According to a press release from Feld Entertainment, which owns the Ringling Bros.-Barnum & Bailey circus, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has agreed to pay $9.3 million to settle racketeering and other charges arising from alleged litigation abuse in lawsuits beginning in 2000 over elephant welfare. Feld says ASPCA and others paid a plaintiff and fact witness in the case whose testimony a judge described as not credible. It says it intends to continue suing other animal-welfare groups that it has named in connection with the episode, including the Humane Society of the United States, and Fund for Animals, as well as attorneys. [more on circus’s side of dispute; earlier here, here, here, here] More: John Steele, Legal Ethics Forum.
Posts Tagged ‘animal rights’
Environment roundup
- Climate prof Michael Mann sues critics including National Review, Competitive Enterprise Institute, Mark Steyn, and Rand Simberg [Ken at Popehat, Scientific American, Ted Frank (noting Ars Technica’s fair-weather disapproval of SLAPP suits), Adler and more]
- California polls show once-massive support for Prop 37 ebbing away; is there any major newspaper in the state that likes the measure? [L.A. Times, San Jose Mercury News, San Diego U-T; earlier here, here, etc.] Views of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on the general question of genetic modification labeling [statement, PDF] Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution refutes predictably lame views of Mark Bittman and Michael Pollan (stance tactfully assessed as “mood affiliation”) and discusses the impact on pesticide use with Greg Conko; more from WLF. At least Prop 37 has Michelle Lerach, hmmm [No on 37]
- “So the two technologies most reliably and stridently opposed by the environmental movement—genetic modification and fracking—have been the two technologies that most reliably cut carbon emissions.” [Matt Ridley, WSJ]
- “Texas v. EPA Litigation Scorecard” [Josiah Neeley, Texas Public Policy Foundation, PDF]
- High-visibility public chemophobe Nicholas Kristof turns his garish and buzzing searchlight on formaldehyde [Angela Logomasini, CEI]
- Per its terms, new ordinance in Yellow Springs, Ohio, “recognizes the legally enforceable Rights of Nature to exist and flourish. Residents of the village shall possess legal standing to enforce those rights on behalf of natural communities and ecosystems.” [Wesley Smith, NRO]
- How EPA regulates without rulemaking: sue-and-settle, guidance documents, emergency powers [Ryan Young and Wayne Crews, CEI]
October 26 roundup
- Remembering George McGovern: “The endless exposure to frivolous claims and high legal fees is frightening” [Bob Dorigo Jones]
- “One student was told she couldn’t cast a vote for homecoming queen unless she submitted to the tracking regime.” [CNet via Doctorow, BoingBoing]
- Couple says law firm sued them following crash of RV they’d sold months earlier [Chamber-backed Southeast Texas Record]
- L.A. city council moves to ban pet stores [L.A. Times via Amy Alkon]
- “Willie Gary’s law firm ordered to pay $12.5 m to lender” [Nate Raymond, Reuters] Touring the tasteful promotional materials of longtime Overlawyered favorite Gary [Above the Law]
- Further debunkings of Lilly Ledbetter narrative [Victoria Toensing, Adler, more, earlier] And fact-checking PolitiFact could turn into a full-time job; Hans Bader is still on the case [CEI]
- Fifth Circuit panel backs Louisiana monks’ right to produce handcrafted caskets [NOLA.com, Ilya Shapiro/Cato, earlier]
And wait till they find out about the traps
“USDA cites Harvard in deaths of 41 mice” [Boston Globe]
August 1 roundup
- “Animal activists’ terror tactics drive staff out of laboratories” [Guardian, U.K.]
