Earlier this month, we noted a significant Fourth Circuit class action decision (Scott v. Family Dollar) permitting the plaintiffs to amend their complaint with allegations that could qualify them for class action treatment within the rules set forth by the Supreme Court in Wal-Mart v. Dukes. Here's a different take: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce […]
Author Archives: Scott Michelman
The Third Circuit held today in Delaware Coalition for Open Government v. Strine that a state-run arbitration program over which a judge presides and that results in an enforceable judgment is subject to the First Amendment right of access to judicial proceedings. The key question in the case was whether these proceedings should be treated […]
We've previously written about a Takings Clause case filed to challenge Washington D.C.'s practice of permitting private companies to buy tax liens, institute foreclosure proceedings, and keep the entire value of the property (not just the amount needed to satisfy the debt). On Friday, D.C. moved to dismiss the suit on a variety of procedural […]
In a significant victory for plaintiffs, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled yesterday that a putative class of plaintiffs who work at Family Dollar Stores and allege disparate payment practices based on sex should be allowed to amend their complaint, and that they might be able to satisfy commonality under the […]
Although Facebook has been sued for the practice (the case is now headed to the Ninth Circuit on our appeal from settlement approval), Google announced late last week that it would soon begin using user images in advertisements. One silver lining: Google, unlike Facebook, will exempt users under 18, the New York Times reports. Facebook's […]
Following up on news of the troubled D.C. tax-lien system, and movement toward reform, there's a report in the Post today whose title aptly sums up the contents: Left in the dark: Despite warnings, D.C. tax office’s address records found rife with errors, preventing bills and critical notices from reaching homeowners. Worth a read.
Check out this thought-provoking article from the Boston Globe about why texting and driving remains such a persistent problem. We all know that texting and driving can be dangerous (and by "all,"the article cites an amazing 94% figure from a federal survey about the number of people who know this is a risky practice). Yet […]
Great editorial in the Times today calling on the Obama Administration to stop obstructing the long-delayed rule to prevent backover injuries, i.e. injuries from cars backing into people the drivers can't see — injuries that disproportionately befall young children. Representing a coalition of safety advocates and parents, we here at Public Citizen filed suit last […]
When the Supreme Court upheld Obamacare's individual mandate last year in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, it was not a total victory for reform: because the Court held that the Act's Medicaid expansion imposed too coercive a spending condition on states, states were left with a choice whether or not to accept federal […]
I found this NYT commentary from this past weekend interesting: looking at a few recent cases pitting government regulators or homeowners against major banks, the article observes, "District court judges are not generally known as flamethrowers, but some seem to be losing patience with the banks."