“Two Virginia volunteer firefighters were suspended for transporting an 18-month-old girl to the hospital in a fire engine last Saturday, ultimately saving her life.” When the girl had a seizure, the two were first to respond and took her to a Fredericksburg hospital. “[Captain James] Kelley said they were suspended because their fire engine is licensed as a ‘non-transport unit’ and doesn’t have the proper restraints and medications that an ambulance would have. He said when this kind of thing happens firefighters are praised, but then disciplined.” [FoxNews]
Candidates’ flip-flops on international trade
“After years of similar pandering, the GOP doesn’t have a good response to Trump’s trade demagoguery. But there is one.” [William Watson, Cato; Scott Lincicome, The Federalist]
Environment roundup
- Eminent domain on the silver screen: “Wild River” (1960) starring Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick tells story of TVA’s taking of the last parcel for a dam [Gideon Kanner]
- Berkshire Hathaway: up to now, climate change has not produced more frequent insured weather-related events [Tyler Cowen]
- Erin Brockovich goes on the Dr. Oz show to spread doubts about fluoride in drinking water [Hank Campbell, ACSH; more Brockovich follies]
- California declares relatively unprocessed “aloe vera whole leaf extract” to be a dangerous chemical, which means it can be added to the Prop 65 list; note however that the refined aloe vera used in consumer products is not so included [Conkle Law]
- Some environmentalists plan to sue fund managers who don’t act against global warming [The Guardian, Nature]
- A tale of Superfund joint and several liability: “How tort reform helped crack down on polluters” [Ross Marchand, R Street Institute]
- “Great Moments in US Energy Policy: In the 1970’s, The US Government Mandated Coal Use For New Power Plants” [Coyote]
Update: mandatory oppression studies at American University
We noted in January that American University, in Washington, D.C., was considering a drastic overhaul of university rules in response to the demands of social-justice activists. Now it’s moving forward: although some of the more extreme details have been dropped, or at least go unmentioned, a February 29 letter from President Neil Kerwin proposes a mandatory oppression studies course for first-years, additionally “address the subject matter in at least one other required course selected from the AU curriculum.” Plus: racial hiring!
Upcoming speeches
I’ll be speaking over the next two weeks in Philadelphia, St. Louis, D.C., and Maryland’s Eastern Shore:
Tues. March 8, Washington, D.C., Common Cause “Blueprint for a Great Democracy” conference, panel on Article V constitutional convention proposals.
Mon., March 14, Philadelphia, Temple Law School Federalist Society, on the life and work of Justice Scalia.
Tues., March 15, Centreville, Md., Queen Anne’s County Republican Club, on redistricting.
Tues., March 22, St. Louis, Mo., Intercollegiate Studies Institute debating Michael Farris on Article V constitutional convention proposals.
For details on any of these events, or to invite me to address your group, inquire at editor -at – overlawyered – dot – com.
Maryland falters on LEOBR reform
Following a series of episodes including the death of Freddie Gray in a Baltimore police van, sentiment seemed to run high for reconsidering at least some of Maryland’s “Law Enforcement Bill of Rights” law, which erects tenure-like obstacles to firing or disciplining police over suspected misconduct. But critics say by the time a commission’s recommendations made it to legislative consideration, they had been watered down to accomplish relatively little and even give the state’s police unions more power than before [WBAL, Jim Giza/Baltimore Sun]
“How the P.C. Police Propelled Donald Trump”
“By assailing sensible conservatives as sexists, racists, and imbeciles, they paved the way” for someone who embodies their worst fears [Tom Nichols, Daily Beast in January]
EEOC’s “Position Statement Policy”
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires that employers state their account of a dispute at an early stage. Combined with a new policy of automatic hand-over of the information to plaintiff’s lawyers, it amounts to you-go-first discovery and an unreciprocated peek at the opposition case [Merrily Archer; Parker Poe]
Court unseals suit charging kickbacks in Mississippi state legal work
“A federal appeals court in New York has ordered a lawsuit by a former attorney with Bernstein Litowitz unsealed, saying the public has the right to see allegations the prominent class-action firm paid an attorney with connections to the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood’s office more than $100,000 to help secure work with the state.” [Daniel Fisher/Forbes] “When he had protested the unnecessary project given to [assistant attorney general DeShun] Martin’s wife, [Bruce] Bernstein says he was told by a fellow partner, ‘Do you ever want us to work with Mississippi again?'” [John O’Brien/Legal NewsLine] The allegations in the lawsuit, which was later settled, were never tested in court and the law firm denies wrongdoing, saying the suit had made “sensational, unfounded accusations.” [Alison Frankel/Reuters]
Will the Supreme Court now turn against employment arbitration?
In a case involving Murphy Oil, the National Labor Relations Board contends that “a mandatory arbitration provision violates the National Labor Relations Act. That has been the position of the NLRB for some time now, notwithstanding almost universal rejection by the courts.” The Fifth Circuit, unsurprisingly, joined other precedent and upheld the employer. Until just a short time ago, given a Supreme Court on which Justice Antonin Scalia had penned strong opinions in favor of freedom to contract in favor of arbitration as a choice, “employers would not have been terribly concerned if the NLRB had appealed.” But now? [Michael Fox, Jottings By an Employer’s Lawyer]