- More regulation of online speech: what could go wrong? “‘Eraser’ law gives California teens the right to delete online posts” [ABA Journal, Eric Goldman, Scott Greenfield]
- Gov. Brown signs bill to grant law licenses in California to illegal immigrants [Reuters]
- “Court: website alleging police corruption shouldn’t have been shut down” [Ars Technica; Lafayette, Louisiana]
- License to speak: Eugene Volokh and Cato Institute challenge licensing of DC tour guides;
- Thanks to Keith Lee at Associates Mind for including us in list of recommended law sites;
- St. Paul disparate-impact housing controversy: “How Mischievous Obama Administration Officials Scuttled An Important Supreme Court Case” [Trevor Burrus, see also]
- Great circle of tax-funded life: public sector lobbying expenditures [Washington state via Tyler Cowen]
Archive for 2013
Connecticut: you can’t sue opposing lawyer for fraud
On the other hand, it seems to be open season on opponents in the Nutmeg State: lawyers will continue to enjoy “absolute immunity” from being sued by their opponents on charges of fraud. “Donna Simms [client of the lawyers in question] said she wasn’t excited about the decision because she’s been involved in court proceedings with her ex-husband for three decades and there may be more legal fights.” [Insurance Journal]
California court: malicious prosecution suit can go forward
It’s against a law firm for allegedly wrongly naming a car dealership as a defendant in an asbestos case. The (unpublished) decision, denying a SLAPP-law motion, is here (Tulare SAG, Inc. v. Keller, Fishback, and Jackson LLP). Note: Link is a document download, not a page, and may not work for all browsers or users.
NAAG pushes FDA regulation of e-cigarettes
Funny thing, though: its state members aren’t exactly financially impartial about the matter. [Daniel Fisher, Forbes]
Andrew Grossman on City of Arlington
In this video from Cato’s Constitution Day, the Baker & Hostetler attorney (and friend of this site) discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision according deference to agencies’ determinations of their own jurisdiction. The case, which split the conservative justices, was one of the rare defeats for a Cato Institute amicus position last term.
Related: Michael Greve, John Yoo and Mike Rappaport on rethinking administrative law and the era of deference.
Judges: reopen BP settlement
A big win for the oil company before a Fifth Circuit panel, fighting what it says is systematic large-scale fraud in the Gulf Coast spill economic-damage settlement. [Bloomberg News, earlier here, here, etc.]
Alex Beam on Alan Dershowitz
The columnist has a priceless anecdote of a fact-checking query mistakenly left in a pre-publication book version sent out by Prof. Dershowitz’s publisher; also, why those who complain about being called celebrity lawyers should probably not call attention to lists of the famous people they’ve represented. [Boston Globe]
Maryland roundup
- You might as well live: estate and inheritance tax make it highly inadvisable to die as a Maryland resident [TaxProf]
- “Foreclosures: The Chickens Come Home to Roost” [Calvert Institute, earlier]
- Courts task force created earlier this year will study costly and open-ended Civil Gideon proposals [courts]
- For your own good: state’s commissioner of financial regulation goes after banks that service payday lenders [Funnell]
- Governor candidates angle for union support, bids include “greater use of collective bargaining agreements on state construction projects” [WaPo]
- Really, it won’t kill you to respect people’s consciences on Frederick County boards and commissions [Bethany Rodgers, Frederick News Post on Pledge of Allegiance controversy, update, Ken at Popehat (“Freedom of conscience is like the good couch in the living room; it’s there to be had, not to be used.”), Gene Healy background] About time: city may ease restrictions on bed and breakfasts [Jen Bondeson, Frederick News Post]
- Only a handful of states join Maryland in policy of unionizing home child carers [Go Local Providence, more]
Facebook to let school officials flag “questionable” posts for takedown
That’s the gist of an announcement this morning from the office of Maryland attorney general Doug Gansler, following on the passing into effect of the state’s groundbreaking “cyberbullying” law, which I criticized earlier this year. The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) is involved too in the Educator Escalation Channel, which will start with a pilot Maryland program. Gansler says those targeted for post takedowns will include Facebook users who are “not committing a crime… We’re not going to go after you, but we are going to take down the language off of Facebook, because there’s no redeeming societal value and it’s clearly hurting somebody.” Although the rationale is to protect Maryland juveniles from unwelcome and hurtful online communications, the initial press reports offer no indication that the Facebook users whose speech is targeted for takedown will necessarily be other Maryland juveniles.
What could possibly go wrong? I’ve got some thoughts on the question at Cato at Liberty. More: Scott Greenfield (“Facebook becomes the agent of the state. … Welcome to the start of something big.”)
Three new books
No fewer than three friends of Overlawyered (and I’m probably forgetting some) have new books out on constitutional law and political theory. Clark Neily has just published Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government (more), Ilya Somin has just published Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government Is Smarter (review), and Josh Blackman has just published Unprecedented: The Constitutional Challenge to Obamacare (review; triple mini-review by Tim Sandefur of all three books with preview of two more). Congratulations to all!