folk law – Overlawyered

May 22 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 May 2019 10:02:20 +0000

My comment on the House-passed H.R. 5: “Proposed Equality Act would 1) massively expand federal liability in areas unrelated to sex, gender, or orientation; 2) turn 1000s of routine customer gripes into federal public-accommodations cases; 3) squeeze conscience exemptions hard. All are good reasons to oppose.” More: Scott Shackford, Elizabeth Nolan Brown, Hans Bader, and earlier here and here;
America is not in a constitutional crisis: “Politicians have become incentivized to declare constitutional crises because it enhances their own importance as saviors and demonizes their opponents as illegitimate.” [Keith Whittington; Vox mini-symposium with Ilya Somin and others] Mike McConnell vs. Josh Chafetz on whether the current Congressional subpoena fights are really that different from politics of the past [Jonathan Adler] Calm, down-the-middle analysis of the issues raised by the Mueller report [Cato Institute chairman Bob Levy]
“Mercedes Goes To Court To Get Background Use Of Public Murals In Promotional Pics Deemed Fair Use” [Timothy Geigner]
Bizarro sovereign-citizen notions are found in the background of more than a few serious financial fraud cases [Ashley Powers, New York Times]
Divestment and sanctions by state governments aimed at other U.S. states is a bad idea that never seems to go away. Now it’s being floated in Maryland, against Alabama [my Free State Notes post]
“A federal judge in Texas wants you to know she’s sick and tired of whiny lawyers” [Justin Rohrlich, Quartz from December, Brad Heath on Twitter; Align Technology v. ClearCorrect, Judge Vanessa D. Gilmore]

Tags: Alabama, art and artists, constitutional law, folk law, Maryland, photography, sexual orientation, transgender

May 22 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 1 roundup

Walter Olson — Thu, 01 Feb 2018 11:01:16 +0000

“She Asked for Help for Postpartum Depression. The Nurse Called the Cops.” [Darby Saxbe, Slate] Under one Montana prosecutor’s announced policy, pregnant mother “proven to be using alcohol … might be monitored by law enforcement or sent to jail.” [Andrew Turck, Big Horn County News]
“The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether a judge may be Facebook friends with lawyers who appear before the judge.” [Raymond McKoski, Orlando Sentinel]
Nation’s highest military court unanimously tosses sexual assault conviction of Coast Guard enlisted man, finding juror selection stacked by higher-ups; of seven jurors, four were trained sexual assault victim advocates [Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times; decision]
Report on legal landscape of cottage food industry [Jennifer McDonald, Institute for Justice] Deregulation efforts of Trump administration have yet to reach food sector [Baylen Linnekin]
So large and so diverse is the 400-member lower house of the New Hampshire legislature that it appears to contain a sovereign citizen believer [Jack Smith IV, Mic]
“Stash House Stings: When the Government Can Invent Crimes and Criminals” [Trevor Burrus and Reilly Stephens]

Tags: Facebook, folk law, food safety, jury selection, New Hampshire, sexual assault

February 1 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

November 15 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 15 Nov 2017 11:01:29 +0000

“A Link Between Alcohol and Cancer? It’s Not Nearly as Scary as It Seems” [Aaron E. Carroll, New York Times; Ronald Bailey]
Court rejects “sovereign citizen” pitch on behalf of disgraced Subway pitchman Jared Fogle [Matt Reynolds, Courthouse News]
I’m quoted on U.S. Senate’s Roy Moore perplex [Matt Kwong, CBC] And my Twitter thread on the signed yearbook that figures in Monday’s allegations went viral;
Time to end it: “Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: Costly, Complex, and Corruption-Prone” [Chris Edwards and Vanessa Brown Calder, Cato]
“When Statutes Conflict, Agencies Shouldn’t Get to Pick Which One They Like More” [Ilya Shapiro, Cato on Cato certiorari amicus in Chevron deference case of Perez-Guzman v. Sessions]
“More Lawyers or More Justice?” Mark Pulliam reviews Barton and Bibas’s Rebooting Justice, earlier here and here]

Tags: administrative law, alcohol, folk law, real estate, Senate

November 15 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Phase 4: be recognized as the lawful King of Australia.”

