- Interview with brewmaster of “Collaboration Not Litigation Ale” [Abnormal Use]
- New “public trust” theory emerges in climate change litigation [Sean Wajert, Jim Huffman]
- Who did the fact-checking? Questions over award to Harper’s journalist Scott Horton [Stimson, Heritage “Foundry”, my ’08 take]
- “Nightmare scenario for higher education”: copyright case against Georgia State seeks sweeping injunction [Duke University Libraries]
- “Vast wasteland” broadcast regulator: “Glenn Garvin scales and guts Newton Minow” [Miami Herald via @jackshafer]
- Teacher in suburban DC still devastated by false abuse charges [WaPo, Lanny Davis, David Bernstein]
- Sweetness and light: “Rising tide of litigation lifts [law] firms” [WSJ Law Blog]
Author Archive
Judge’s impartiality questioned in $322 million Mississippi jury verdict
“In a motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for Union Carbide said Circuit Judge Eddie H. Bowen neglected to notify defense lawyers that his parents had been involved in similar asbestos litigation and had settled a case against Union Carbide.” A rural Mississippi jury earlier this month returned the largest asbestos verdict in American history, $322 million, against Union Carbide and other defendants. [AP/Stamford Advocate; Jackson Clarion-Ledger] More problems with verdict: Point of Law.
“North Carolina’s Rare Burger Ban Makes Red Meat Illegal”
“From Winston-Salem to Nags Head, meat eaters are unable to order their burgers rare or even medium rare thanks to a state restriction that requires restaurants to cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 155 degrees Fahrenheit.” [Ben Muessig, AOL, related]
For Maryland’s guest teachers, an expensive lesson in labor rights
The U.S. Department of Labor ruled in April that Prince George’s County, Maryland, in suburban Washington, had violated federal labor law by failing to reimburse immigrant teachers for visa application fees. It fined the schools $1.7 million and also ordered them to pay $4.2 million in back pay to 1,044 teachers, most of whom come from the Philippines. “If that finding stands, the system will be unable to renew any three-year visas for its foreign employees.” Many teachers are distraught about the prospect of losing their jobs and green cards, which could happen as early as next month; Charisse Cabrera “said she would rather keep her job than recoup the back pay, about $4,000 per teacher.” [Washington Post, PhilStar.com]
“More risk of getting sued…”
Some Florida ob-gyns turn away seriously overweight patients, who face a greater risk of complications in pregnancy [Sun-Sentinel/Palm Beach Post] More: White Coat.
The Constitution’s General Welfare Clause
No, it does not and never did authorize limitless federal power to engage in activities imagined to advance the general welfare [Roger Pilon, Cato at Liberty]
Official nutritional guidance: the track record
Modern American government has been dispensing nutritional advice for quite a while, and enough of it has been misguided, erroneous or even harmful that you’d think there’d be a lesson of humility to be learned. Instead, we get a bossier-than-ever crop of new regulators like Thomas Frieden et al [Steven Malanga, City Journal]
“Wacky warnings” finalists: don’t swallow your ballpoint pen cap
“‘Social justice’ in contracts costs S.F. millions”
San Francisco’s public contracting requirements could drive both taxpayers and vendors batty: “[C]ity purchasing policies, if followed, would mean paying about $240 for getting a copy of a key that actually cost a worker $1.35 to get done at a hardware store on his break,” according to one whistleblowing employee. [SF Chronicle via Matt Welch]
Canada: Drunkenness as defense in sex assault?
Ontario: “A judge has reopened a major legal controversy by ruling that accused people can claim they were too drunk to be found culpable of committing crimes.” [Globe & Mail]