Nassau County, N.Y., had let go 71-year-old veteran lifeguard Jay Lieberfarb after he failed a swim test. Charging that the county had not always dismissed younger guards who had failed the same test, the EEOC proceeded to negotiate a $65,000 back pay settlement, a three-year consent decree and other relief. [EEOC press release; h/t Roger Clegg] Earlier on superannuated lifeguards [Ocean City, N.J.] (& welcome Chris Fountain readers; he recommends this blog as a cure for low blood pressure)
Archive for June, 2012
Mayor Mike, soda snatcher (cont’d)
The outrage goes on and on, and why shouldn’t it? “Researchers Whose Work Was Cited to Justify Bloomberg’s Large Soda Ban Explain Why it Won’t Work” [Ilya Somin] Paternalism advocates like Kelly Brownell see the drink initiative as a stalking horse for much bigger plans [Jacob Sullum, syndicated] And NYU lawprof Rick Hills deems it “silly” for libertarians to take a stand in opposition [Prawfs; response, Somin]
More: Federal initiatives to improve citizens’ thrift and parenting skills suggest the spirit of Bloomberg roams abroad in Washington, D.C. [Ray Hartwell]
By reader acclaim: cardiologist should have warned cop of sex spree
Covered it in a roundup a couple of weeks back, but as a reader favorite it may as well have its own post: “A jury has awarded a Georgia woman $3 million over her husband’s heart attack, finding that his doctor should have warned the Atlanta cop against strenuous activity like the three-way sex he was having at the time he died, WXIA-TV reports.” The deceased was not married to either of the other participants in the fatal motel-room encounter. [USA Today/Freep]
Memo to: Liberty County, Texas police
When a psychic calls in to inform you of an extremely sensational crime story undetected up to now, think carefully before you act [Scott Greenfield]
Environmental roundup
- Nebraska Sen. Johanns proposes bill to curb EPA surveillance overflights (which, contrary to some erroneous reports going around, are manned flights) [Daily Caller, earlier]
- “Time to Discard the Precautionary Principle at the CPSC” [Nancy Nord]
- Victimology beats science with 9/11 dust fund [Point of Law, ACSH] Two NYC plaintiff’s firms fight over $50 million in 9/11-responder fees [Reuters]
- “Court dismisses climate change ‘public trust’ suit” [Katie Owens, WLF]
- Erin Brockovich promotes Fridley, Minnesota cancer cluster, local man “eager to hear” her spiel [StarTrib, earlier]
- Jonathan Adler guestblogs on environmental policy at The Atlantic [Volokh]
- Businesses’ donations on environmental advocacy? Never trust content from “Union of Concerned Scientists” [Ron Bailey]
- Talking back to “Gasland,” the anti-fracking advocacy flick [Ron Bailey and more, Mark Perry, Business Week on local economic impact]
FunnyJunk lawyer sues charity recipients
After his nastygram aimed at Matthew Inman of humor site The Oatmeal backfired spectacularly — Inman turned his resistance into a much-publicized fundraiser for two nonprofit recipients, the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society — a California attorney proceeded to go a remarkable step further, with train-wreck consequences outlined at BoingBoing, Popehat, and Lowering the Bar. More: Inman, Lowering the Bar.
Roger Clemens acquitted on all counts
Story at USA Today and CBS News. Among those who had questions about the prosecution from the start: Tom Kirkendall. Also see: Ron Coleman.
More: What jurors might have disliked about both the Clemens and the John Edwards prosecutions; a New York Sun editorial on the Clemens acquittal; Sally Jenkins, WaPo, via Fran Smith.
Philosophy, not gender, drives SCOTUS decisions
My new post at Cato at Liberty takes a look at yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Williams v. Illinois, a Confrontation Clause case involving an accused rapist. It’s one more data point bolstering the observation that if the three most liberal members of the current Court (Ginsburg, Kagan, and Sotomayor) vote together with some frequency, it’s more because they share a certain philosophy about the law than because they’re all women.
P.S. I see Eugene Volokh got there first, drawing similar conclusions (& welcome Nabiha Syed, SCOTUSblog readers).
Labor and employment roundup
- “The extra UAW subsidies cost $26.5 billion… The Detroit auto bailout was, in fact, a UAW bailout.” [James Sherk and Todd Zywicki; Volokh]
- In 5-4 decision [Christopher v. SmithKline Beecham] Supreme Court rejects Department of Labor interpretation of independent contractor status [Trevor Burrus/Cato, SCOTUSBlog, Michael Fox]
- “The next battleground for the NLRB? Acting General Counsel Suggests At-Will Disclaimers May Violate NLRA” [Daniel Schwartz, earlier]
- Thoughts on labor law from David Henderson and from Jacob Levy at Bleeding Heart Libertarians; “Freeing Labor Markets by Reforming Union Laws” [Charles W. Baird, Downsizing The Federal Government]
- Aspiring Gotham cop: “Anti-gay Muslim cries bias” [NY Post]
- New York privacy law conceals misconduct in uniformed services [Tuccille, Reason]
- “The New Front in the Labor Wars Has Officially Opened in Michigan” [Shikha Dalmia]
When prosecutors threaten to sue over criticism
Popehat’s Ken and Ron Littlepage of the Florida Times-Union on Angela Corey, the evidently thin-skinned Florida special prosecutor in the Martin-Zimmerman case. A letter Corey sent to the Florida Times-Union, in Ken’s view, “betrays anger management issues, entitlement problems, a weak grasp of pertinent First Amendment law governing statements of opinion, and a rather frightening attitude from a government official with such power.” Earlier here and here.