CPSIA chronicles, March 2

Reading from the weekend:

  • At the American Spectator, Quin Hillyer says his co-thinkers “need to really get up newcriterionin arms about” changing the law, and has kind words for a certain website that is “the single best place to track all its devastation”. At The New Criterion, Roger Kimball finds that the threat to vintage children’s books provides a good instance of the dangers of “safety”. And commentator Hugh Hewitt is back with another column, “The Congress Should Fix CPSIA Now“.
  • Numerous disparaging things have been said of the “mommy bloggers” who’ve done so much to raise alarms about this law. Because, as one of Deputy Headmistress’s commenters points out, it’s already been decided that this law is needed to “protect the children”, and it’s not as if mere mothers might have anything special to contribute about that.
  • Plenty of continuing coverage out there on the minibike/ATV debacle, including Brian O’Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (office of local Congressman Mike Doyle, D-Pa., says most members think, dubiously, that ban “can be fixed without new legislation”); Lebanon, Pa. (“Ridiculous… It’s closed an entire market for us”), Waterbury, Ct. (“The velocipedesadgovernment does stupid things sometimes without thinking”), and, slightly less recent, Atlantic City, N.J. (“I would’ve had three sales this weekend, so they stomped us”). Some background: Off-Road (agency guidance in mid-February told dealers to get youth models “off their showfloors and back into holding areas”); Motorcycle USA (“With right-size models being unavailable to families, we may see more kids out on adult ATVs and we know that this leads to crashes”). To which illustrator Meredith Dillman on Twitter adds: “Just wait until someone gets hurt riding a broken bike they couldn’t get replacement parts for.”
  • One result of CPSIA is that a much wider range of goods are apt to be subject to recalls, but not to worry, because the CPSC recall process is so easy and straightforward.

“Disbarred—but Not Barred from Work”

Disbarment isn’t always as severe a punishment as it may sound; some states “allow disbarred or suspended attorneys to work as paralegals or law clerks handling legal research or drafting documents under the supervision of an attorney.” One rationale is to ease the path for reinstatement of a lawyer who reforms and lives down past misconduct, but the practice opens the door to evasion, as in a Colorado case in which the disbarred attorney ostensibly turned his law firm over to associates and then was hired by them: “The reality was that the disbarred attorney was still running the firm,” a regulatory official says. [ABA Journal, June 2007 but unnoted here until now]

March 1 roundup

  • Somehow not shocked to hear this: “ABA Pushes for 1,000-Lawyer Legal Corps” [ABA Journal]
  • Appeals court will consider whether Roommates.com violated fair housing law by asking subscribers about sexual orientation [Heller, OnPoint News]
  • World gone mad: Bank of America has given ACORN nearly $3 million since 2005 [Capital Research Center] Group hasn’t given up its old lawbreaking ways [Michelle Malkin]
  • Gloria Allred representing injured passenger who rode with Morgan Freeman [AP, PopSquire, Janet Charlton]
  • If even they can’t comply you know it’s bad: Federal Labor Relations Authority found to have committed unfair labor practice [Workplace Prof]
  • Poor England, perhaps it’s time to retire its reputation as a place of civil liberties [Ken @ Popehat] Related: we’ve cleared you of child abuse, but it’s too late to get your children back, beastly sorry about that [Neatorama]
  • When the judge writes well, even a slip and fall verdict can make for agreeable reading [Turkewitz]
  • “Ebay Founder Tweets About An Unusual Lawsuit” [NY Times “Bits”, Pierre Omidyar]

CPSIA: How to keep current?

Whimsical Walney and Polka Dot Patch have each put up new posts that help answer the question: who should I be reading and checking regularly for new developments with and commentary about CPSIA? Both lists are excellent, comprehensive, and well annotated, with inevitably a lot of overlap. I’m grateful to be included on both.

Besides the names on these two lists, which I’m incorporating by reference, here are a few other additional resources I’ve found helpful:

And more to come, of that I’m certain.

writingwithquill

Public domain image: Grandma’s Graphics.

Costly defense of U.K. terror trial

“Lawyers who defended the men prosecuted for a plot to kill thousands of innocent people using massive fertilizer bombs were paid £7.16m in legal aid, it emerged last night. The 2007 trial was one of the biggest in British legal history and followed raids by the Metropolitan Police across London and the Home Counties. The judge described five of the men convicted for their part in the foiled terror attack as ruthless and devious misfits who had betrayed their country of birth.” Two other defendants won acquittal. [The Independent]