Cut grapes into pea-sized portions?

It seems the American Academy of Pediatrics wants just about every non-pureed food you can think of — carrots, apples, hot dogs — to carry a warning label about the risk of choking to children. “Some say other risky foods, including hard candies, popcorn, peanuts and marshmallows, shouldn’t be given to young children at all.” [AP; Free-Range Kids] More from Patrick at Popehat: “What Are Your Child’s Odds Of Choking To Death On A Hot Dog?”

And: For better child safety, think like an economist, says Steven Horwitz: don’t let worst-case scenarios rule your thinking and recognize that every good comes with tradeoffs [Free-Range Kids]

Filed under: child protection, food safety, safety

“Swiss to vote on lawyers for animals”

“Fish don’t get much sympathy,” laments attorney Antoine F. Goetschel about one of his recent clients. Zurich prosecutors went after an angler whose ten-minute battle with a pike, they said, was unfair to the pike. [AP]

Filed under: animal rights, Switzerland

Trial lawyers’ Capitol Hill agenda

In his wrapup post at Point of Law, Jim Copland summarizes pending legislation — much of it sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) — aimed at “loosening pleading standards, expanding securities litigation, rolling back federal preemption, limiting private arbitration, and cutting taxes on plaintiffs’ litigation.”

Filed under: Arlen Specter, Senate

Annals of celebrity paternity suits

At the request of lawyers for actor Keanu Reeves, an Ontario court dismissed a C$3 million suit filed by an unemployed homemaker claiming that Reeves was the father of her children. The defense pointed to negative DNA test results, Reeves’ strong denials that he ever met or had dealings with the woman, and divorce documents attributing the children’s paternity to the woman’s ex-husband. “Sala disputed the DNA results in court … suggesting they had been tampered with or that Reeves used hypnosis to affect the results.” [Herald Sun via Faces of Lawsuit Abuse monthly worst-lawsuit poll, PopCrunch]

Filed under: Canada, child support, movies film and videos

Nontraditional plea bargain options dept.

A Charleston, W.V. defendant said it would be OK for the victim of his alleged petty larceny to give him a slap by way of punishment. A prosecutor conveyed the offer, subsequently dropped the charges, and got into a bit of hot water as a result. [AP/WSAZ, Greenfield]

Filed under: crime and punishment, West Virginia

LAPD hassles food trucks

Urbanites appreciate the food, but restaurants don’t like the competition (Reason.tv).

See also related item from last summer (nearby Orange County).

Filed under: food safety, Los Angeles

Bank of America disclosure controversy

No good deed goes unpunished, suggest the editorialists at the Washington Post of an aggressive enforcement action by New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo over the bank’s Merrill Lynch deal. “Dishonest dealing in the securities markets is a problem. So are duplicative state and federal laws that can make companies repeatedly liable for the same conduct under different legal standards.”

Filed under: attorneys general, banks, New York, securities litigation

U.K.: study finds jurors “fail to understand judges’ instructions”

“Two thirds of jurors sitting in British courts fail to understand what a judge tells them about important aspects of the law, risking serious miscarriages of justice, a study [based on 69,000 verdicts] concludes.” One possible response is a greater shift to written instructions from judges. [Telegraph] Among other conclusions of the Ministry of Justice study: “all-white juries do not discriminate against black defendants” and “men sitting on juries are less likely than women to listen to arguments and change their minds.” [Times Online]

Filed under: juries, United Kingdom

Government-created risk

“How the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition, with deadly consequences.” [Blum/Slate] A little while back I did an article for Reason on the surprisingly frequent role government has played in promoting and furthering products that pose a risk to life and limb.

P.S. It’s still going on, though with a lower toll: ethanol sold for nondrinking use is “denatured” and made poisonous by law (h/t James Fulford in comments, Alex Tabarrok)

Filed under: alcohol, safety

New at Point of Law

Things you’re missing if you aren’t checking out my other site:

Iowa federal judge hits EEOC with $4.5 million attorney fee award over “sue first, ask questions later” litigation strategy;
Jim Copland continues his weeklong blogging of Trial Lawyers Inc.: K Street with posts on the plaintiff’s bar’s Washington, D.C. presence (with discussion of CPSIA, employment litigation, qui tam, and arbitration, among other topics); state lobbying; and public relations, including legal academics, the media, and consumer groups;
Hmm: House committee conveniently subpoenas Toyota defense documents that plaintiffs had been seeking to unseal (and more on Toyota);
Obama administration plans crackdown to make more employers reclassify independent contractors as employees;
Trial bar stirs pot in Florida politics;
Feds swoop down on 2003 settlement to demand that parties reimburse Medicare as provided by retroactive law.

Filed under: arbitration, CPSIA, CPSIA and Congress, EEOC, Florida, loser pays, Medicare, on other blogs, politics, qui tam, retroactive, subpoenas, Toyota, trial lawyer earmarks