The Fourth Circuit has struck down the N. Carolina voter I.D. law, finding that that it was conceived with discriminatory intent. The opinion is here. The court said this: In response to claims that intentional racial discrimination animated [the N.C. General Assembly's action], the State offered only meager justifications. Although the new provisions target African Americans […]
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Law prof John Brooks has written Student Loans As Taxes. Here is the abstract: The growth of college tuition and the corresponding rise in student loan debt have become major issues of public importance. Total outstanding student debt is at least $1.3 trillion, and tuitions keep growing, even while we arguably need to invest more in […]
Law prof Margot Pollans has written Drinking Water Protection and Agricultural Exceptionalism, which you may want to read in light of the water crisis in Flint. Here's the abstract: Providing safe drinking water is a basic responsibility of government. The US system is inefficient, unfair, and sets up local water utilities to fail. Under the Safe Drinking […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed new debt-collection regulations described by the agency here. The agency's press release summarizes the proposal's key provisions this way: Collect the correct debt: Collectors would have to scrub their files and substantiate the debt before contacting consumers. For example, collectors would have to confirm that they have sufficient […]
In this short essay (subscription possibly required), public-interest lawyer Arthur Bryant explains why he thinks the Supreme Court's decision in Spokeo v. Robins is good news for consumers seeking to enforce their rights to statutory damages.
The Hill reports that the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission on Friday told phone companies that they should start providing free technology for their customers to block robocalls and spam texts. Last year, The Hill explains, the FCC told wireless carriers that they could provide robocall-blocking technology said without running afoul of any rules. […]
Time has this article, reporting that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "has reshaped the mortgage market and issued hefty penalties. But there is much to be done."
A Washington Post story today, entitled "Did your college mislead you about job prospects? It might become far easier to have your loans forgiven," explains: A little-known rule called Borrower Defense to Repayment, which is making its way through the regulatory process in Washington, initially was aimed at cracking down on the fraudulent behavior of […]
This article by Steven Mufson explains that "the fuel efficiency standards championed by President Obama in 2012 will fall short of the 54.5-miles-per-gallon 2025 target the administration set because consumers are buying more pickup trucks, vans and sports utility vehicles than expected, according to a new technical assessment report by the Environmental Protection Agency and the […]
This short article by Gayatri Rao, the Food and Drug Administration's director of Orphan Products Development, explains that, in recent years, drug companies have been filing many more "orphan drug" applications than they used to. Orphan drugs are drugs aimed at treating people with rare diseases. Drug companies sometimes say that it's too costly for them […]