- Labor Dept. had already shelved unpopular measure: “House acts to stop rules for child labor on farms” [CBS]
- Dole Food, at first a victim of litigation system in banana pesticide fraud, became an aggressor and now pays an image price [NYT]
- “The economics and history of cronyism” [David Henderson, Mercatus]
- Must discard blood-draw tourniquet! It touched your skin! Now go play with the communal waiting-room toys [White Coat]
- New York courts reinstate disbarred attorney Joseph P. Napoli, convicted in 1991 as part of the notorious Morris Eisen injury-faking ring [opinion; NYT coverage of trial and sentencing; from the appeals back then]
- “Your Foot Doctor (and Others) Are Mandated Reporters on Elder Abuse” [Daniel Schwartz, Connecticut Employment Law Blog]
July 14 roundup
- Does new Obama directive gut 1996 welfare reform law? [Mickey Kaus (“in 2008, Barack Obama didn’t dare suggest that he wanted to do what he has done today”), Bader]
- Ringling Bros. v. animal rights activists: court throws out champerty claim, allows racketeering claim to proceed [BLT]
- Iqbal, Twombly, and Lance Armstrong [DeadSpin, Howard Wasserman/Prawfs and more]
- Abuse claims: “Retain the statute of limitations” [New Jersey Law Journal editorial] Insurance costs squeeze NYC social services working with kids, elderly [NYDN]
- Court upholds sanctions vs. “staggering chutzpah” copyright lawyer Evan Stone [Paul Alan Levy, Eugene Volokh, earlier here and here]
- Court says board members of NYC apartment co-ops can be sued personally over alleged bias [Reuters]
- “FASB retreats from disastrous litigation disclosure requirement proposal” [Alison Frankel, Reuters via PoL, earlier]
Challenge to California foie gras ban
SFGate has details here and here. More on California’s crise de foie: earlier, Ann Althouse, more.
April 18 roundup
- “MPAA: you can infringe copyright just by embedding a video” [Timothy Lee, Ars Technica]
- NYC: fee for court-appointed fire department race-bias monitor is rather steep [Reuters]
- Larry Schonbron on VW class action [Washington Times] Watch out, world: “U.S. class action lawyers look abroad” [Reuters] Deborah LaFetra, “Non-injury class actions don’t belong in federal court” [PLF]
- Will animal rights groups have to pay hefty legal bill after losing Ringling Bros. suit? [BLT]
- You shouldn’t need a lobbyist to build a house [Mead, Yglesias]
- “Astorino and Westchester Win Against Obama’s HUD” [Brennan, NRO] My two cents [City Journal] Why not abolish HUD? [Kaus]
- “Community organized breaking and entering,” Chicago style [Kevin Funnell; earlier, NYC]
April 9 roundup
- Forfeiture-happy customs agents bedevil family flying to Ethiopia [Volokh]
- Lawmakers, ABA ex-bigs back campaign to grant law license to illegal alien [Miami Herald]
- “NYT reports the FDA is stunned democracy requires they answer to elected political leaders as part of enacting laws” [@CraigBruney]
- When did doghouses become a crime? [Alex Ballingall/Maclean’s via @amyalkon]
- Why Tennessee, famous for distilleries, used to have so few of them [Nashville City Paper via @radleybalko]
- ESPN tells only one side of Title IX story [Eric McErlain, Daily Caller; Saving Sports]
- Greece: “At the health department they were told that all the shareholders of the company would have to provide chest X-rays” [Mark Perry]
April 3 roundup
- In time for Easter: egg prices soar in Europe under new hen-caging rules [AP]
- For third time, the Environmental Protection Agency backtracks on claims of harm from gas “fracking” [Adler; U. Texas study on drinking water safety, CBS Dallas] Yes, there’s a plaintiff’s lawyer angle [David Oliver] Don Elliott, former EPA general counsel, on why his old agency needs cutting [Atlantic] Blow out your candles, coal industry, and so good-bye [Pat Michaels/Cato, Shikha Dalmia]
- Following the mad logic wherever it leads: “State Legislators Propose Mandatory Drug Testing of Judges and Other State Officials” [ABA Journal]
- Proposal: henceforth no law may run to greater length than Rep. Conyers’s copy of Playboy [Mark Steyn]
- Creative American lawyers: “Carnival cruise ship briefly seized in Texas” [AP]
- “Overlawyered” is the title of a new commentary in The New Yorker, not related to a certain website [Kelefa Sanneh]
- Repressive Connecticut “cyber-harassment” bill [Volokh, Greenfield, Popehat] And now, not to be outdone, Arizona… [Volokh]