civil service – Overlawyered

Public employment roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 09:57:19 +0000

States increase pension crisis with payouts for unused vacation and sick time [Steve Malanga, City Journal] “The Politics of Public Pension Boards” [Daniel DiSalvo, Manhattan Institute last year]
State personnel board ordered reinstatement: “San Jose State cop fired after beating gets job back, now with Los Gatos police” [Robert Salonga, East Bay Times via Peter Bonilla]
Time for the bizarre “California Rule” on pensions to go [public employers may not reduce future pension benefits even when based on work not yet performed; Carol M. Matheis, Federalist Society last year, earlier here and here] “Why California’s Pensions Only Deepen Inequality” [Joe Mathews, Zocalo Public Square] “Some L.A. pensions are so huge they exceed IRS limits, costing taxpayers millions extra” [Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, last December]
“You’re Not Fired: Do Civil Servants Have a Property Interest in Their Job?” [Federalist Society animated Policy Brief with Greg Jacob]
Court opinions and administration actions are restricting push-button access to dues from home health care workers and unions aren’t happy about that [Steven Malanga, City Journal]
California Teachers Association, Service Employees International Union push initiative to end Proposition 13 limits on commercial property taxation [Steven Greenhut, Reason]

Tags: Bay Area, California, civil service, labor unions, Los Angeles, public employment

Public employment roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

December 26 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 26 Dec 2018 11:01:34 +0000

“Elephant Habeas Case: Steven Wise’s Forum Shopping Apparently Fails” [Ted Folkman, Letters Blogatory, earlier here and here]
Right now owners of gas stations in D.C. “need approval from the Gas Station Advisory Board (GSAB) to close. However, there’s one small problem. The GSAB hasn’t had members since 2008, so there’s no one to get approval from.” [Daniel Warwick, Greater Greater Washington]
“Jones Act Reform Gaining Momentum” [Colin Grabow, Cato, earlier]
“Serving Two (or More) Masters: Civil Service and Bureaucratic Resistance in our Administrative State” [Adam White working paper and related video as part of Hoover Institution’s Land, Labor, and Rule of Law conference]
MoCo vs. NoVa in business site relocation, Baltimore policing, charmless climate suit, red flag law and more Maryland policy in my latest Free State Notes;
New York appears ready to return to the days of confiscatory rent control, a policy that helped ruin wide swaths of the city in the 60s and 70s [Charles Urstadt, City Journal]

Tags: civil service, forum shopping, Maryland, NYC, Washington D.C.

December 26 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Trump proposes biggest civil service change in 40 years”

Walter Olson — Sat, 10 Feb 2018 19:47:41 +0000

This could be major: President Trump may be set to propose the biggest civil service changes in 40 years, with goals of flushing underperformers in the federal workforce and boosting pay-for-performance. “Trump is using the VA Accountability Act, which gave the Secretary of Veterans Affairs greater authority to fire and discipline workers, as a model. The White House says that law has resulted in the dismissal of 1,470 employees, the suspension of 443, demotions for 83 others last year.” The head of the American Federation of Government Employees charged that Trump was “interested in political revenge by firing people” and that his proposal “wipes out due process rights for employees.” Currently 99.7% of federal employees get the satisfactory rating (“fully successful”) needed to qualify for stepwise pay increases as well as cost-of-living. [Gregory Korte, USA Today] My City Journal take on the perennial challenge of civil service reform, back when, is here.

Tags: civil service, Donald Trump, public employment

“Trump proposes biggest civil service change in 40 years” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

State of the Union address 2018 live-tweets

Walter Olson — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 05:11:45 +0000

I live-tweeted President Trump’s address last night (text) and here are some highlights:

Hoping that tonight — unlike in his first big speech as President, the inaugural — Trump mentions the Constitution. It's the foundation for all the rest. https://t.co/TNGG0Xwzf1 #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

"To speak on behalf of the American people…" That's not what a President does in a #SOTU. #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

Figures from Maryland indicate that even in a state w/ high SALT deductions, federal bill will indeed cut taxes for big majority of taxpayers https://t.co/GCnRZTcSoi #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

One triumph of the new tax bill: easing tax treatment of repatriated overseas profits, which has already led to blockbuster good news from Apple. #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

No, the "Star-Spangled Banner" is not an "ode to slavery." https://t.co/aQkSFeVLw1 #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

Yay Gorsuch, seriously. #CatoSOTU https://t.co/I4nWYGdc2L

— Ilya Shapiro (@ishapiro) January 31, 2018

Was Trump hinting that he wants to loosen the civil service tenure rules that entrench underperforming federal employees? Good idea, if so #CatoSOTU https://t.co/vROiyGYULl

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

In his SOTU, Trump suggested easier firing of bad federal workers. Indeed, federal firing rate is just 1/6 of private firing rate https://t.co/6YkzPq0bc8 #CatoSOTU

