- Thomas Sowell on EPA dairy-spill regulations [NRO, earlier at Cato here and here] It’s the miracle federal agency: “What doesn’t the EPA do?” [ShopFloor]
- President’s State of the Union medical malpractice gesture, cont’d [PoL, more, Ted Frank/Examiner, NJLRA, related, earlier here, here, here, here, here, here, here, etc.]
- Fired minor-league Yankees mascot files wage-hour suit [ESPN]
- Ohio sheriff prepares criminal complaint against reporter for asking him questions [WHIO via Balko]
- It all happened so suddenly: Henry Waxman now disapproves of the use of subpoenas for fishing expeditions [Mark Tapscott, Examiner; earlier]
- Should hospitals ban cameras from childbirth? [NYT “Room for Debate” with contribution from Jim Harper, Cato Institute]
- Non-“flagrant” trespassing OK? Tort liability shift in Third Restatement [PoL]
- Nope: “At this time, I would like to formally accuse Walter Olson of having an intern or something.” [Ron Miller]
Nutella? Bad for your diet?
A class action plaintiff is shocked at the discovery. [ABA Journal, WSJ Law Blog] And a contrasting view: Max Kennerly. More: Stephen Richer, WLF.
A Ban On “Walking While Wired”?
[cross-posted from Cato at Liberty]
New York state senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) is crusading to ban pedestrians’ use of cellphones and other mobile devices while crossing the street. It’s for your own good, you must understand:
“When people are doing things that are detrimental to their own well being, then government should step in.”
The Daily Caller asked me to write an opinion piece about this proposal so I just did. Excerpt:
Phone use on the street has become near-ubiquitous in recent years, yet over nearly all that time — nationally as in Gotham — pedestrian death rates were falling steadily, just as highway fatalities fell steadily over the years in which “distracted driving” became a big concern.
In the first half of 2010, the national statistics showed a tiny upward blip (0.4 percent), occasioned by a relative handful of fatalities in a few states. Even a spokesman for the Governor’s Highway Safety Association, Jonathan Adkins, seems to agree it’s premature to jump to conclusions: “You don’t want to overreact to six months of data,” he told columnist Steve Chapman.
Like others who seek quasi-parental control over adults, Sen. Kruger tends to infantilize his charges. He told the Times: “We’re taught from knee-high to look in both directions, wait, listen and then cross. You can perform none of those functions if you are engaged in some kind of wired activity.”
This drew proper scorn from columnist Chapman: “Actually, you can perform all those functions and dance an Irish jig, even with text messages or rock music bombarding you.” That some ear bud devotees don’t take due caution is no reason to pretend they can’t.
C.S. Lewis, Lily Tomlin and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood all get walk-on parts as well.
Senator Leahy spares Professor Fried…
…from having to explain what many law professors (not including himself) actually think about constitutional interpretation [Ann Althouse]
Class action lawsuit over Jimmy Carter book
A new way to harass authors whose controversial message one disapproves of? The lawsuit, which demands $5 million, claims that the former President’s 2006 volume “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid” contains “numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised.” Sanctions, please! [Washington Post “Political Bookworm”]
Reprieve for children’s-goods makers
Alas, it’s just another a temporary one: the Consumer Product Safety Commission has once again stayed implementation of CPSIA’s impractical testing rules, this time till December 31. [Commissioner Nancy Nord, more, earlier here, here, etc.]
More/related: Virginia Postrel considers why small foodmakers and farmers were able to get a better legislative deal from Big Government than makers of small children’s items [WSJ] The Handmade Toy Alliance hopes President Obama’s announced change of course on regulation will help. Rick Woldenberg notes that if you’re a small producer and the CPSC itself doesn’t get you, retailers like Costco will as they turn the screws to ensure CPSIA-compliant supply chains. And CPSC Commissioner Anne Northup points out that the federal regulatory agency is interpreting the overlap between “general” and “child-related” safety standards in a maximally burdensome way.
“I’m not embarrassed at all by the fee”
Plaintiff’s lawyers agreed to seek a maximum of $99.9 million in fees in the settlement of the Cobell class action over federal mismanagement of Indian tribal trust funds. Now, however, a different number has suddenly appeared on the agenda: $223 million. [National Law Journal]
“Let us know of a slippery location”
A Wisconsin personal injury firm wants locals to send them word of icy conditions in shopping walkways and suchlike places — as part of a public service campaign, it goes without saying. [Bruce Vielmetti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Warshafsky law firm Spread the Sand]
Autopsy forensics
NPR, ProPublica and FrontLine collaborate on an extensive investigation of the many problems with coroners’ and medical examiners’ role in death investigation.
“I have to talk with my client”
The Namby Pamby offers tips for settling low-value cases. Extensive use of Angry Birds is recommended.