Category Archives: Uncategorized

Rare criminal trial over mine safety violations begins tomorrow

Tomorrow, former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship will stand trial in federal court in West Virginia for allegedly lethal violations of federal mine safety rules. From a Slate preview of the case: Known for his in-your-face policies and politics, Blankenship is accused of creating a ruthless work culture that skimped on safety and employee well-being […]

Why do 33 million Americans still lack health insurance?

As fivethirtyeight.com documented earlier this week, in spite of Obamacare’s extensions of health care coverage to millions of previously uninsured Americans, 33 million still don’t have coverage. Who are those people and why aren’t they covered? Some are noncitizen immigrants; others fall into the “Medicaid gap” (referring to the range of “incomes that were too […]

CFPB reports on widespread servicing failures reported by student loan borrowers

The Consumer Financial Protection Board released today a report outlining widespread servicing failures reported by both federal and private student loan borrowers. According to the CFPB press release: Consumers describe companies using a wide range of sloppy, patchwork practices that can create obstacles to repayment, raise costs, cause distress, and contribute to driving struggling borrowers […]

“How Many Deaths Did Volkswagen’s Deception Cause in the U.S.?”

The New York Times has an estimate: Unlike the ignition defect in General Motors vehicles that caused at least 124 people to die in car crashes, Volkswagen pollution is harder to link to individual deaths. But it is clear to public health researchers that the air pollutants the cars illegally emitted damage health, and they […]

FTC sues weight-loss company for use of non-disparagement clauses, among other violations

The FTC announced yesterday that it sued weight-loss company Roca Labs in federal court in Florida for making unsubstantiated claims about its products then trying to silence critics using a non-disparagement clause followed up by threats (a subject we've covered numerous times on this blog, see, e.g., here and here). The FTC's press statement explains: In a […]

Report chronicles modern debtors’ prisons in New Hampshire

You might assume, based on our prior discussions of lawsuits over modern day debtors' prison practices in Georgia and Missouri (see here and here) that the practice of jailing people who can't pay court fines and fees is confined to the South. An ACLU report last week discussing practices in New Hampshire shows otherwise. Among […]

Ralph Nader opens American Museum of Tort Law

A timely counterweight to the troubling political movement to roll back regulations that protect public safety, the American Museum of Tort Law opened in Winsted, Connecticut this past weekend. As the NYT describes, The museum aims to describe the evolution of the law regarding negligence and liability, and it features some of the most groundbreaking […]

EU ruling could have major implications for technology and privacy

The BBC reported Wednesday that "An opinion issued by the European Court of Justice says that current data-sharing rules between the 28-nation bloc and the US are 'invalid.' The decision could affect other tech firms' abilities to send Europeans' information to US data centres." Although the ruling is not final, the BBC explains that the ruling […]

CFPB and DOJ announce $27m discriminatory lending settlement against Hudson City Savings Bank

From a CFPB press release today: Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a joint action against Hudson City Savings Bank for discriminatory redlining practices that denied residents in majority-Black-and-Hispanic neighborhoods fair access to mortgage loans. The complaint filed by the CFPB and DOJ alleges that Hudson City […]