Jacob Sullum on the FDA’s threat to ban caffeinated alcoholic drinks [Reason “Hit and Run”. Earlier here, here, here, etc.
Posts Tagged ‘alcohol’
November 16 roundup
- German law firm demands that Wikipedia remove true information about now-paroled murderers [EFF] More: Eugene Volokh.
- “Class Actions: Some Plaintiffs’ Lawyers Fed Up, Too?” [California Civil Justice]
- Drop that Irish coffee and back away: “F.D.A. Says It May Ban Alcoholic Drinks With Caffeine” [NYT]
- Profile of L.A. tort lawyers Walter Lack and Thomas Girardi, now in hot water following Nicaraguan banana-pesticide scandal [The Recorder; my earlier outing on “Erin Brockovich” case]
- Federalist Society panel on federalism and preemption [BLT]
- Confidence in the courts? PriceWaterhouseCoopers would rather face Satyam securities fraud lawsuits in India than in U.S. [Hartley]
- Allegation: Scruggs continuing to wheel and deal behind bars [Freeland]
- Not much that will be new to longtime readers here: “Ten ridiculous lawsuits against Big Business” [Biz Insider] P.S.: Legal Blog Watch had more lists back in June.
“I’ve always thought people would be very concerned if they knew what we were doing”
A Texas DWI lawyer speaks incautiously to the press, and fun ensues [Houston Press, Above the Law, Defending People and more]
“Coyote Ugly patron sues after falling off bar”
Add another to our list of tavern patrons who discovered that dancing on the bar was not as safe a pastime as they initially assumed. This time the scene of the accident, and target of the resulting lawsuit, is Nashville’s Coyote Ugly Saloon. Her attorney says Ms. Barnes “‘had had a few drinks’ but was not drunk.” [Tennessean via Day]
Nutrition and serving facts — on wine bottles?
Get ready for the “next big controversy in the wine business”. [Jeff Siegel, Palate Press]
Florida: “Former deputy sues over drinking disability”
Sarasota: “A former deputy, fired because of his problems with alcohol, is suing the Sarasota sheriff because he claims the office discriminated against him because of his alcoholism disability.” The former deputy says he doesn’t remember the sexual harassment incident at an Applebee’s that preceded his termination, but that could have been because of his “propensity to blackout.” [WTSP] [& welcome readers from Reason “Hit and Run”, where Damon Root generously credits a certain “great” site]
Corrupted by the very sight of it?
A new Maine law forbids wine tastings that could be witnessed by children. [Free Range Kids] (& welcome Damon Root, Reason “Hit and Run” readers)
Alexandria, Va. police chief touts sobriety checkpoint program
And of course you can guess the sequel. Update: he quits.
John Avlon, “Sue City”
Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow John Avlon, in Forbes:
New York City spends more money on lawsuits than the next five largest American cities — Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix and Philadelphia — combined. The city’s $568 million outlay in fiscal year 2008 was more than double what it spent 15 years ago and 20 times what it paid in 1977.
And the odd and extreme cases continue:
A Brooklyn insurance investigator won $2.3 million this year after he tumbled onto the subway tracks with a 0.18 blood-alcohol level and lost his right leg. (“They’re not allowed to hit you just because you’re drunk and on the track,” his lawyer explained.) A corrections officer received $7.25 million after unsuccessfully attempting suicide, on the grounds that the city should not have permitted her to have a gun. (“Ms. Jones could just have easily turned her city-authorized firearm on anyone,” her lawyer said.)
The piece is adapted from a contribution to a City Journal symposium, “New York’s Tomorrow”, and there’s also an associated podcast (cross-posted from Point of Law). More: Eric Turkewitz talks back from a plaintiff’s point of view (“when you account for inflation, there really hasn’t been much change at all” [compared with 15 years ago)] (& welcome Above the Law, WSJ Law Blog readers)
Drinking and breastfeeding
A North Dakota woman has pleaded guilty to child neglect and faces a possible five years in prison. But was the baby endangered? [AP/Austin American-Statesman via DRJ/Patterico] More: Deputy Headmistress (citing work of Thomas Hale); Wilfred Laurier University Press.