Walter Olson — Sun, 24 Sep 2017 15:48:32 +0000

That might be the hard part of the plan [Lowering the Bar]

Tags: Australia, folk law

“Phase 4: be recognized as the lawful King of Australia.” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

August 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 04:05:49 +0000

Federalist Society podcast with Wayne Crews and Devon Westhill on subregulatory guidance, agency memos, circulars, Dear Colleague letters, and other regulatory “dark matter”;
Having announced end to practice of funneling litigation settlement cash to private advocacy groups, AG Sessions plans to investigate some actions of previous administration in this line [New York Post, earlier, related Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz testimony on Obama bank settlements]
Update: jury acquits 4 Boston Teamsters on extortion charges in intimidation of “Top Chef” show and guest host Padma Lakshmi [Nate Raymond/Reuters (“smash your pretty little face”), more, Daily Mail (language, epithets); earlier]
“Hunted becomes the hunter: How Cloudflare is turning the tables on a patent troll” [Connie Loisos, Techcrunch]
Here’s a pro se sovereign citizen complaint if you can stand to look [@associatesmind thread on this N.D. Calif. filing]
IP license withheld: “Spain’s Bright Blue ‘Smurf Village’ Is Being Forced to De-Smurf” [Cara Giaimo, Atlas Obscura; Júzcar, Spain]

Tags: advocacy funding, are you feeling protected?, Boston, folk law, labor unions, patent trolls, pro se, regulation and its reform, Spain

August 16 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

April 12 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 04:05:06 +0000

Judge denies motion to dismiss in Kentucky Trump rally violence suit, now try explaining what that means to some headline writers [Ken White, Popehat]
False liens, threats of “arrest” cited in indictment of eight Colorado sovereign citizens [Boulder Daily Camera]
How virtual reality (VR) may give rise to tort claims [2-part Volokh Conspiracy: first, second]
D.C. Circuit: no, the FCC can’t enable lawsuits over “unsolicited” faxes that recipients did in fact agree to [NFIB]
Economist seems glad free online Berkeley courses got saved; ADA fans in comment section urge his firing, call him felon [Alex Tabarrok, MargRev]
With one in four of all patent cases going to a single federal judge in east Texas, forum-shopping is a menace to judicial impartiality [Jonas Anderson, SSRN]

Tags: Eastern District of Texas, folk law, web accessibility

April 12 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Litigant tries to arrest judge in court

Walter Olson — Sun, 05 Feb 2017 16:54:06 +0000

It didn’t work out well for the litigant in this case from Northern Ireland, but then the tactic seldom works out well anywhere, even when as here the litigant happens to be a police officer [In re Carlin, Northern Ireland Queen’s Bench 2016]

Tags: folk law, United Kingdom

Litigant tries to arrest judge in court is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

June 1 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 04:05:14 +0000

Report: TV comedy incorporated old footage of videogame from YouTube clip, then sent clip’s originator takedown notice based on its having content identical to that in show [Damien McFerran, NintendoLife]
Claim of negligent security: Planned Parenthood sued over Denver abortion clinic shooting [Reuters]
Trail of fraudulent overbilling in latest False Claims Act leads back to — well, the NYC government [New York Daily News, U.S. Attorney press release]
Hillary Clinton continues to recite untruths about the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), the federal gun liability law; we’ve made that point a number of times, but now Dave Kopel has a post going into more detail;
Why Coyote yearns to exit California businesses: “my mental bandwidth is consumed by regulatory compliance”;
“Judge of bogus ‘postal court’ files purported judgments, claims only nouns have legal meaning” [ABA Journal] “Sovereign citizen” talk found in various other parts of the English-speaking world, also Germany where some argue Weimar Republic is still in effect [Lowering the Bar; sequel (“Sovereign Citizens Also Bothering Scotland”); our folk law heading]

Tags: California, folk law, Hillary Clinton, Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, qui tam, third party liability for crime

June 1 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 16 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 04:11:04 +0000

Maryland: no strict liability when noise from lawful fireworks display causes cows to stampede in nearby barn [Volokh]
Minimum wage and affordable housing: “Oregon Legislature Repeals Laws of Supply & Demand” [Randal O’Toole, Cato]
Policy debate on international trade: Donald Trump v. Milton Friedman (more);
Defense pounces on Garlock trust asbestos revelations [Bates White, Chamber Institute for Legal Reform and more]
“Seven steps to ensure you become overregulated” include “#1 – Be Successful.” [Mark Jamison, Tech Policy Daily]
We’ve restored (again) our custom 404 Not Found page, an old favorite that has made various best-of lists;
Ink colors, flag fringe, lower case: @jjmacnab tweetstorm explores fixations of “sovereign citizen” subculture. Plus: “Oregon Occupier Files ‘Counter-Complaint’ Against Feds and/or Devil” [Lowering the Bar]

Tags: asbestos, folk law, free trade, regulation and its reform

March 16 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“I’ll pretend you’re a boat,’ the judge said dryly”

Walter Olson — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 11:48:51 +0000

“Twenty years ago I prosecuted a tax protester who claimed — as one does — that the gold fringe on the courtroom flag made it an admiralty court. ‘I’ll pretend you’re a boat,’ the judge said dryly and proceeded with the mundane business of the case. Professionalism and protection of rights, not trading drama for drama, is the way to handle a self-styled revolutionary. It won’t entertain the media, but it will refute the assertion that the system can’t get it right.” [Ken White, Los Angeles Times, on the Oregon confrontation]

Tags: folk law, Oregon

“I’ll pretend you’re a boat,’ the judge said dryly” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system