Gov. Walker’s public sector labor reforms popular with Wisconsin voters, and have saved taxpayers a fortune [Morrissey, Fund, Marquette poll (public favors new law by 50-43 margin] What would FDR say? [Dalmia, The Daily]
The gang that couldn’t regulate straight: “Court rebuffs Labor Department on sales rep overtime” [Dan Fisher, Forbes] Lack of quorum trips up NLRB on “quickie”/ambush elections scheme [Workplace Prof]
Not all claimed “gun rights” are authentic, some come at expense of the vital principle of at-will employment [Bainbridge]
Brace yourself, legal academics at work on a Restatement of Employment Law [Michael Fox]
“Why Delaware’s Proposed Workplace Privacy Act Is All Wrong” [Molly DiBianca]
USA Today on lawyers’ role in growth of Social Security disability rolls [Ira Stoll]
Some reps push to cut off federal funds for states with Stand Your Ground laws [Maguire, Just One Minute] Podcast and video of Cato’s panel discussion on SYG laws [and related from Tim Lynch] Muddle-prone media mischaracterizes other cases besides Martin/Zimmerman as SYG [Sullum] “Shame of mandatory minimums shows in Marissa Alexander case” [Roland Martin, CNN, via Alkon] More: Florida voter poll shows strong support for SYG [Sun-Sentinel] New medical reports could prove helpful to defense in Martin/Zimmerman case [WFTV, more]
Feds prosecute building firm for paying NYC labor graft, but as for those who receive it… [Holman Jenkins, WSJ, with Wal-Mart Mexico FCPA angle]
Why is the Center for American Progress helping the Obama administration pretend that it’s ended the Drug War? [Mike Riggs] “Jailed for trying to fill a prescription” [Amy Alkon] “She stole his heroin, so she was the victim” [Jacob Sullum]
Conduct on which defendant was acquitted can still count as prior bad act evidence [Scott Greenfield]
New UK justice law abolishes indefinite sentences for public protection (IPPs) [Barder]
“Debtor’s Prison for Failure to Pay for Your Own Trial” [Tabarrok]
ACLU on unsettling possibilities of surveillance drones, law enforcement and otherwise [Lucy Steigerwald]
This idea, gaining some currency in Europe, would require government to get deeply into the control of privately published information content [Adam Thierer, Scott Greenfield, PC World]
No regulatory surge under Obama? Check the numbers please [WSJ edit, James Gattuso/Heritage] Now online: Federalist Society convention panels on regulation [Cass et al, Epstein et al] “House passes REINS Act, president promises veto” [Adler, Mike Kelsey/Heritage] Regulation Moratorium and Jobs Preservation Act “dying in Senate committee” [PoL]
Seeking to address widespread pharmaceutical shortages, Obama executive order downplays government role in causing them [Fair Warning, WSJ editorial, earlier here, here, here, here, etc.]
“The school has a strict no-hugging policy….” [WKMG Orlando]
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens isn’t buying the “Thomas should recuse” meme [USA Today via Legal Ethics Forum]
Lawmaking from the bench: Maryland high court strikes down law limiting landlords’ lead paint liability [Ronald Miller] “Maryland court sides with plaintiffs in slip-and-fall cases” [Emily Babay, Examiner]
“Kentucky antidiscrimination law doesn’t bar discrimination based on litigiousness” [Volokh]
“Lawyer sues to stop fireworks show; now wants $756K in fees from taxpayers” [CJAC, San Diego]
Leahy bill reauthorizing VAWA (Violence Against Women Act) includes language codifying OCR assault on campus due process [Bader, Daily Caller, Inside Higher Ed, FIRE, earlier here, here]
“One-Ninth the Freedom Kids Used To Have” [Free-Range Kids] “WARNING: Baby in pram! Anything could happen!” [same]
New Zealand considers criminalizing breaches of fiduciary duty [Prof. Bainbridge]
From libertarian Steve Chapman, a favorable rating for Rahm Emanuel as Chicago mayor [Chicago Tribune]
“An actress has sued Amazon.com for more than $1m after her age was posted on its Internet Movie Database. The unnamed actress says the website misused her legal date of birth after she signed up to the IMDbPro service in 2008.” [BBC]
Ninth Circuit chief judge and libertarian favorite Alex Kozinski gave the annual B. Kenneth Simon lecture earlier this month at Cato’s annual Constitution Day Conference. [YouTube]
State Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) has vowed to press the idea, the apparent idea being that the government is a better guardian of privacy interests than Facebook and similar services [Jacqueline Otto, CEI "Open Market"] Meanwhile, Geoffrey Manne reports that the feds are itching to start an antitrust or unfair competition case against Google [Main Justice via Truth on the Market]
Lawmakers in at least three states have proposed new laws criminalizing the taking of photos on farms without permission of the owner — and sometimes going much further than that, too. The idea is to stop animal-welfare activists from compiling unauthorized footage of allegedly inhumane conditions. I comment on that — and on some related photography and farm issues — at Cato at Liberty.
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)]
“The Electronic Frontier Foundation joined civil liberties and privacy groups in criticizing a proposal from the San Francisco Entertainment Commission that would require all venues with an occupancy of over 100 people to record the faces of all patrons and employees and scan their ID’s for storage in a database which they must hand over to law enforcement on request. … Events with strong cultural, ideological, and political components are frequently held at venues that would be affected by these rules.” [EFF]
Another twist on the assertion that state laws against wiretapping and unauthorized recording make it unlawful to record the cops: police in the town of Weare, N.H. charged a man with wiretapping after he placed a cellphone call during a traffic stop “because the officer’s voice could be heard in the background of his phone call.” [Lowering the Bar]
The lawsuits against store chains over inquiries in check-out lines were just the start: one lawyer has sued gas station operators on the theory that it violates state law to ask drivers at the pump to key in their zip code to verify their credit cards. [Russell Jackson, earlier]
Lawyers jump into action with multiple suits after the California Supreme Court decides it’s a violation of state consumer privacy law to ask customers for their zip code at the checkout. [L.A. Times, Recorder, WSJ Law Blog] Ira Stoll discusses the silliness of the purported consumer protection rationale. More: Coyote.
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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