But it’s been “very seldom” so far. Oh, well, then that’s okay. [Mashable, Guardian, earlier]
More: Most of us would say a drone hovering 20 feet above our back yard invades our property. Will the FAA agree? [Voss, NoWayFAA.org]
Archive for 2013
Prospering under ObamaCare
Well, at least health care regulatory lawyers are prospering [Ira Stoll] And if California is any indication, the bland-sounding state-level “health insurance exchanges” are going to engineer a transfer of hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars to “outreach” efforts conducted by interest groups politically allied with the Obama administration, including the SEIU, AFL-CIO, NAACP, and various community activist groups. “The Obama health law creates a permanent stream of funding for unions and community activists by outsourcing insurance enrollment to them. Assisters will also guide the uninsured to sign up for whatever non-health social services they may be eligible for, including welfare, food stamps and housing assistance, according to the manual prepared by the Community Health Councils for California’s implementation.” [Betsy McCaughey, Investors’ Business Daily]
“Department of Labor vs. me”
An innovative clothing consignment business travels from location to location using consigning parents as volunteers — but now the Department of Labor says the parents need to be treated as employees. [Rhea Lana Riner, USA Today]
War — what is it good for?
If you’re the federal government, one thing it’s good for is to turn a losing claim — losing because filed too late — into a possible winner. It works through something called the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA), enacted by Congress in 1942 as the U.S. entered World War Two, and I explain it in this guest column for Jurist.
Discrimination law roundup
- Next big church-employee bias case? Teacher signed “abide by Catholic teachings” contract, wins $170K anyway [AP] ACLU, which cheers that ruling, upset that new ENDA version would give more liberty to religious entities [BuzzFeed]
- “Employee Who Changed Word Secretly in Severance Agreement Allowed to Proceed With Discrimination Claim” [Daniel Schwartz]
- Sleeper Supreme Court case, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar, tackles mixed-motive retaliation, oft-recurring fact pattern [podcast with Emory lawprof Charles Shanor, Fed Soc Blog]
- You needn’t be anti-gay to oppose ENDA [Coyote, Scott Shackford] Case for public-accommodations version in state of Washington must be symbolic since it’s light on substance [Shackford]
- English-only policies at workplace an “interesting and seldom litigated issue.” [Jon Hyman]
- Bad, unfair move: “California Senate Passes Law to Revoke Status of Nonprofits With Anti-Gay Policies” [Philanthropy News Digest; Scott Walter, Philanthropy Daily]
- Among those seeking broad religious exemptions from anti-bias laws, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion ought to be more controversial [BTB] Arizona bill carving out religious exception to bias laws also authorizes new suits against business [AZCentral]
- “Across the country, human rights commissions cause more harm than they prevent.” [Scott Beyer, City Journal; Mark Hemingway, Weekly Standard]
- New Colorado law allows workers to collect from small businesses in discrimination lawsuits [Judy Greenwald, Business Insurance]
Which is more carefully drafted…?
The ACLU’s lawsuit over the NSA surveillance program, or Larry Klayman’s? And which has more grandstanding? If you have to ask… [Howard Wasserman, Prawfs]
Storming the homes of political enemies, cont’d
Why isn’t there greater revulsion when political mobs assail the personal residences of officials they disagree with? And who will be next? [Mark Krikorian; earlier here, etc.] (& welcome Instapundit readers)
A further note on internships
“Paying to Learn Nothing = Legal; Paying Nothing to Learn = Illegal” [Andrew Coulson, Cato, contrasting internship ruling with the general lack of a legal or political remedy against educational institutions should you “go into serious debt [but] learn nothing of value”; more on the absence of “educational malpractice” relief; earlier here, etc.]
Food roundup
- Watch on the rinds: consumers protest against Mimolette import ban [Cato interview with Jill Erber of Northern Virginia cheese shop Cheesetique, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Mark Steyn on French and U.S. attitudes toward cheese freedom, earlier here, etc.] “The Inside Story of a ‘Juror Revolt’ in Amish Raw Milk Trial” [Modern Farmer] History of Canadian margarine regulation [more from Steyn, NRO]
- Steve Chapman on the utopian quest for zero BAC driving [syndicated/Reason]
- “In addition to its constitutional flaws, California’s foie gras ban is unenforceable.” [Baylen Linnekin]
- Class actions vs. food and beverage defendants soar, “from roughly 19 cases in 2008 to more than 102 in 2012” [Reuters]
- Beware the kale: “The Terrible Tragedy of the Healthy Eater” [Erica, NW Edible Life]
- Culinary, legal, insurance and scientific aspects of roadkill [Edible Geography]
- “FDA And Caffeine: Selective Regulation By Unsubtle Threat” [Cory Andrews, WLF]
“…It was certainly *not* some impulsive, ham-fisted attempt to bully a local resident…”
The township of West Orange, N.J. sends a cease and desist letter to a local political activist who runs the domain westorange.info and gets the following response from attorney Stephen Kaplitt (via Above the Law):
Dear Mr. Trenk:
I am pro bono counsel to Jake Freivald and write in response to your “cease and desist letter,” dated May 13, 2013, regarding his domain westorange.info. Obviously it was sent in jest, and the world can certainly use more legal satire. Bravo, Mr. Trenk! ….
Oh, and just to play along, had you intended for your letter to be taken seriously, even in some small measure, we would have sent in response something along the following lines: …
[several legal points follow about municipalities’ general lack of a right to exclude others from using their names as part of domains]
If you manage to produce supporting authority that even remotely passes the laugh test, I will donate $100 in your honor to the American Civil Liberties Union — N.J. chapter. I plan to make the donation online, assuming the state of New Jersey has not shut down aclu-nj.org.