) declared the U.S. to be trampling the aboriginal land rights of Indian tribes. I have a new Daily Caller piece pointing out (as I detail at more length in Schools for Misrule) that the U.N.’s involvement with American law school projects is nothing new: “Now the plaintiff’s counsel [in the Western Shoshone claim] of a few years back re-surfaces as the official instrument of a U.N. body, a revolving-door arrangement that is actually quite typical of the international human rights establishment, where a rather small band of crusading law professors, ‘civil society’ activists and Guardian readers around the world seem to take turns investigating each others’, or as the case may be their own, countries for putative human rights violations.” (& Julian Ku, Opinio Juris)

Tags: Arizona, Indian tribes, international human rights, law schools, Schools for Misrule, United Nations

U.N. enlists U.S. lawprof to scold U.S. on Indian land rights is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 04:08:22 +0000

Court rebukes EEOC in big sex harassment class action against trucking firm [Memphis Commercial Appeal]
Union protects some dodgy educators: “Found to Have Misbehaved With Pupils, but Still Teaching” [New York Times]
Spain changes its labor law [Global Post]
Employment-law blogs debate employment at will [Jon Hyman]
James Sherk of Heritage on proposed Employee Rights Act;
Unlawful under Contracts Clause to alter public employee pensions? Really? [Secunda, Workplace Prof; Barnes v. Arizona State Ret. Sys., Ariz. Super. Ct., No. CV-2011-011638, 2/1/12]
Coalition challenges Connecticut governor’s executive order aimed at unionizing home health aides [Michael Tremoglie, Legal NewsLine]

Tags: Arizona, Connecticut, constitutional law, EEOC, employment at will, Europe, labor unions, Spain, teacher tenure

Labor and employment law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Arizona update: Thomas faces disbarment

Walter Olson — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:16:43 +0000

Former Maricopa County, Arizona state’s attorney and frequent Overlawyered mentionee Andrew Thomas now faces disbarment for misdeeds that include launching unfounded prosecutions of local officials who had criticized him [Terry Carter, ABA Journal] The latest ABA Journal headline is an instant classic: “Defiant After Disbarment Ruling, Ex-Maricopa Attorney Andrew Thomas Compares Himself to Gandhi”

Tags: Arizona, prosecutorial abuse

Arizona update: Thomas faces disbarment is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 3 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:02:19 +0000

In time for Easter: egg prices soar in Europe under new hen-caging rules [AP]
For third time, the Environmental Protection Agency backtracks on claims of harm from gas “fracking” [Adler; U. Texas study on drinking water safety, CBS Dallas] Yes, there’s a plaintiff’s lawyer angle [David Oliver] Don Elliott, former EPA general counsel, on why his old agency needs cutting [Atlantic] Blow out your candles, coal industry, and so good-bye [Pat Michaels/Cato, Shikha Dalmia]
Following the mad logic wherever it leads: “State Legislators Propose Mandatory Drug Testing of Judges and Other State Officials” [ABA Journal]
Proposal: henceforth no law may run to greater length than Rep. Conyers’s copy of Playboy [Mark Steyn]
Creative American lawyers: “Carnival cruise ship briefly seized in Texas” [AP]
“Overlawyered” is the title of a new commentary in The New Yorker, not related to a certain website [Kelefa Sanneh]
Repressive Connecticut “cyber-harassment” bill [Volokh, Greenfield, Popehat] And now, not to be outdone, Arizona… [Volokh]

Tags: agriculture and farming, animal rights, Arizona, bullying, Connecticut, cruise ships, Environmental Protection Agency, harassment law, illegal drugs, oil industry

April 3 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Restrictions on altered photos in ads, cont’d

Walter Olson — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:02:05 +0000

An Arizona lawmaker has proposed (how many regrettable stories begin with that lead-in!) a crackdown on looks-enhancement in advertising. “House Bill 2793, proposed by Rep. Katie Hobbs, D-Phoenix, would require advertisers who alter or enhance a photo to put a disclaimer on that ad alerting customers that ‘Postproduction techniques were made to alter the appearance in this advertisement. When using this product, similar results may not be achieved.’” [Arizona Republic via Coyote, earlier (and compare)]

Tags: advertising, Arizona, photography

Restrictions on altered photos in ads, cont’d is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Judge declines to dismiss ADA suit over streaming Netflix

