I’m set to join Ron Smith this morning at 10:35 a.m. on Baltimore’s WBAL to discuss the federal government’s role in food and nutrition. And C-SPAN has posted the video of my Monday appearance on “Washington Journal” on the same subject. More in my new post at Cato at Liberty.
Archive for June, 2011
But the class action fund was just sitting there!
There was weirdly little resistance when a scamster named Kevin Waltzer and his associates posed as investors and defrauded three securities class action settlement funds of more than $40 million. How about better verification mechanisms? [Trask, Trentonian]
“Disabled man puts the squeeze on [NYC] businesses with handicap lawsuits”
The New York Post profiles prolific ADA filer Zoltan Hirsch, who has targeted at least 87 businesses, and his lawyer, Bradley Weitz. “[Hirsch] targeted a pedicure station at the Red & White Spa in SoHo — even though he has no feet.”
Another problem with victim impact statements
Defendants may be presented at a very late stage with new allegations which they’ve never heard before and are precluded from challenging [Scott Greenfield]
“Lawsuits for the cure?”
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization continues to take an aggressive stance against other groups using “for the cure” phrasing in breast cancer charitable efforts, part of a wider trend toward disputes between non-profits on trademark issues. [Minneapolis Star-Tribune, earlier]
Self-driving cars
The technology is advancing rapidly, and promises a vast emancipation from drudgery — if punitive/prohibitive liability and regulatory rules don’t block its path. [Tyler Cowen] More: Ryan Calo.
June 7 roundup
- Claim: unwanted sugar in Dunkin’ Donuts coffee order sent customer into diabetic shock [AP]
- Schadenfreude aside, key theory in feds’ case against John Edwards looking mighty strained [Meck Deck/John Locke Foundation, Steve Hayward/Power Line, Ted Frank, Jacob Sullum] “They’ve indicted one former presidential candidate on one count of false statements?” [Caleb Brown] American Lawyer looks back at the law firms that backed Edwards in 2008; our coverage of his ’04 law-firm backers and of moneyman Fred Baron, and my commentary on Baron’s ethical standards;
- Edwards-reminiscent? Theory that earlier C-section would have averted cerebral palsy nets $58 M verdict [Thomas Scheffey, Connecticut Law Tribune]
- Carter Wood, key business-policy blogger, departs NAM for Business Roundtable;
- Tenderer tort-law treatment for trespassers, courtesy 3rd Restatement? [David Freddoso/Examiner, Richard Cupp via TortsProf]
- Non-shockingly, some litigation defense lawyers aren’t enthusiastic about lawsuit reform [Texas Lawyer]
- “Attorney charged with stealing clerk’s textbook from courtroom” [Baltimore Sun]
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
Congress is once again considering expanding an “anti-hacking” law that’s already disturbingly broad. Will users someday risk a felony rap for flouting websites’ Terms of Use? [Orin Kerr, Volokh]
“Acrophobic bridge worker protected by ADA”
The Seventh Circuit said a bridge worker with fear of heights can proceed with his suit contending the Illinois Department of Transportation should have done more to accommodate his wish to work only on those bridge maintenance tasks that did not leave him in an overly exposed position. It also said a jury could reasonably find IDOT was improperly eager for the plaintiff to depart because it regarded him as “annoying” and because he had had frictions with other employees, as when he said of one co-worker, “Sometimes I would like to knock her teeth out.” [Pat Murphy, Lawyers USA; Joe Lustig; Miller v. IDOT, courtesy Law.com]
CPSC database: Wobbly on its feet
The new Consumer Product Safety Commission database, promoted by its backers as a vital new source of information about safety threats to the public, has garnered lots of consumer complaints about … shoes. [CPSC commissioner Nancy Nord] Earlier at Cato.