Here, and related Cato post. While the speech had little policy and less law in it, it did have some themes of national unity and dynamism I appreciated. I also mention in passing such topics as state right-to-work laws, social media polarization, and redistricting reform.
January 11 roundup
- Group letters by law professors opposing nominees should be treated with the respect due, normally zero [John McGinnis, Michael Krauss, Paul Caron/TaxProf with links to columns by Stephen Presser, Scott Douglas Gerber, and James Huffman]
- USA, courthouse to the world for compensation claims, even 100+ years later [Guardian on suit in Manhattan federal court by descendants of atrocities committed by Germans in what is now Namibia in early 1900s]
- Marvels of NYC tenant law: “Couple renting Chelsea pad hasn’t paid rent since 2010” [New York Post]
- Election results could mean 11th-hour save for embattled cause of consumer arbitration [Liz Kramer/Stinson Leonard Street LLP]
- Baltimore policing, family leave in Montgomery County, Uber/Lyft fingerprinting, getting money out of Howard County politics, and more in my latest Maryland policy roundup at Free State Notes;
- Speaking of ridesharing and regulation: “Without Uber or Lyft, Austin Experiences Skyrocketing DUI Rates” [Brittany Hunter, FEE]
Lawsuit: Apple should pay for distracted-driver crash
The driver responsible for a fatal Texas crash was using the FaceTime app and a lawsuit says Apple should have to pay for the resulting damages [NY Daily News, complaint via Amy Alkon]
Orange County: government workers were not on clear notice not to lie in court, falsify evidence
“Using taxpayer funds, government officials in Orange County have spent the last 16 years arguing the most absurd legal proposition in the entire nation: How could social workers have known it was wrong to lie, falsify records and hide exculpatory evidence in 2000 so that a judge would forcibly take two young daughters from their mother for six-and-a-half years?” The argument did not fare well as a hearing before Ninth Circuit Judge Stephen Trott: “I’m just staggered by the claim that people in the shoes of your clients wouldn’t be on notice that you can’t use perjury and false evidence to take away somebody’s children. That to me is mind boggling.” [R. Scott Moxley, OC Weekly; video]
Free speech roundup
- R.I.P at 91 Nat Hentoff, magnificent cultural figure, champion of free speech and civil liberties [Tim Lynch; Cato biography page with links to commentaries; related YouTube playlist; his last Village Voice column; trailer on documentary; large archive at Unz.org including work for Inquiry; remembered by free speech expert Ronald K.L. Collins, with many links]
- “Self-Proclaimed Inventor of Email Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt’s Mike Masnick” [THR, Esq./Hollywood Reporter; “the latest case from attorney Charles Harder, who previously represented Hulk Hogan against Gawker”]
- In the mail: Paul Cliteur and Tom Herrenberg, eds., The Fall and Rise of Blasphemy Law [Leiden University Press]
- On porn, some GOP lawmakers favor wacky litigation theories; others, a nanny state approach [Elizabeth Nolan Brown (Utah proposal), A. Barton Hinkle (Virginia)]
- The most damaging way for Trump to attack the press could be the one Obama has already laid out, namely pursuit of leaks and leakers [Peter Sterne/Politico, Mike Masnick/TechDirt] Mark Feb. 3 on calendar for Cato panel on free speech under Trump with Flemming Rose, Frank Buckley, Robert Corn-Revere; earlier Cato panel with Rose and Nick Gillespie on free speech in age of Trump now online; related on Trump’s antagonism toward critics from Jacob Sullum, Eugene Volokh;
- If Euro-style hate speech law ever sneaks into U.S., enactments like Louisiana’s Blue Lives Matter law may show the way [Scott Shackford, Reason; earlier]
Thwarted love and insurance coverage
From the First Circuit’s opinion introducing the case of Sanders v. Phoenix Insurance Company, arising out of somewhat lurid facts touching on both insurance coverage and professional responsibility:
SELYA, Circuit Judge. This case begins with a tragic tale of unrequited love and morphs into a series of imaginative questions regarding the coverage available under a standard form homeowner’s insurance policy. But when imagination runs headlong into settled legal precedent, imagination loses. Recognizing as much, the court below dismissed the complaint. After careful consideration, we affirm.
Liability roundup
- Florida convict blames Verizon for letting him steal man’s identity [WFTV]
- Carving the carcass: class-action lawyers’ fee-ing frenzy [Boston Globe, Daniel Fisher]
- Allianz report on state of directors and officers’ liability insurance market;
- Disbarred “Master of Disaster” Stanley Chesley fights paying victims of fen-phen settlement fraud [James Pilcher, Cincinnati Enquirer]
- As we’ve discussed on many occasions, supposed “Winnebago cruise control lawsuit” tale is a great big urban legend, but plenty of others alas are quite true [Bob Dorigo Jones]
- Will liability reform in Illinois ever manage to get around Speaker Michael Madigan? [Daniel DiSalvo, City Journal]
Manhattan eatery: overregulation did us in
Loyal patrons of well-known Manhattan restaurant China Fun were surprised by “the restaurant’s sudden Jan. 3 closing,” explained by owners’ son Albert Wu in a goodbye letter citing ten categories of regulation-driven cost including health insurance, insurance, and the minimum wage [New York Daily News]. The “endless paperwork and constant regulation that forced the shutdown accumulated over the years”:
“The climate for small businesses like ours in New York have become such that it’s difficult to justify taking risks and running — nevermind starting — a legitimate mom-and-pop business,” read a letter posted by the owners in the restaurant’s front door.
“The state and municipal governments, with their punishing rules and regulations, seems to believe that we should be their cash machine to pay for all that ails us in society.” …
Wu cited one regulation where the restaurant was required to provide an on-site break room for workers despite its limited space. And he blamed the amount of paperwork now required — an increasingly difficult task for a non-chain businesses.
“In a one-restaurant operation like ours, you’re spending more time on paperwork than you are trying to run your business,”
A spokesman for the office of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city offered small business free help from compliance advisers.
Dilatory disrobing not dockable
“Federal judge rules it’s against state law to dock strippers’ pay if they remove their clothes too slowly” [Wisconsin; BNA via @jonsteingart]
“Contractor sues Chesapeake couple for $90K over squirrel attack”
A Virginia contractor bitten and scratched by a squirrel has sued a nearby couple who he says had fed the animal and encouraged it to interact with humans. “We’ve already proven the fact that this wasn’t our squirrel…It’s not a pet,” said the defendant husband. [Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk), Lowering the Bar]