The creator of the wonderful Arts and Letters Daily (and a body of great work besides that on aesthetics and other subjects) will be sorely missed. Obits and appreciations: The Press (New Zealand), Nick Gillespie/Reason, Chronicle of Higher Education. For very many years, like Patrick at Popehat, until changing technology rendered the home page concept less relevant, I kept my home page set to the Daily, unrivaled as it was at its job of civilized web curation and casual tease-line artistry; now the L.A. Times speculates (via Virginia Postrel) on what will happen to it next.
Author Archive
December 28 roundup
- Making the rounds: letter on NFL stationery telling off lawyer over nastygram [DeadSpin, language]
- Suburban Detroit man faces possible 5-year sentence for reading wife’s email [Free Press, Volokh]
- U.K.: Scout Association found liable for injury sustained in scramble-in-the-dark game [Andrew Hough, Telegraph via Lenore Skenazy]
- Florida appeals court orders environmental groups to compensate taxpayers for unfounded complaint [Ryan Houck, TampaBayOnline]
- “Fix It Yourself Garage” self-service auto repair shop hopes it’s beaten the liability curse [McClatchy; Charlotte, N.C.]
- Much more from Peter Schweizer and Lee Stranahan at Big Government on dubious Pigford farmer settlement (“attempting to farm;” recruiting and “brokering” claims; FBI said to be interested; problems within USDA?; lawyer says Pigford clients often got away with faulty claims; earlier);
- “Faux concern for judicial ethics” [Jonathan Adler, Volokh, on Constitutional Accountability Center campaign against judges’ seminars]
- Founder of much-loved musical parody series thanks real-life artists whose works are being spoofed: “Without their reluctance toward lawsuits there would certainly be no Forbidden Broadway.” [six years ago on Overlawyered]
Christmas break
I might post a little next week, but for now I’m going to take a break to enjoy the holiday, and I expect heavier fare will probably wait until the New Year. Enjoy the Christmas season!
December 23 roundup
- Food Safety Modernization Act, much scrutinized in this space, revived and passed after Senate leadership obtains unanimous Republican consent, now heads for federal statute books [ABC “The Note”, Marler, Bader; National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition on amendments aimed at lessening some of the bill’s burdens]
- FCC’s “net neutrality” power play over Internet [John Fund, WSJ.com; Jack Shafer, Slate]
- “UConn’s Streak and Title IX” [Neal McCluskey, Cato] John Stossel’s new program on “Top Ten Politicians’ Promises Gone Wrong” included Title IX [video, one reaction] Related from College Sports Council: California rugby, Delaware equestrian.
- Cracked Bell: notorious California city milked small biz, tradespeople through vehicle seizures, fines [LAT] “How the Road to Bell Was Paved” [William Voegeli, City Journal]
- “Nothing says Christmas like taking away a child’s treasured toy and destroying it.” [Boston Globe, James Taranto/WSJ on Providence, R.I. program to shred toy guns]
- Dishes Still Dirty? Blame Phosphate-Free Detergent” [Shogren, NPR; Holmes, NRO and more]
- Domain seizures point up shaky legal stance of much music-blogging [Switched]
- “Santas have a pretty good chance of getting sued” [six years ago on Overlawyered] And this just in: “Man sues Santa Claus Parade after eye injury” [680News.com, Toronto, Canada; suit alleges frozen candy tossed into crowd caused injury]
Ousted Congressman sues anti-abortion PAC for “loss of livelihood”
New frontiers in campaign law? Ohio Rep. Steve Driehaus, defeated in November’s election, is suing the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion political group, for depriving him of his “livelihood” by way of allegedly unfair campaign attacks. [Cincinnati Enquirer, Politico]
“Jury Awards Law Professors $5 Million Against West Publishing For Defamatory Pocket Part”
A major law-book publisher seems to have gone ahead with an update under the authors’ names despite their unwillingness to cooperate. [Max Kennerly; Philadelphia Inquirer]
9/11 first responders compensation bill
Only stony-hearted Scrooges could oppose it, right? Earlier here, here, etc. More: PoL; Senate passes modified bill.
NY: assumption of risk bars suit over errant golf shot
“In a brief opinion released today, the New York Court of Appeals agreed with lower courts that a golfer hit by an ‘errant’ shot could not sue his co-golfer for negligence, because one who chooses to golf assumes the risk of being whacked by a golf ball.” [Lowering the Bar, AP, earlier]
EEOC sues over employer use of credit record in hiring
Following extensive rumblings of an impending crackdown, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has sued Kaplan, the private education company, over its alleged policy of considering applicants’ credit records in making hiring decisions [Baltimore Sun, George Lenard; earlier here and here]
More from Ted Frank: “Somebody should tell the Transportation Security Administration, which also performs credit checks: they reject job applicants if they have more than $5000 in overdue debt.” And from the same link:
But what’s also driving the push to check credit is fear of lawsuits, [employment attorney Manesh] Rath said, especially in businesses where employees have access to customers’ money or possessions, including the banking, property management, hotel and home health care industries.
…”The employer will have a tough time defending itself,” Rath said, “if it didn’t take the simple measure of doing a background check.”
Don’t deprive archaeologists…
…of access to tribally unaffiliated Indian antiquities and remains, now endangered by new regulations from the Department of the Interior [Robert L. Kelly, New York Times] Earlier on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and Kennewick Man controversy here, here, etc.