- Cuomo appointee Jenny Rivera, lawprof on “social justice” beat, likely to pull NY’s highest court leftward [Reuters; Kerr, with additional comments-section background on chief judge Jonathan Lippman] Notable plaintiff’s litigator Brad Seligman (Wal-Mart v. Dukes, etc.) elevated to bench by Gov. Jerry Brown [San Leandro Patch]
- With Jeffrey Toobin assuring us that voter fraud is “essentially nonexistent,” tales like this from Cincinnati must not be real [John Fund, NRO]
- Time for Republicans to get serious about an urban-policy pitch [Ed Glaeser, City Journal] “As the GOP looks for issues it can win on, how about lowering the drinking age?” [Instapundit]
- Boldly smiting straw man, NYT says young people see government as possible “constructive force” [Ira Stoll, SmarterTimes]
- Politics by other means: “From Statehouse to courtroom: Many Illinois issues being decided by judges” [Kurt Erickson, Bloomington Pantagraph]
- Florida attorney John Morgan, of personal injury fame, became an inauguration bigwig the old-fashioned way [Orlando Sentinel, earlier here, here, here, here, etc., etc.]
- Granholm at front of “not so bad when our guy Obama does it” parade [Damon Root]
Archive for February, 2013
“Fairfax County schools place new playground apparatus off limits to kids”
$30,000 in community fund-raising later, kids have a reason to be glum [Washington Post]:
Although parents worked with the Fairfax County Public Schools facilities department, purchased the equipment, hired a contractor and had the playground ready for recess, the school system suddenly deemed the play equipment too dangerous. Since Nov. 30 it has been off-limits, parents say.
Never mind that the same equipment is installed at more than 1,200 parks and schools across the country, including a public park in the county.
Update: District changes mind.
Ronald Dworkin’s life and work
The celebrated legal philosopher has died at age 81. Despite our myriad disagreements there was much to honor in his life and accomplishments, which I sum up briefly at Cato at Liberty. Randy Barnett recalls Dworkin’s graciousness as a professor and impressive debate style. An Ann Althouse commenter notes a 1996 article of Dworkin’s (first page only available) that conservatives might actually like. Stephen Griffin on Dworkin’s most important ideas; Michael Carlson; Tyler Cowen.
Annals of tasteful lawyer promotion
Michigan: “Lawyer Offers Free Valentine’s Day Divorce” [Newser, Walter Bentley site, Legal News]
February 14 roundup
- “From Chevron to Arlington: The Court and the Administrative State at Sea” [Michael Greve]
- “Tawana Brawley ordered to pay settlement to man she accused of rape” [ABA Journal] False memories of being assaulted by Tigger, and how that can happen [Lowering the Bar; William Saletan, Slate, debunks a Gawker story, 2010]
- “Portlandia — The Bed and Breakfast Inspector” [Armisen/Brownstein, IFC]
- Writer at National Review Online sees Obama’s “pro-marriage” talk as logically entailing big new entitlement program, and applauds that [W. Bradford Wilcox]
- “What’s Next For The Class Action Plaintiffs’ Bar? Getting Deputized By State Attorneys General” [Kevin Ranlett, Mayer Brown]
- “Christian School’s Lawsuit May Test Supreme Court’s Religious Freedom Ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Case” [Fed Soc Blog]
- “The Slippery Slope (Insurance Fears = No More Sledding)” [Free-Range Kids]
“A macabre federal agency in Colorado…”
“…collects and distributes dead eagles and their parts.” [Jay Wexler, PrawfsBlawg] Earlier here, here, here, etc.
Bicycle helmet law, cont’d
At Greater Greater Washington, Shane Farthing of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association has explained in more detail why his group does not favor a Maryland proposal to make helmets mandatory. Earlier here.
#SOTU
My tweets and retweets last night during the State of the Union address and the GOP response by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), in regular rather than reverse chronological order:
I’ll be live-tweeting the #SOTU as part of the @catoinstitute commentary team. Check us out at twitter.com/CatoInstitute/… or cato.org/blog/live-blog…
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Odds are 99-1 against Obama backing copyright reform in #SOTU, but Virginia Postrel lets herself hope bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-1…
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
From the Guardian: how the language sophistication of #SOTU addresses has drifted down over 2 centuries guardian.co.uk/world/interact…
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Per AP, “Missing this year: Scalia, Thomas and Alito.” Obama’s lucky he got six after #SOTU browbeating Court (falsely) on Citizens United.
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
If sequester’s so horrible, why’d Obama sign the bill that had it? #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Pres: “deteriorating roads and bridges.” It simply isn’t true. bit.ly/10gEvbn #SOTU
— Chris Edwards (@CatoEdwards) February 13, 2013
Instead of curbing subsidies that fuel tuition hikes, Obama will add red tape and put gov in the US News-style rating biz. Sigh. #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Paycheck Fairness Act is a trial lawyer bonanza but does nothing for real fairness: cato.org/blog/lame-duck… #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Admin will partner with 20 of the hardest-hit towns? Model Cities program was Great Society’s biggest flop: christopherdemuth.com/deregulating-t… #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Justice and law — “I want our country to be like that.” Don’t we all. #SOTU
— David Boaz (@David_Boaz) February 13, 2013
President’s emotionally manipulative “they deserve a vote” on gun control = everything I dislike about politics #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
“this country only works when we accept certain obligations to one another and to future generations.” Don’t bankrupt them. #SOTU
— David Boaz (@David_Boaz) February 13, 2013
“We’ll work to strengthen families by removing the financial deterrents to marriage for low-income couples” That’s vague. Such as? #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Rubio: “We need to incentivize local school districts to offer more AP courses and more voc/career training.” We need GOP for this? #SOTU
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
Also, by way of pleasant contrast:
Gene Healy on Amity Shlaes’s new Calvin Coolidge biography buff.ly/14Rc9so
— Walter Olson (@walterolson) February 13, 2013
And here’s Cato’s response video with scholars Michael Tanner, Julian Sanchez, Alex Nowrasteh, Simon Lester, John Samples, Pat Michaels, Jagadeesh Gokhale, Michael F. Cannon, Jim Harper, Malou Innocent, Juan Carlos Hidalgo, Ilya Shapiro, Trevor Burrus and Neal McCluskey.
Torts roundup
- Officials: “36% of car-insure claims bogus” in NYC [NY Post]
- Unseen but looks promising: “Cultures of Tort Law in Europe” [Journal of European Tort Law via TortsProf]
- “The Limits of Texting Accident Lawsuits” [Ronald Miller]
- Lawmakers wonder whether there’s some way around Missouri Supreme Court’s “no med-mal reform on our watch” attitude [Kansas City Star]
- Trial lawyers unhappy as Michigan high court toughens standards on slip-fall suits [AP/Detroit News]
- Fast track: Illinois legislature moves to increase fees lawyers can recover in med-mal cases [Madison-St. Clair Record]
- New Jersey municipalities have stake in litigation reform [NJLRA]
“Lehigh U. student sues over grade, seeks $1.3 M”
In a case that went to trial Monday in Northampton County, Pa., Megan Thode is suing Lehigh University over the C+ she was given in a graduate education course. Thode, the daughter of a Lehigh faculty member, “was attending the Bethlehem school tuition-free in 2009 when she received the poor mark in her fieldwork class. … She needed a B to take the next course of her field work requirement.” [Allentown Morning Call] Update: Judge rules against her.