Overlawyered » obesity

“Obesity is not the result of market failure.”

Walter Olson — Thu, 10 May 2012 13:32:41 +0000

Another government report is out pushing the case for more regulation of the food market to deal with expanding waistlines, but a new Mercatus Center study by Michael L. Marlow and Sherzod Abdukadirov argues that, to quote its summary,

* Consumers already have ample access to information on healthy dietary choices.
* Markets already are responding with products and services to address the problem.
* Individual decision-making—not market responsiveness—is the main factor.

Related: Jacob Sullum (does obesity impose externalities on others, and is that relevant to policy?)

Tags: obesity

“Obesity is not the result of market failure.” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Nutella maker settles class actions, cont’d

Walter Olson — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:56:44 +0000

As reported in January, the maker of the tasty chocolate-and-hazelnut spread has been paying millions to settle class actions filed on behalf of consumers purportedly outraged to find it is not a health food. Among the new coverage: David Paulin, American Thinker; Rebecca Stropoli, The Exchange/Yahoo.

Tags: class action settlements, obesity

Nutella maker settles class actions, cont’d is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Labor and employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:40:33 +0000

Arbitrator: felonious Montgomery County, Maryland cops should keep disability pay [Examiner] “Cop who took naked photos of rape victim can keep pension” [NY Post] Cop who pepper-sprayed UC Davis protesters is still on job, and maybe that’s how they’d have it [Radley Balko]
“Billions in retroactive liability” in pharma detailer wage/hour action before SCOTUS [Marcia Coyle, NLJ] And USA Today chose a faulty “worker discontent” theme on wage/hour case, since as class actions these suits are lawyer-driven;
Australia: “Worker injured during sex gets compensation payout” [News.com.au]
“Courts are finally starting to apply ADAAA—and it ain’t pretty” [Jon Hyman] ADA: “Judge Rules In Favor of Fired Employee With Bipolar Disorder” [ABC]
NLRB goes after Hyatt on employee handbook language [Gary Shapiro, Examiner] Union claims Indiana right-to-work law violates Thirteenth Amendment ban on slavery [James Sherk, NRO]
EEOC: sex discrimination law bars bias against transgender employees [AP, Hyman] “EEOC Obtains Substantial Settlement in Obesity Discrimination Suit” [Disabilities Law]
Law journal prediction: adherents of racism will claim Title VII protection [Lawrence D. Rosenthal, Temple L. Rev. via Workplace Prof]

Tags: Australia, disabled rights, EEOC, labor unions, Maryland, obesity, police, transgender, wage and hour suits, workers' compensation

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

Debunking the “food desert” myth

Walter Olson — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 04:05:30 +0000

No, this isn’t the first time the fashionable, First-Lady-approved theory has been debunked — see posts here, here, and here — but it’s gratifying to see the NYT’s formidable Gina Kolata get front-page space for a thorough treatment. One study found poor neighborhoods “had nearly twice as many supermarkets and large-scale grocers per square mile” as wealthier ones; another “found no relationship between what type of food students said they ate, what they weighed, and the type of food within a mile and a half of their homes.” [Tyler Cowen, Jacob Sullum] And Katherine Mangu-Ward notes the juxtaposition of Kolata’s piece with an opinion piece in the paper the very same day: “Food Deserts Are Not Real. Also, We Can Fix Them.”

Tags: eat drink and be merry, New York Times, obesity

Debunking the “food desert” myth is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Judge tosses Happy Meal lawsuit

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:01:46 +0000

In San Francisco, Judge Richard Kramer has dismissed the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s lawsuit on behalf of parent Monet Parham seeking to declare unlawful McDonald’s practice of including a toy in its Happy Meal. I wrote about the case last year. [SF Weekly, earlier here, here]

Tags: McDonald's, nanny state, obesity

Judge tosses Happy Meal lawsuit is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Bloomberg: no food donations to homeless shelters

Walter Olson — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 16:06:37 +0000

“[Glenn] Richter has been collecting food from places like the Ohav Zedek synagogue and bringing it to homeless shelters for more than 20 years, but recently his donation, including a ‘cholent‘ or carrot stew, was turned away because the Bloomberg administration wants to monitor the salt, fat and fiber eaten by the homeless. … Richter said that over the years he’s delivered more than two tons of food to the homeless.” The NYC mayor says he’s not planning to reconsider the recently adopted policy. [CBS-NY] Earlier here (Connecticut), here (N.J.: “retail food establishment”), here, etc.

Tags: churches, Michael Bloomberg, NYC, obesity, salt

Bloomberg: no food donations to homeless shelters is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Using federal bucks to lobby for food nannyism

Walter Olson — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:25:09 +0000

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius offers no apologies for what might seem a disturbing breach of the principle that taxpayer funds should not go to lobbying [Caroline May, Daily Caller] Earlier on the oughta-be-controversial federal food-policy grant program here, here, etc. More: Abby Schachter on CDC’s Thomas Frieden [NY Post].

Tags: eat drink and be merry, Kathleen Sebelius, lobbyists, obesity

Using federal bucks to lobby for food nannyism is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 12 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:08:41 +0000

How ObamaCare will drive up cost of contraception [Avik Roy] Better idea: sell Pill over the counter [Virginia Postrel, Bloomberg]
Had been seized by authorities: obese 9-year-old returns home after dropping 50 pounds [Cleveland Plain Dealer, earlier]
Best campaign funding mechanism ever? [Ron Paul Forums, JPG, more explanation; but is it lawful?]
More appreciations of Bill Stuntz crimlaw book [Leon Neyfakh, Boston Globe, Stephen Smith and Jonathan Jacobs, Liberty and Law]
Changes in court rules could curb Philadelphia’s allure for mass tort forum-shoppers [Alison Frankel, Reuters] “Further Empirical Evidence on Forum Shopping in Philadelphia Civil Courts” [Josh Wright, earlier]
Coming: federal authority over private firms’ IT-security departments? [Jim Harper/Cato; Constantine von Hoffman/CIO]
“0.1% claim rate in ‘successful’ class action” [Ted Frank/PoL, AT&T case]

Tags: Child Protective Services, class action settlements, crime and punishment, obesity, Philadelphia

March 12 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Kids’ food-ad regulations and the FTC

Walter Olson — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:56:06 +0000

In the face of substantial Congressional opposition (although an earlier Congress had helped push for the idea in the first place) the Federal Trade Commission may be easing off its zeal for tougher federal oversight of cereal ads and the like. [Glenn Lammi, Washington Legal Foundation]

Tags: advertising, Federal Trade Commission, obesity

Kids’ food-ad regulations and the FTC is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Sacramento’s Bad Humor Man

Walter Olson — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 14:46:41 +0000

Assemblyman William Monning (D-Carmel) wants to ban food trucks from parking anywhere near where schoolkids might be; under legislation he has proposed, they would need to keep even farther away from schools than medical marijuana dispensaries. Since schools dot the urban scene, a side effect would be to seriously curtail adult access to the trucks, which serve a large population of working adults and have lately found new popularity among foodies. [L.A. Times via Heather Mac Donald, Secular Right, earlier]

Tags: California, obesity, schools

Sacramento’s Bad Humor Man is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system