The Supreme Court has agreed to hear McBurney v. Young, which presents the following question: Under the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV and the dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, may a state preclude citizens of other states from enjoying the same right of access to public records that the state […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
Recently, we've discussed (here and here) eBay's terrible new forced arbitration clause that prohibits its customers from going to court and bans class actions. Class actions are often the only way to hold corporations accountable when they break the law and harm their customers. We told you that eBay is trying to give the world […]
In a pay-for-delay settlement, a brand-name drug company pays a generic company that has challenged the brand-name company's patent to stay out of the market. Some early antitrust challenges to these settlements succeeded, but later court of appeals' rulings gave them a green light. But, as we discussed in this post in July, the Third Circuit […]
We posted recently about whether California will become the first state in the U.S. to require labeling of genetically engineered food. Now, the Center for Food Safety has posted this map showing which countries have what labeling requirements for genetically engineered foods. (HT to Andrew Kaufman)
A couple weeks ago we discussed (here and here) eBay's new binding arbitration clause that will keep its customers out of court and ban class actions. Now, David Lazarus of the LA Times has penned this article about eBay's efforts to take away its customers' rights through arbitration.
As explained in this article by Todd Ruger, the "liberal public interest group [Alliance for Justice] in Washington released a new documentary Monday that focuses on three Supreme Court rulings that the group says has favored big businesses at the expense of consumers and victims of discrimination." Click here or on the video embedded below […]
When a Supreme Court justice decides not to participate in a case, he or she is not required by law to say why (and rarely does). Similarly, when a party asks a Supreme Court justice to recuse and the justice doesn't, typically neither the justice nor the Court says why. In this extensive analysis, the […]
Sarah Kliff has penned this story about a controversial anti-obesity campaign run by Minnesota Blue Cross/Blue Shield. It includes this ad and this ad,both embedded below, about families that cannot stop eating, even though the parents appear to realize that the family culture that they are bestowing on their kids may be deadly. […]
In this decision issued on September 28, 2012, U.S. district judge Kathryn Vratil gave preliminary approval to most aspects of a complex class-action settlement but rejected a settlement provision that would have granted leftover settlement funds to unnamed governments or charities. By refusing to name the potential cy pres recipients, the court held, there was no […]
This article by Jerry Hirsch tell us that, with a boost from new California legislation, self-driving cars are not terribly far away. The hope is that the cars will make driving easier and promote consumer safety: Having a hard time parallel parking? Press a button on a touch screen and let the car park itself. […]