Overlawyered » privacy

Labor and employment law roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:08:17 +0000

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]
“Why you should stop attending diversity training” [Suzanne Lucas, CBS MarketWatch, following up on our earlier post]
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]

Tags: Delaware, employment at will, guns, labor unions, privacy, wage and hour suits, Wisconsin

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

Crime and punishment roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 May 2012 09:28:55 +0000

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]

Tags: ACLU, crime and punishment, drug, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Martin-Zimmerman case, privacy, prosecution, self-defense

Crime and punishment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Penalty for webcam spying

Walter Olson — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 04:04:15 +0000

As Radley Balko notes, it seems to vary rather widely depending on whether the wrongdoer is a student or an educator.

Tags: Pennsylvania, privacy, schools

Penalty for webcam spying is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Posited “right to be forgotten online”

Walter Olson — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:02:16 +0000

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]

Tags: Europe, online speech, privacy

Posited “right to be forgotten online” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 20 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 12:09:35 +0000

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]
Study: NY municipalities battered by litigation [Sydney Cresswell & Michael Landon-Murray, Rockefeller/Albany, PDF]
Dodd-Frank and corporate credit [David Henderson]
Inside the great Las Vegas condo-board-takeover scam [Bloomberg, earlier]
“Copyright Law and European Compilations of U.S. Jazz Recordings” [Kerr, Volokh]
Autism-care cheat: “Former MoFo Partner Draws 12-Month Sentence in Fraud Case” [Recorder]
Would privacy torts do better? Jim Harper on the Fair Credit Reporting Act [Cato Institute, PDF]

Tags: autism, debtor-creditor law, music and musicians, New York, privacy, regulation and its reform

December 20 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:28:58 +0000

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]
Not COPPA-cetic: among other unintended consequences, Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act has encouraged parents to help kids to falsify ages online [Danah Boyd via Jim Harper, Suderman, Reason, Stewart Baker, earlier]
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]
Trial lawyers help bail out Bexar County Democratic party [San Antonio Express-News]
Supreme Court agrees to hear case arguing that aggressive enforcement of local housing code violates federal Fair Housing Act [Magner v. Gallagher, SCOTUSBlog, Illinois Municipal League, http://www.inversecondemnation.com/inversecondemnation/2011/11/potemkin-village-hawaiian-style.html">Fisher/Forbes]

Tags: Clarence Thomas, fair housing, lead paint, Maryland, Mikal Watts, pharmaceuticals, privacy, slip and fall

November 14 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 4 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 10:29:23 +0000

“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]
Did California privacy legislation just regulate bloggers? [Eric Goldman, Paul Alan Levy]

Tags: attorneys' fees, bloggers and the law, California, Chicago, discrimination law, New Zealand, privacy

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

“Actress sues Amazon over her age on its IMDb site”

Walter Olson — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:15:45 +0000

“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]

Tags: movies film and videos, privacy

“Actress sues Amazon over her age on its IMDb site” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Judge Kozinski on modern privacy

Walter Olson — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:43:02 +0000

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]

Tags: Alex Kozinski, privacy

Judge Kozinski on modern privacy is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Will California regulate social networking?

Walter Olson — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:46:04 +0000

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]

Tags: antitrust, Facebook, Federal Trade Commission, Google, privacy, social networking

Will California regulate social networking? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system