Overlawyered » guns http://overlawyered.com Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:28:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 January 21 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-21-roundup-3/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-21-roundup-3/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:52:42 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=27016
  • Because judges should decide cases the way clamoring crowds want them to: “Occupy the Courts” [Althouse, Somin, earlier] Pittsburgh lawprof: bank’s office park has become public forum and is ours to seize [Daily Caller]
  • Some reactions to Megaupload indictment [Julian Sanchez, Ken at Popehat]
  • Kozinski, others trade quips at oral argument in Disneyland Segway ADA case [Courthouse News via Disabilities Law, earlier] “Ouch! Judge Posner eviscerates both a damages expert and the trial judge who let him testify against FedEx” [Technology Law Notes]
  • Victim of NYC gun laws: “Free Meredith Graves” [NRO] “NYC Business Bled To Death Over Toy Guns” [Moonbattery]
  • “Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Swipe: A Critique of the Infancy Rule in the Federal Credit Card Act” [Andrew Schwartz (Colorado), SSRN, via Ted Frank]
  • Federal drug cops unapologetic about role in Adderall shortage [Rob Port] A failure of central planning [Reuters, Jacob Sullum and more ("Does the DEA know what 'quota' means?")] Some trial lawyers pushing to ban the drug [via Ted Frank].
  • Go, my child, and steal no more: TSA agents who pilfered $40K from luggage get six months [AP via Balko]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/january-21-roundup-3/feed/ 6     Steals gun, hurts himself with it http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/steals-gun-hurts-himself-with-it/ http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/steals-gun-hurts-himself-with-it/#comments Sat, 07 Jan 2012 11:30:54 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26659 But the estate of a Massachusetts man killed in an apparent accident when the gun went off was not allowed to sue the owner and gun manufacturer. [Volokh]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2012/01/steals-gun-hurts-himself-with-it/feed/ 2     December 6 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-6-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-6-roundup/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:23:12 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=26076
  • TSA: design of gun on purse is “replica gun” [Radley Balko]
  • “Note: Before Attaching Ankle Monitor, Make Sure Leg Is Real” [Lowering the Bar]
  • “Harm to others” rationale seems to fall by wayside as Boston bans workplace use of e-cigarettes [Jacob Sullum]
  • “Should legislation protect the obese?” [NYT "Room for Debate"]
  • German town drops charges against Pope Benedict XVI for failure to wear seat belt in Popemobile [WaPo, Lowering the Bar, Irish Times]
  • Ninth Circuit agrees to review litigation seeking court takeover of vets’ mental care [SFChron, WSJ Law Blog, earlier]
  • The shaky science of “shaken baby syndrome” [Pfaff, Prawfs, ABA Journal, earlier here, here] Jerry Brown should pardon dubiously convicted grandmother [Emily Bazelon, Slate]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/12/december-6-roundup/feed/ 1     Constitutional law roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/constitutional-law-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/constitutional-law-roundup-2/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:22:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=25583
  • High court tees up case on ObamaCare constitutionality, potentially one of the most significant in decades [Ilya Shapiro, Cato]
  • “Andrew Sullivan Is Wrong About the Supreme Court and Guns” [Damon Root]
  • Trade groups’ advocacy: judge quashes Tillery subpoena as chilling to free association [Madison County Record]
  • Takings: “California’s Kafkaesque Rent Control Laws” [Richard Epstein] Things may be worse in China, though: “more than one attendee described Beijing as Kelo-on-steroids” [same]
  • No, the federal government can’t find authority to overstep its otherwise delimited powers by entering into treaties calling for it to do so [Shapiro]
  • Authors: U.S. Constitution is becoming less influential as model to foreign nations [Law/Versteeg via Zick, ConcurOp]
  • Fight between strip-search lawyers leaves little to imagination [Kerr]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/11/constitutional-law-roundup-2/feed/ 0     Child welfare/protection roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/child-welfareprotection-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/child-welfareprotection-roundup/#comments Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:10:14 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24879
  • Oh, American Academy of Pediatrics, why are you so consistently wrong? On videogames, on food-ad bans, on guns, CPSIA…
  • New book by Annette Fuentes, Lockdown High: When the Schoolhouse Becomes a Jailhouse [John Harris, Guardian]
  • There are genuine problems with some countries’ international adoption practices, but should UNICEF really be pushing toward a “leave the kids in orphanages” alternative? [Nick Gillespie on Reason documentary to be released tomorrow]
  • At expense of both federalism and religious accommodation, bill entitled “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” (ECDFA) would impose anti-bias rules on state adoption and foster care programs [Washington Blade]
  • Cash-for-kids Pennsylvania judge: “Former Luzerne judge Conahan sentenced to 17.5 years” [Times-Tribune, our earlier coverage]
  • “Met a guy who works at my old summer camp. Bunks still do raids on other bunks, but their counselors have to file raid forms first. How sad.” [@adamlisberg]
  • Sex offender registry horror story #14,283 [Skenazy]
  • “Safety rules rob pupils of hands-on science, say MPs” [Independent, U.K.]
  • Gee, who could’ve predicted that? NJ’s aggressive “anti-bullying” law leads to new problems [NYT, Greenfield, PoL, NJLRA] Rapid growth in bullying law assisted by push from Obama administration [WSJ Law Blog, Kenneth Marcus/Federalist Society, Bader]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/10/child-welfareprotection-roundup/feed/ 2     July 25 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-25-roundup-2/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-25-roundup-2/#comments Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:16:01 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=24008
  • Nice going, sex offender registries [Brian Dickerson, Detroit Free Press] And I’m quoted in a syndicated column by Lenore Skenazy (and thence by Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing) on the registries’ tendency to sweep in much wider circles of offender than many advocates originally had in mind. More: a tale of child-abuse registries [Skenazy];
  • New York Times exposes scandal: businessman holds seat in Congress. Quick, replace him with another lawyer! [Ribstein]
  • Race separation’s unlawful for school attendance. So why’s it OK for school voting districts? [Quin Hillyer, Mobile Press-Register]
  • Speech and property rights in peril: “Fear of a Muslim America” [Cathy Young, Reason]
  • Before blaming bank dereg for “Too Big To Fail,” read this [Mark Calabria, Cato at Liberty]
  • After fatal one-car crash, drunk driver’s survivors sue popular Irish bar that served him [NJLRA; Trenton, N.J.]
  • Scotland: Thief wants victim prosecuted for keeping gun in her house [Daily Record]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/07/july-25-roundup-2/feed/ 5     April 2 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/april-2-roundup-5/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/april-2-roundup-5/#comments Sat, 02 Apr 2011 05:12:25 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=22334
  • Schumer: ban gun ownership by persons arrested but not convicted of drug offenses [Jeff Winkler, Daily Caller]
  • Urban-farming pioneer in Oakland may come a cropper for selling produce without license [SFGate via Perry]
  • Harvard-trained Obamanauts’ revenge? Feds investigate Yale for alleged sexually harassive environment [Zincavage] Related: strings attached to federal money for university “sexual assault prevention” include mandatory student sensitivity-training attendance [TBD, more]
  • Trade dumping law as competitive shakedown mechanism [Tabarrok]
  • “Forwarding a Sentence-Long Message from a Listserv = Copyright Infringement?” [Volokh]
  • “Product Defect Case Over Ear Candle Cleared for Trial” [OnPoint News, McConnell/D&D, Abnormal Use]
  • Oh, Title IX, couldn’t you at least leave our booster club alone? [Saving Sports] Wrestling team axe is just the start for men’s sports cuts at Liberty U. [same]
  • “Wal-Mart v. Dukes [Lawyers] Ask Courts To Fix The World” [Dan Fisher, Forbes] Liptak/NYT on use of “social framework” evidence in case [Mass Tort Prof] Rhetoric about “day in court” tends to obscure actual stakes [Daniel Schwartz] More: Hans Bader, and Jon Hyman with many links.
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/04/april-2-roundup-5/feed/ 8     February 21 roundup http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-21-roundup/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-21-roundup/#comments Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:48:33 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21594
  • Estate of Anna Nicole Smith may sue over opera based on her life [Daily Mail via Surber, other Daily Mail]
  • Maryland Department of Environment: yep, we put tracking devices on Eastern Shore watermen’s boats [Red Maryland]
  • Trial lawyers’ federal contributions went 97% to Dems last cycle [Freddoso, Examiner]
  • $6.5 million for family abuse: unusual sovereign-exposure law costs Washington taxpayers again [PoL]
  • Canadian court: no, we can’t and won’t waive loser-pays for needy litigants who lose cases [Erik Magraken]
  • CPSC considers mandating “SawStop” technology [Crede, background]
  • Gun groups alarmed over ATF pick [Chicago Tribune]
  • Jury blames hit-run death on wheelchair curb cut [four years ago on Overlawyered]
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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/february-21-roundup/feed/ 5     Gun-safety instructor who shot himself sues over leaked video http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/gun-safety-instructor-who-shot-himself-sues-over-leaked-video/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/gun-safety-instructor-who-shot-himself-sues-over-leaked-video/#comments Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:33:02 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21370 A judge has dismissed a privacy claim by a gun instructor who shot himself during a safety demonstration; video of the incident later turned up at The Smoking Gun and elsewhere. [Lowering the Bar; compare the Fountain Lady's video-privacy grievance.]

