- Sooooo glad to be an American: that’s how Patrick at Popehat feels following latest Canadian-libel-law outrage directed at conservative blogger Ezra Levant (& see comments for alternate view);
- Obama has pardoned more turkeys than people. Why? [Dan Froomkin, HuffPo]
- “Reforming medical malpractice liability through contract” [Michael F. Cannon, Cato Institute working paper, PDF]
- Memoir of jury foreman in criminal case [Tux Life]
- Not too sharp: Massachusetts school district disavows policy of not letting students bring pencils to school [Slashdot]
- State governors have big plans for liability reform. Maybe even loser-pays? [Carter at PoL, more; Florida, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas]
- Parent who sent buzzworthy demand letter to Kansas City school board is a jazz musician [Wayward Blog, earlier]
- From comic books to violent videogames: “Our puritanical progressives” [George Will]
Archive for November, 2010
New York high court takes up negligent-golfing case
Two doctors, frequent golf partners, were playing a round together when one was struck in the face at close range by the other’s ball. Lower courts dismissed the resulting case, which is now on appeal. [Lowering the Bar, WSJ Law Blog] Plus: WLF (“this is not a lawyer or doctor joke.”)
Hershey sues Mars over candy wrapper design
According to its claim, the packaging of Dove brand chocolate and peanut butter candy “is too similar to that used for such products in Hershey’s Reese’s line,” and relies overmuch on the colors brown, orange and yellow, presumably nonobvious choices for a chocolate-peanut confection. [Matt Miller, Harrisburg Patriot-News]
Seems to be contagious
Now it’s California Attorney General Jerry Brown who’s gone and sued his own client. [Steele, Legal Ethics Forum; earlier here, here, etc.]
Law schools roundup
- Making waves in the law blogs: critique of elite law schools’ continuing tendency to elevate theoretical over practical forms of scholarly work [Brent Evan Newton (Georgetown), SSRN, forthcoming in South Carolina Law
Review; some reactions from Steve Bainbridge and, at Prawfsblawg, from Rick Garnett, Kristen Holmquist, and Paul Horwitz]. I argue along similar though not identical lines in the earlier chapters of my forthcoming book. - Law schools inflate placement statistics by only interviewing alums who are employed [Above the Law] And does sheer spending dominate the U.S. News algorithm for ranking top law schools? [same]
- Calls grow for disclosing academic economists’ conflicts of interest [Salmon]. Will lawprofs’ be next?
- Rutgers-Newark law school clinic pursues long-shot lawsuit seeking to hold Iraq war unconstitutional [Jonathan Adler/Volokh]. If you’re a New Jersey taxpayer with doubts about whether you should be obliged to support such lawsuits, you may be one of those horrid meanies guilty of “‘kneecapping’ academic freedom” according to one not especially temperate defense of clinics’ work [Robert R. Kuehn and Peter A. Joy, AAUP] More: Adam Babich, “Controversy, Conflicts, and Law School Clinics” [SSRN via Legal Ethics Forum, and thanks for kind mention in latter]
- “Should Conservative and Libertarian Law Students Consider a Career in Legal Academia?” [David Bernstein/Volokh; some further thoughts from Paul Horwitz, Prawfs]
Food safety bill: goodbye, artisanal cheese?
Even using the powers it has on the books now, according to one expert, the Food and Drug Administration could largely shut down the making of artisanal farmhouse cheese if it chose. This week the Senate will consider the Food Safety Modernization Act, which will put much more power in the agency’s hands and greatly ramp up regulatory and paperwork requirements for producers, though (in a welcome improvement) the new Senate version of the legislation does at least nod more toward the principle of “tiering” burdens for smaller local producers. Meanwhile, some press outlets continue to pretend that the only real debate is between do-nothing lawmakers who don’t care whether Americans die of food poisoning, and more interventionist lawmakers who are trying to keep that from happening. I’ve got a fuller report on the politics of the food bill — and of the lame duck Congress more generally — at Cato at Liberty.
More: Bill advances toward expected Senate floor vote Tuesday [WaPo]. The Daily Caller reports on continuing small-farmer concerns, and recalls a raw-milk raid; David Frum wonders about elitism and its taint; Michelle Malkin questions the lame-duck railroad (& thanks to both of the last two for kind links).
“Phrases that announce ‘I’m lying'”
One of the examples given: “It’s not about the money, but…” [Erin McKean, Boston Globe]
Matchmaker stuck in elevator loses rich client
Which is why she’s threatening to sue her New York City landlord; she says the 25-minute delay cost her $10,000 a minute. [NY Post via Lowering the Bar]
Dept. of fun-killing
Sign at Arizona golf course: “For Your Safety, Walking, Running and Recreational Activity Is Prohibited” [Free-Range Kids, with pic]
Great moments in teacher tenure
Julie Mack, Kalamazoo Gazette (via Mark Hemingway, Examiner):
In 1993, Chelsea High School teacher Stephen Leith shot to death his superintendent and wounded his principal and another teacher during a confrontation at the school. Leith was convicted of homicide and given a life sentence; from prison, he continued to pursue an appeal of his firing from Chelsea Public Schools, blaming his actions on medication.
“He murdered his superintendent. It’s crazy,” said Tom White, associate director of labor relations for [the] Michigan School Board Association.