Walter Olson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:07:18 +0000

A Massachusetts federal judge has declined to throw out an ADA suit against Netflix demanding captioning of its streaming movie service, but “stayed the case pending rulemaking by the Federal Communications Commission.” [Qualters, NLJ] Relatedly, Arizona’s largest movie chain will install closed captioning and headset systems in all its outlets following an adverse ruling by the Ninth Circuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). [East Valley Tribune, earlier] Meanwhile, following an audit negotiated in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, “The city of Tucson may have to find an estimated $17 million to bring many of its facilities into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.” [Star]

Tags: Arizona, disabled rights, movies film and videos, web accessibility

Judge declines to dismiss ADA suit over streaming Netflix is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

October 31 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:14:37 +0000

A pack of gum, e.g.: “What the Proceeds of a BlackBerry Class Action Could Buy” [Rebecca Greenfield, Atlantic Wire]
A million law firm ads later: “Pfizer’s Anti-Smoking Drug [Chantix] Isn’t Riskier Than Patches, FDA Says” [Bloomberg]
Over 9/11 attacks: “Court Recommends al-Qaida Pay $9 Billion to Insurers” [NYLJ]
Green alarmism over cosmetics — justified? [Dana Joel Gattuso, CEI; related here, here]
Arpaio-Thomas follies continue in Arizona courtroom [Coyote, earlier]
Upcoming: November 4 conference “Silenced” in D.C. on blasphemy laws and hate speech; Bruce Bawer, Nina Shea et al. [Federalist Society]
“I dreamed I swayed the jury… in my Maidenform bra” [Retronaut, scroll]

Tags: Arizona, BlackBerry, hate speech, pharmaceuticals, September 11

October 31 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Faced with federal suit, Arizona quits monitoring teachers’ English fluency

Walter Olson — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:12:10 +0000

My new Cato post points out that while this may be craziness, it’s craziness with a long pedigree:

It was way back in the first Bush administration that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) began filing lawsuits against employers for “discriminating” against employees with difficult-to-understand or heavily accented speech, the theory being that this served as an improper proxy for discrimination based on national origin. The scope for allowable exceptions was exceedingly narrow, too narrow to cover most teaching positions, as I wrote quite a while back when the issue had just come over the horizon in a Massachusetts case. Indeed, the National Education Association (I pointed out) had been prevailed on to pass a resolution “decrying disparate treatment on the basis of ‘pronunciation’ — quite a switch from the old days when teachers used to be demons for correctness on that topic.”

Read the whole thing here (& Alkon, Peter Pappas/Tax Lawyer’s Blog, Bader). Another view: Josh Hanson.

Tags: Arizona, EEOC, language bias, schools

Faced with federal suit, Arizona quits monitoring teachers’ English fluency is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Gaping at arrestee mug shots

Walter Olson — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:17:29 +0000

Bad enough when the media caters to this sort of thing, but when government itself does it, you may have crossed into Arpaio territory [Coyote] Related: David Kravets, Wired.

Tags: Arizona, crime and punishment

Gaping at arrestee mug shots is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

May 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 04 May 2011 05:10:06 +0000

“You Will Be Relieved to Know it is Now Harder To Discipline Bad Cops in Arizona” [Coyote]
NYT runs Title IX “roster management” through a feminist echo chamber [Heather Mac Donald, Secular Right] Even with the slant, colleges’ willingness to contort their programs to comply with quotas tends to prove critics’ case [Althouse, Wendy Parker, College Sports Council, more]
“AT&T v. Concepcion: ‘Consumers Win in Allegedly Anti-Consumer Supreme Court Ruling’” [PoL] Will Elizabeth Warren partly undo the outcome? [Fisher/Forbes] More on case: Trask, Karlsgodt;
“[Entertainer] Prince Wants Laws Changed To Eliminate Song Covers” [Hollywood, Esq./THR]
Consulting firm accused of racketeering in Chevron suit has U.S. gulf spill contract [ShopFloor]
Point out flaws in DoJ’s legal case against you, and get branded “uncooperative” [Koehler/FCPA Professor]
NYC might ban buying fake handbags [WSJ Law Blog] Bill sponsor’s curious political trajectory to city council [Rick Brookhiser, many years back in City Journal]

Tags: arbitration, Arizona, Chevron, music and musicians, NYC, police, prosecution, public employment, Title IX

May 4 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system