“City officials in Denver and in the neighboring suburb of Aurora are being sued over their enforcement of dog breed bans. The suit claims the bans violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.” [Arin Greenwood, ABA Journal]
Qui tam suits against for-profit colleges
The WSJ editors wonder to what extent the feds, who have been pursuing a campaign lately to bring the colleges to heel, are coordinating with the private False Claims Act bar. Meanwhile, Rogier at Nobody’s Business spots some ironies in the Justice Department’s suit against Education Management Corp.: “pushing low- to medium-value degrees is something that law schools — including some of the best in the country — do habitually, every day. All of higher education does, with no exceptions I’m aware of.”
Law schools roundup
- “A Dean’s Lament: I Wish I Had Never Gone to Law School” [Chen via Caron] Critiques of law schools go way (way, way) back [Dave Hoffman, ConcurOp]
- “ProfScam” blogger with provocative critique of legal academia reveals self as Paul Campos of Colorado [Kerr, Horwitz, Conglomerate, Ribstein, Lat] Lawprof cage match, Campos vs. Leiter — go Campos! [Caron, Campos, Greenfield]
- To deregulate legal services, start with law school accreditation [Winston/Crandall, WSJ] More views [Tim Lynch, Greenfield, Bader]
- Law school placement data scandal: here come the class action lawyers [TaxProf] ABA’s Villanova censure a venture in “atmospherics of disclosure” [Dave Hoffman, ConcurOp]
- “The no-frills law school” [Roger Dennis, Faculty Lounge] What drives law school tuition? [Orin Kerr]
- Per one critic, Liberty lawprof’s book on Miller-Jenkins case “justifies parental kidnapping and flouting the American judicial system” [BTB]
- NYSBA president on law schools: “Our research and our own experience show that graduates are less prepared to practice law” [WSJ] Evidence as a mere elective? What are law schools thinking? [Greenfield]
- Take a stroll with the law dean on his walk to work — but sign a release form first [ABA Journal]
- “Blame the lawyers and law schools” [Bob Ingle, Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, thanks for mention of Schools for Misrule]
Update: Florida suspends ticketing for speed-trap light-flashing
At least until the issue is resolved by the courts, the Florida Highway Patrol says it won’t ticket drivers for warning oncoming traffic about speed traps (Palm Beach Post, h/t reader Gitarcarver; earlier).
Atlanta police shooting aftermath
Kathryn Johnson, 92, “was shot and killed by police during a botched drug raid in 2006,” resulting in a payout of millions of dollars by the city. Now Rev. Markel Hutchins, who made public appearances as spokesperson for Johnston’s family, is suing her estate, saying he had an understanding to receive 10 percent of any recovery. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, WABE] (& note commented controversy over whether “botched raid” is accurate.)
“Process patents” at the Supreme Court
My Cato Institute colleagues have filed an amicus brief arguing against the spread of “a dangerous exception to traditional patent law… the Court should reject medical-diagnostic patents as impermissibly restricting the freedom of thought.” [Mayo v. Prometheus Labs; Ilya Shapiro, Jim Harper and Timothy Lee, Cato]
September 14 roundup
- Large newspaper group drops RightHaven; “it was a dumb idea” [Kravets/Wired, more] Courtroom reverses for copyright aggregator assume a comic tone [BoingBoing, Slashdot, Corporate Counsel]
- Dan Snyder drops suit against Washington City Paper [WCP, Wolfman/CL&P, Adler, earlier here, here, etc.] More reactions to TSAer’s lawsuit threat against columnist/blogger Amy Alkon [Treacher, Balko, Bader]
- Jury declines to credit testimony about when victim took Children’s Motrin [Beck]
- Mississippi high court strikes down widely noted $7 million lead paint verdict in Sherwin-Williams vs. Gaines [AP, Freeland, LNL, opinion]
- “Is suing the bar a new drunk driving trend?” [NJLRA]
- Decline of chemistry sets tells a story of fear and liability [John Browning, SETR, earlier]
- “Expectedly pleasing,” that’s me [Katherine Mangu-Ward, Reason]
Spare EPA’s heavy hand — they’re a swing state
My newest Cato at Liberty post raises an eyebrow at some remarkably cynical calculations — who’s making them isn’t entirely clear — about a recent Obama administration backtrack on environmental initiatives (& welcome Neal Boortz readers). More: ShopFloor (Texas power plants).
Live stream tomorrow morning: Supreme Court briefing
Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. Eastern I’ll be appearing at a Cato Institute “Liberty Briefing” for invited journalists and others to preview the Institute’s Constitution Day, which is Thursday, and to talk in particular about the U.S. Supreme Court’s approach to issues of civil litigation, including this year’s Wal-Mart v. Dukes case. My Cato colleague Trevor Burrus will be discussing court challenges to ObamaCare and its individual mandate, a topic likely to reach the high court before long. You can watch live online here.
Food law roundup
- Feds fund Boston campaign bashing sweetened drinks [Globe; see also on NYC] More on ObamaCare “Public Health Fund” subsidies to local paternalist initiatives on diet [WLF]
- Thanks to federal funding priorities, New York education department had 40 experts on school lunches, only one on science education [Frederick Hess via Stoll]
- Grocers hope to escape federal menu labeling mandate [FDA Law Blog] How regulations exasperate midsize restaurant operators [Philip Klein, Wash. Examiner]
- “The Eight Dumbest Restaurant Laws” [Zagat]
- Proposed federal standards on kid food ads extreme enough that many USDA “healthy” recipes would flunk [Diane Katz, Heritage] Do FTC’s guidelines violate the First Amendment? [WSJ]
- Compared with what? “Egg farm regulations still skimpy” [Stoll] Deer blamed for E. coli in pick-your-own strawberries [USA Today]
- U.K.: Your kids are too fat so we’re taking them away [Daily Mail; earlier here, here, etc.]