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    ]]>     http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/gun-safety-instructor-who-shot-himself-sues-over-leaked-video/feed/ 3     Criminal charges for spitballs in school http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/criminal-charges-for-spitballs-in-school/ http://overlawyered.com/2011/02/criminal-charges-for-spitballs-in-school/#comments Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:29:57 +0000 Walter Olson http://overlawyered.com/?p=21327 Most striking part of this Spotsylvania County, Va. story:

    Capt. Liz Scott [of the] Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office says while Mikel’s punishment [and misdemeanor assault charges] may be controversial, “assault is assault is assault.”

    “There were three victims that were involved in this, and I think the public needs to remember that,” Scott told FoxNews.com.

    Scott said those victims, two females and one male, complained of feeling a “pinch” or “sting” when they were hit with the pellets and one even had a welt on her arm as result.

    Perpetrator Andrew Mikel II is 14 years old. In other school and zero-tolerance news, police in Hammonton, New Jersey have charged a 7-year-old for bringing a Nerf-style toy gun to class [NBC Philadelphia] A lawmaker in Hawaii is proposing to ban the sale of squirt guns to minors [Free-Range Kids] A St. Lucie County, Florida kindergartener who was “voted out” of his classroom by fellow students at his teacher’s suggestion has won a $350,000 settlement. [TCPalm/Orlando Sentinel] And lawsuits by parents against school districts over alleged bullying of kids are said to be burgeoning in Florida [Orlando Sentinel]

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