Please do regulate babysitting much harder, urges Coyote [earlier; see also]
Archive for September, 2011
“Patent Bill Viewed as Bailout for a Law Firm”
Congress might provide a do-over for a drug firm that inadvertently missed filing for a patent extension by a day or two, and in so doing spare the prominent law firm WilmerHale a possible malpractice payout [Andrew Pollack, New York Times]
SCOTUSblog symposium on class actions; Cato Constitution Day next week
SCOTUSblog, the eminent Supreme-Court-watching site, has been running a symposium on the future of class actions after such decisions as Wal-Mart v. Dukes, AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion, and Smith v. Bayer. Contributors include many names familiar from our columns, including Ted Frank, Andrew Trask, Russell Jackson, and Paul Karlsgodt.
And a reminder to those of you who can make it to the Washington, D.C. area next Thursday: Cato’s annual Constitution Day will feature three outstanding panels reviewing the work of the high court in the past term, including a panel moderated by me and featuring Roger Pilon (Cato) on pre-emption, Andrew Trask (McGuire Woods) on Wal-Mart, and Jonathan Adler (Case Western, Volokh Conspiracy) on climate change litigation. You can register here.
Temperature of brown-bag lunches
Do parent-packed school meals require refrigeration protocols once thought suitable for human organs destined for transplant? Lenore Skenazy examines a ridiculous media scare. [Free-Range Kids]
“You have a right to record the police”
The First Circuit federal court of appeals has ruled that the First Amendment protects the right to record police officers’ public activity, notwithstanding a Massachusetts law banning “wiretapping.” Meanwhile, in Chicago, a jury speedily acquitted Tiawanda Moore on charges that she had committed a similar offense by using her Blackberry to record the visit of officers who were attempting to talk her out of a sexual harassment complaint against a member of the force. [Glenn Reynolds, Examiner, Gizmodo; earlier here, here]
“Not every human problem deserves a law”
A veto message from Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, after the California legislature passed a bill imposing a fine on children or their parents or guardians for skiing or snowboarding without a helmet: “While I appreciate the value of wearing a ski helmet,” wrote the governor, “I am concerned about the continuing and seemingly inexorable transfer of authority from parents to the state.” [John Myers, KQED; text of veto message]
“Cereal Maker Claims Non-Profit’s Bird Looks Too Much Like Toucan Sam”
“The Maya Archaeology Initiative is fighting back against claims by Kellogg North America that a bird depicted in MAI’s logo is too similar to ‘Toucan Sam,’ the fictional spokesbird for Froot Loops cereal.” In a response to the cease-and-desist letter from Kellogg lawyers, the Central American cultural philanthropy “noted the differences between the two toucans, including coloration, beak shape, and the fact that MAI’s bird is based on birds that actually exist in nature.” [Lowering the Bar](& welcome TechDirt readers)
Ticketing drivers for flashing lights near speed traps
Florida cops ticket drivers a lot for doing that, reports Radley Balko, the problem being that flashing-to-warn doesn’t seem to be against the state’s law.
Welcome Economist readers
“Overlawyered” is the name of a widely read blog on America’s legal system….
Thus begins an article in the new issue of The Economist, the London-based newsmagazine, discussing First Thing We Do, Let’s Deregulate All the Lawyers, a new book by Clifford Winston and Robert Crandall (Brookings) and Vikram Maheshri (University of Houston) on barriers to entry in the legal profession. Check it out here.
September 7 roundup
- Truth through intimidation? U.K.: “Chronic fatigue syndrome researchers face death threats from militants” [Guardian] Nanotechnologists are target of Unabomber copycat [Chronicle of Higher Education]
- Blogger (and frequent Overlawyered commenter) Amy Alkon criticizes intrusive TSA agent by name, agent threatens $500K libel suit [Mike Masnick/TechDirt, Mark Bennett]
- NYT fans “pill mill” hysteria, heedless of the costs [Sullum]
- Patent litigant “pursued baseless infringement allegations in bad faith and for an improper purpose.” More loser-pays, please [NLJ, PoL]
- Great moments in link solicitation [Scott Greenfield] Quality bar at feminist lawprof blog may not be set terribly high [Popehat]
- “Wow, this photo got over 475 views from being reposted on Overlawyered” [Erik Magraken]
- “Popular Comic Strip Has Fun With Wacky Warnings” [Bob Dorigo Jones]