— Chris Edwards (@CatoEdwards) January 31, 2018

Trump is returning again and again to the good economic news. Who can blame him? There's a whole lot of it. #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

A "right to try" experimental treatments for the gravely ill is a praiseworthy goal, but more complicated legally than it sounds https://t.co/JWBUoxMj5g #CatoSOTU https://t.co/Y0bd7NgPfm

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

Streamlining the federal project permitting and approval process has the potential to be one of Trump's best and most lasting reform ideas #CatoSOTU

— Walter Olson (@walterolson) January 31, 2018

Trump infrastructure plan: good on regulations, bad on spending https://t.co/fWVVx3LdzZ #CatoSOTU

— Chris Edwards (@CatoEdwards) January 31, 2018

Energy companies would put 7 years of work, resources, and planning into a project. Then their project would get denied at the 11th hour … not a way to do business. #CatoSOTU https://t.co/sZ48Frw743

— vanessa brown calder (@vanessabcalder) January 31, 2018

Here's an overview of some of the possible consequences of government-provided paid family leave. https://t.co/3nXM5mGtxe #CatoSOTU

— vanessa brown calder (@vanessabcalder) January 31, 2018

March 8 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 08 Mar 2017 11:32:26 +0000

Does the current civil service system violate the constitutional mandate that the executive power be vested in the President? [Philip K. Howard/The American Interest, Mark Hemingway, Weekly Standard]
“Utah Supreme Court Affirms a Woman’s Right to Sue Herself” [Lowering the Bar]
Museums’ rule against scaling back holdings is costly and irrational. Can’t NYT figure that out? [Michael O’Hare, SameFacts]
“Patent troll that sued over Apple Watch and 80 other fitness products meets its match” [ArsTechnica]
Wisconsin John Doe: “Prosecutor John Chisholm Sued for Retaliatory Investigation” [Andrew King/Fault Lines, earlier]
Criminally tainted politicians retain voter support when and because “they provide services the state does not.” [Alex Tabarrok]

Tags: art and artists, civil service, patent trolls, Wisconsin

March 8 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 18 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:51:53 +0000

Already-infamous Coakley-for-Senate rape-ad mailer: did they really line up all those photo permissions? [Lopez, NRO] Earlier on photo-permissions legal exposures here, here, here, here, here, here, here, etc.
“Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Peyton Thomas: Blame the Libertarians!” [Balko, earlier]
Georgetown lawprof Robin West takes such a rude tone with homeschoolers, it’s enough to make you wonder who brought her up [Common Room, Izzy Lyman/Big Journalism, “The Harms of Homeschooling” (PDF)] Parents charged with child endangerment for homeschooling their kids without submitting lesson plans [Albany Times-Union]
Videogames and the ADA: “Sony Launches Defense to Gamer’s Equal Access Suit” [OnPoint News, earlier]
Regulations may spell end for independent New England fishermen [AP/MSNBC, earlier]
Veteran California pol Willie Brown criticizes civil service entrenchment [Kaus] Government employment has its privileges [Stuart Greenhut, Reason]
New Jersey appeals court reverses $260K award over student’s fatal window fall at Fairleigh Dickinson U. [Star-Ledger]
Georgia federal judge orders plaintiff to pay $268K costs of discovery for stretching patent claims [Fulton County Daily Report]

Tags: art and artists, civil service, colleges and universities, disabled rights, discovery, loser pays, Massachusetts, patent litigation, Phoenix, schools, videogames, web accessibility

January 18 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Federal Circuit: Patent Office can fire examiner with 35% error rate

Walter Olson — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:31:33 +0000

Annals of civil service protection: the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled in favor of the Patent and Trademark Office, which dismissed Asokkumar Pal after it “reviewed 16 randomly selected cases from Pal’s file to determine whether he was properly reviewing examiner decisions. They found he was not making the correct decisions – that he erred more than 35% of the time. (A 25% error rate would have been acceptable).” Pal’s appeal contended that others in the office had even higher error rates, that he had received many “outstanding” performance reviews, and that managers should have been required to review all of his cases rather than just a random sampling, but to no avail. (Patently-O, Dec. 16)*.

*Yes, we’re linking Patently-O even though they’re (momentarily) still ahead of us in the ABA blog contest voting. We’ll even stipulate that they’re a pretty good blog. That doesn’t excuse you from going and voting for Overlawyered now.

Tags: civil service, patent quality

Federal Circuit: Patent Office can fire examiner with 35% error rate is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Philadelphia civil service scandal

Walter Olson — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:49:40 +0000

I’m quoted on the subject today in a piece by Ben Waxman on The Next Mayor, a “Rethinking Philadelphia” blog created by the Philly Daily News, WHYY and the Committee of Seventy. My City Journal article “Fixing the Civil Service Mess” from 1997 is here.

Tags: civil service, Philadelphia, workplace

Philadelphia civil service scandal is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system