Over opposition from some powerful elected officials, efforts continue in New York City to reform knife laws “that effectively criminalize tools that vast numbers of Americans carry with them to work as electricians, stagehands and other tradesmen – a fact that helps explain why the reforms usually enjoy union support.” [James Varney, Real Clear Investigations; Jon Campbell, Village Voice] I wrote about this crazy law for Cato in 2014, and see these related posts.
Facebook prevails in another pair of abetting-terrorism suits
“A federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, has dismissed two lawsuits that claimed Facebook should be liable for allowing terrorists to use its platform to advance violence….The plaintiffs had claimed that Palestinian terrorism organizations used the social media platform to incite and organize attacks.” [Debra Cassens Weiss, ABA Journal; Eugene Volokh (federal judge ruled “in my view quite correctly”)]
Sugar in Jelly Bellies? Who knew?
In a lawsuit seeking class action status in California state court, Jessica Gomez alleges that Jelly Belly’s “Sport Beans,” which are touted as containing electrolytes and vitamins, “contain more sugar than she thought,” and that the ingredient list resorted to the euphemism “evaporated cane juice” to describe the sweetener. [John O’Brien and Sara McCleary, Legal Newsline]
Medical roundup
- Whether or not California’s 1975 MICRA law limiting medical liability serves as a model for anything national, its results merit study by other states [H. Thomas Watson, Robert H. Wright, and S. Thomas Todd, WLF]
- No, Kaiser Health News and Scientific American, a 1-in-3 rate of post-marketing drug safety alerts does not prove FDA too lax [“Scott Alexander,” Slate Star Codex]
- Jim Hood Watch: “Mississippi AG, with the help of outside attorneys, sues pharma companies over allegedly unapproved drugs” [Jessica Karmasek, Legal Newsline]
- When deconstruction met evidence-based medicine and denunciations of “microfascism” ensued [Dave Holmes et al., International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare, 2006 via Nicholas Christakis]
- Sen. Joe Manchin’s “approve one opioid, yank another from market” bill to tie FDA hands is a bad idea [Jeffrey Singer, Huffington Post]
- Death by a thousand clicks: what Boston doctors can’t stand about electronic medical records [John Levinson, Bruce Price and Vikas Saini, WBUR]
More tales of motorist-beware Tenaha, Texas
From John Ross’s April 28 Short Circuit (Institute for Justice):
Readers may recall Tenaha, Tex. officials’ particularly opprobrious abuse of asset forfeiture, which got a write-up in The New Yorker. This week, the Fifth Circuit shares additional details that were news to the editorial staff: During the investigation of the city’s forfeiture practices, the city marshal bugged other officials’ offices, including the mayor. He was also stealing drugs from the evidence room and selling them.
Is it a climate of forfeiture-derived local government finance that attracts this sort of official?
I wrote up Sarah Stillman’s New Yorker piece at the time. Overlawyered coverage of Tenaha here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Whiplash and incentives, abroad
“In my first 20 years as a consultant I wrote many reports which were economical with the truth – the truth being that there was very little wrong with the vast majority of compensation claimants that I saw. I was moving with the herd.” While lawyers, insurers, and others are all complicit, writes Dr. Charlie Marks, the onus is on the medical profession to speak up against medico-legal misdiagnosis [Irish Times via Patrick Collinson, The Guardian (“Whiplash: the myth that funds a £20bn gravy train”)]
SF supervisor seeks ban on delivery robots
Worries “that many delivery jobs would disappear” are cited among the reasons San Francisco Supervisor Norman Yee is sponsoring a ban on delivery robots in the city, prompting this response:
San Fran economics, in 3 steps!
Step 1: Pass $15 minimum wage.
Step 2: Robots take delivery jobs.
Step 3: Ban robots to save delivery jobs. https://t.co/Uj21cnvKuQ— Michael Saltsman (@Mike_Saltsman) May 31, 2017
Commenters have several suggestions for Steps 4 and beyond, including (@railboss): “Complain there aren’t any decent restaurants anymore with reasonably priced food or that deliver.”
Pennsylvania high court limits civil asset forfeiture
In an important decision the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that to seize property under civil process the state must prove that property played a significant role in crime, and the value seized cannot be disproportionate to the offense [AP/Allentown Morning Call, C.J. Ciaramella/Reason, opinion in car and real estate proceedings involving Elizabeth Young, background Milad Emam, Philadelphia Inquirer 2016 op-ed on Institute for Justice brief] Philadelphia authorities seized Young’s house and minivan after her son sold $90 worth of marijuana on her front porch. Earlier this year I covered a different Pennsylvania intermediate court decision, which also checked the scope of forfeiture law, here.
Georgia: deregulating ride-share was not a “taking”
The Georgia high court has unanimously rejected a taxi industry suit arguing that the legalization of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, by undercutting the monopoly power of Atlanta taxi medallions and other legal entitlements, amounts to a taking for which the state owes them compensation [Nick Sibilla, Forbes]
NPR: isn’t there a right to eat, Mr. Congressman?
Dear Scott Simon, NPR “Weekend Edition” host: you don’t win a specific policy argument just by proclaiming a grand universal right to food, health care, housing, water, or whatever. [John Cochrane, The Grumpy Economist]