My new post at Cato: “It’s as if the lawmakers in Annapolis didn’t realize that boats are mobile. I wish someone could have explained that to them.” [“Chesapeake Prosperity Sunk By Boat Tax“]
P.S. Not unrelated, Bloomberg video profiling Cherubini firm discusses ill-fated 1990 federal luxury boat tax, repealed after two years, which badly hurt U.S. boat builders by driving buyers abroad (via Chris Fountain).
If a private creditor failed to follow the law in 22 percent of its collections, I wonder whether its compliance lawyers would start to feel nervous. [Caron/TaxProf]
Consumer Action, the San Francisco-based nonprofit advocacy and education group, takes issue with our August 1 post on its receipt of cy pres awards from class action settlements. You can read the letter from Linda Sherry, its DC office director, here, along with the original post, which we have edited in response to the objections.
August is traditionally the month around here for guestbloggers. If you think you might be the right person to fill in at Overlawyered for a week — a minimum commitment might be at least one post each weekday M-F, not necessarily a long one — email me at editor – at- overlawyered – dot – com.
“None of the death certificates in these cases list ‘Fear of Being Sued’ as the cause of death.” [“Birdstrike” at White Coat, EP Monthly] “Defensive medicine is rooted in the goal of avoiding mistakes. But each additional procedure or test, no matter how cautiously performed, injects a fresh possibility of error” as well as non-erroneous harm. [Sanjay Gupta, NYT] The Gupta column drew adverse comment from plaintiff’s bloggers (and occasional Overlawyered commenters) Eric Turkewitz and Max Kennerly.
No mercy to errant vehicles, bank accounts, pharmacy shelves or medical marijuana dispensaries: “The Justice Department’s asset forfeiture fund under President Obama is the largest it’s ever been, having grown from $500 million in 2003, to $1.8 billion in 2011, according to a new report from the GAO.” [Mike Riggs, Reason]
P.S.: Scott Greenfield on rational forfeiture in Chicago.
The French town of Angers might be 500 or so years too late, though. It asks a bit hopefully for the British crown jewels as compensation. [Lowering the Bar]
President Obama, along with a number of Senators and longtime ADA advocates, have urged rapid Senate ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, hailed in some quarters as an “international ADA”. Sen. Jim DeMint and other senators have objected to the super-fast-track proposed ratification schedule, arguing that the measure might affect the rights of homeschooling families caring for disabled children and that, in general, opponents deserve a right to be heard. If Senators take a closer look at the ambitious views of the treaty held by various disabled-rights and international-law advocates — one advocate says it could revolutionize the legal rights of the mentally ill, for example — they might find further reasons for caution. [hearing]