“Should we have a federal law against talking on the phone in restaurants? … If the flying public hates phone calls so much, airlines can be expected to prohibit them. The government does not need to get involved.” [Josh Barro, Business Insider; Ira Stoll]
Posts Tagged ‘airlines’
Not so overlawyered: “Asiana won’t sue KTVU for mistake”
The airline has “dropped its threat to sue a local TV station” after a much-forwarded on-air gaffe [Will Kane, SFGate; Erik Wemple, WaPo (calling threat “idiotic”)]
More: meanwhile, the TV station appears to be using copyright takedowns to get the offending video removed from YouTube [Matthew Keys]
Airplane child seats
Why they might not work to the overall benefit of child safety [Adam Sandberg, CEI “Open Market”]
Free speech roundup
- Spirit Airlines v. DOT: “Government Can’t Silence Speech Criticizing Its Actions, Even If That Speech Is ‘Commercial'” [Ilya Shapiro/Sophie Cole, Cato]
- Virginia Supreme Court speedily rejects prior restraint against Yelp review [Paul Alan Levy, Volokh, earlier]
- Why schools crack down on speech [Hans Bader]
- “Mann v. Steyn — CEI SLAPPs Back” [Adler, earlier]
- Hellhole jurisdictions? “The seven countries where the state can execute you for being atheist” [Max Fisher, WaPo] “Egyptian court sentences Christian family to 15 years for converting from Islam” [FoxNews] Pakistan mob burns man accused of desecrating Koran alive [Reuters] And see, via Volokh, blasphemy penalties from Tunisia (seven years for posting Mohammed cartoons) and Egypt.
- “Congressman-Elect Kerry Bentivolio Sued Me For Calling Him a ‘Deadbeat Santa'” [Mike Betzold, Deadline Detroit]
- UK government agrees to rollback of law criminalizing insults [Telegraph, Independent]
Public employment roundup
- More intimidation of city councilors by Southern California police unions [Reason, earlier]
- Illinois Gov. Quinn calls for federal bailout of state pension plans [Ted Biondo, Rockford Register-Star, Ivan Osorio/CEI] Illinois Policy Institute launches campaign against idea [Frank Keegan, State Budget Solutions, IllinoisWatchdog.org]
- Former TSA Agent Says Stealing from Passengers’ Bags Is Common [Daniel Politi, Slate]
- “Chicago Teacher’s Strike Illustrates the Need for Choice” [Steve Chapman]
- California’s Potemkin public pension reform [Greenhut, City Journal] Report on political clout of California public service unions [Daniel DiSalvo, MI]
- College example shows how rules that lock in job security for some often leave others insecure [Virginia Postrel]
- Connecticut sweetheart labor deal: “Now, the governor doesn’t exactly report it that way in the press” [Zachary Janowski, City Journal]
“JFK Airport a Foul Nest of Luggage Thieves, Claims Random Dude”
Choire Sicha at The Awl reports on the latest doings of New York attorney and emerging Overlawyered favorite Kenneth Mollins, seen earlier here and here.
Disabled rights roundup
- ADA mills continue to extract money from California small businesses with no legislative relief in sight [Auburn Journal, Andrew Ross/S.F. Chronicle, KABC (James Farkus Cohan), WTSP (Squeeze Inn owner speaks out), CJAC (Lungren proposal) and more, Chamber (San Francisco coffee shop’s woes, auto-plays video)] Profile of attorney Thomas Frankovich [California Lawyer];
- EEOC sues employer for turning away job applicant on methadone program [Jon Hyman]
- “Maryland high court: allergy is disability requiring accommodation” [PoL]
- “Suits could force L.A. to spend huge sums on sidewalk repair” [Los Angeles Times]
- Under gun from Department of Justice and SCOTUS Olmstead ruling, Virginia and other states agree to massive overhaul of services for developmentally disabled; not all families, though, are happy with the insistence on relocating residents of large facilities to smaller “community” settings [Richmond Times-Dispatch, McDonnell press release, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Staunton News-Leader]
- “New Case from W.D. Tex. Shows Effect of ADAAA on Back Injury Claims” [Disability Law]
- Lawyer leads effort to give disabled passengers wider rights to sue airlines [Toledo Free Press]
February 6 roundup
- “A 4-Page Playdate Waiver? Is This the New Normal?” [Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids; our 2000 post on “Rise of the High-School Sleepover Disclaimer”]
- Spirit Airlines sets what it calls DOTUC fee, for “Dept. of Transportation Unintended Consequences” [Stoll]
- How fairly are fathers treated in family court? [Nina Shapiro, Seattle Weekly via Alkon]
- “‘Insider’ Trading by the Representative Plaintiff in Shareholder Litigation” [Bainbridge]
- “Donation controversy focuses attention on Madison County asbestos litigation” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chamber-backed LNL]
- Update: Appeals court reinstates Duluth doc’s defamation claims [DNT, earlier here, here, here; “bedside manner” criticism]
- U.K.: “‘Psychic’ Sally Morgan Sues Critics for £150,000 After Refusing $1 Million to Prove Her Powers” [D.J. Grothe, HuffPo] “She’ll be calling witnesses such as ‘an uncle, or father, or a man… with a b in his first name’.” [@thegagthief]
January 31 roundup
- Latest of periodic Towers Watson (formerly Towers Perrin/Tillinghast) surveys: tort costs fell in 2010 excluding oil spill liability [Towers Watson]
- “Will Newt Neuter the Courts?” [James Huffman, Defining Ideas] Obama’s high court appointees are fortunately friendlier toward civil liberties than he is [Steve Chapman]
- Unanimous Cal Supremes: companies not legally responsible for other companies’ asbestos products used as replacement for theirs [Cal Biz Lit, Jackson, Beck, Mass Tort Prof]
- Claim: jurors considered policy implications of verdict and you can’t have that [On Point; defense verdict in Baltimore, Maryland school-bullying case]
- Airfare display mandate: “‘Protecting’ Consumers from the Truth About the Cost of Government” [Thom Lambert, TotM]
- Critical assessment of AP-backed new copyright aggregator “NewsRight” [Mike Masnick] Promises not to be “Righthaven 2.0” [Cit Media Law]
- Restatement (Third) of Torts drafters vs. Enlightenment scientific views of causation [David Oliver in June]
Suit: cabin noise deafened man
“An Oregon man who was flying home from the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport pleaded with a Delta Airlines flight attendant about the ‘extreme discomfort’ he was enduring because of a loud noise during the nearly four-hour flight.” Kent Neilson says he suffered permanent hearing loss and tinnitus and wants $2 million. [Oregonian]