“Golf course company in lawsuit: Sanford lied 90 years ago”

“The city of Sanford [Florida] is in court — again — because the private company that manages its Mayfair Country Club golf course wants out of its 20-year contract, accusing the city of a 90-year-old lie. Maece Taylor Inc., which rescued and revived the course four years ago after the city had a falling-out with its previous operator, says its deal with the city is invalid because city officials lied about who designed the course in the 1920s.” [Orlando Sentinel]

Massachusetts: “Innovative Medical Liability Reform”

A new report for the Pioneer Institute by John Biebelhausen (Colorado) and Amy Lischko (Tufts) examines a range of policy options for improving the Massachusetts medical malpractice system, including “less traditional” options such as “contract liability,” a “method for patients to contract directly with doctors or health systems to establish pre-determined rules for compensation in the case of injury due to physician negligence.” [“Innovative Medical Liability Reform: Traditional and Non-Traditional Methods“]

Treading with care in art authentication

Highly regarded art scholars are keeping mum, or communicating only cryptically, regarding their doubts as to the authenticity of claimed works by French master Edgar Degas. Why? They’re afraid of being sued:

Unfortunately, such silence is not an isolated incident but part of what seems to be a growing trend nationwide among art experts, where fear of litigation seems to be stifling open, honest and constructive debate. Also keeping much quieter than they should on the matter of the Degas sculpture market are organizations such as the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Art Dealers Association of America, the American Association of Museums and the College Art Association.

[William D. Cohan, Bloomberg]

September 21 roundup

“Will restricting criminal background checks actually increase minority unemployment?”

One of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s current big projects — making it legally hazardous for employers to check job applicants’ criminal records — could actually backfire, according to research cited by some members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights [Caroline May, Daily Caller]:

Civil Rights Commissioners Peter Kirsanow, Gail Heriot and Todd Gaziano pointed to research from economists Harry Holzer and Stephen Rafael and public policy professor Michael Stoll, published in the Journal of Law and Economics, which showed that employers with access to background checks are actually more likely to hire African Americans, especially African American men, than those without access to that informaion.

“Their results suggest that, in the absence of criminal background checks, some employers discriminate statistically against black men and/or those with weak employment records,” the commissioners pointed out in their letter to the EEOC.

Upcoming speeches: Washington & Lee, University of Virginia

I’ll be speaking this week at two law schools in Virginia, courtesy of the local Federalist Society chapters, about my new book Schools for Misrule. At noon Wednesday I’ll be talking to students at Washington & Lee in Lexington, Va., and then at noon Thursday I’ll speak at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, with Prof. J. Gordon Hylton slated to respond. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my past visits to both schools and expect that these will be a treat as well. If you’re in the area, consider dropping by.