Is life at the university fairer under the new sex-complaint procedures mandated by the federal Department of Education? Don’t ask the New York Times [Peter Berkowitz via Ann Althouse] More: Kathleen Parker, WaPo; Brisbane/NYT via Romenesko.
Author Archive
America as “prosecutocracy”
Deposed press lord Conrad Black is taking a public stand against the law enforcement and corporate-governance authorities that put him behind bars. [Andrew McCarthy/The New Criterion, earlier]
Ultra-embarrassing fraternity lawsuit
The case is from West Virginia, and Lowering the Bar and Rob Beschizza/BoingBoing have the details.
Free Google Maps unfair to paid competitors, France rules
At Cato at Liberty, I find that uncannily reminiscent of a famous Bastiat parody (& IEA, Tim Worstall).
More from Coyote: “left unsaid is how they would jack up their prices when at least two other companies (Bing, Mapquest) also provide mapping services online for free.” But note that the French case arose not from Google’s furnishing of its free map service to individual end customers, but from its furnishing of its map API to businesses that typically adapt it for use in their own sites; as commenters at BoingBoing and Reddit as well as news reports point out, Google has indeed introduced fees for its largest business users of this type (which has caused some of them to adapt by switching from Google’s API to OpenStreetMap, a free wiki-based map service).
Brockovich meets Tourette’s in Leroy, N.Y.
“In non-Western countries, demons and witchcraft are still sometimes blamed for outbreaks of fainting and fits [PDF]. Pollution, poisoning, chemical weapons, and other environmental concerns are dominant in the West (a fact that makes Brockovich something of a mass hysteria machine). Some bloggers are now claiming that the upstate New York girls fell ill because of the HPV vaccine or fracking.” [Ruth Graham, Slate]
Roller coasters and limbless guests
A 17-year-old born without hands is disappointed at being excluded from Sea World’s “Kraken,” but “Katie Champagne’s misery is the result of a litigious society, not heartless theme parks.” [Beth Kassab, Orlando Sentinel; error corrected on name of theme park operator, thanks commenter P. McC.]
February 3 roundup
- Judge blocks California budget cuts re: in-home services for disabled [Mercury News]
- Media exploited her daughter for titillation, claims suit by mother of “Toddlers & Tiaras” star [Above the Law]
- Narrower definition of autism ahead? [Althouse]
- “Police Charge Canadian Blogger With Criminal Libel for Criticizing the Police” [Sullum, Popehat]
- Prince George’s County, Maryland, wants to ban liquor deliveries; no harm linked to them, but you can’t be too sure [Ben Giles, Washington Examiner] Centers for Disease Control’s curious definition of “binge” drinking [Sullum]
- The law of authors’ liability for inaccurate memoirs [Mark Fowler, Rights Of Writers; earlier here, etc.]
- “Diagnosing Liability: The Legal History of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” [Deirdre M. Smith, SSRN via TortsProf]
Komen breast cancer charity
On the trademark-assertiveness front, as readers of this site know, they’ve been no strangers to controversy. Perhaps as a gesture of goodwill toward critics they’d consider calling off the lawsuit threats against other legitimate charities that attempt to use the color pink?
“Village Voice To Stop Suing Over ‘Best Of’ Lists”
“The Village Voice is giving up on a scheme to force rivals to pay for permission to use the phrase ‘best of.'” [Paid Content]
Great moments in lawyer advertising: “Successful, Greedy Attorneys”
A park-bench ad — and really, what better way to select a lawyer for an important matter? — advertises “Injury Law Group, LLC — Successful, Greedy, Attorneys — We Won’t Let You Settle Cheap.” [@mattniemi] The sponsors appear to be this Pittsburgh-based lawyer network.