Category Archives: Uncategorized

Bogus trademark claim from Patrick Henry College

by Paul Alan Levy Michael Farris, the chancellor of Patrick Henry College, which markets itself as a Christian college with strong ties to the home-schooling movement, recently threatened to sue gay students at the school for creating a blog and Facebook page about the difficulties they face at this institution. Farris, who at one time […]

Supreme Court Grants Review in Generic Drug Preemption Case

By Brian Wolfman In 2009, the Supreme Court held 6-3 in Wyeth v. Levine that, in general, FDA approval of a brand-name prescription drug and its labeling does not preempt a state-law damages claim premised on the drug manufacturer's failure to warn of the drug's hazards. I wrote an article on the implications of that […]

Ralph Nader: Congress Should Enact a Speculation Tax to Narrow the Federal Deficit

Ralph Nader explains in this op-ed that Congress should impose a small tax on trades of stocks and other financial products, such as derivatives. The tax would never exceed 1/2 of 1 percent of the value of the traded product, with the hardest hit on short-term investments. Here's an excerpt: In the debate over the […]

Crushing Student Loan Delinquency

We've covered the issue of the nation's huge student loan debt many times before. Many people are way behind on their payments and nearly all of the loans are made by or guaranteed by the federal government. This Wall Street Journal article explains the current situation. Here's an excerpt that describes differences between student loan debt […]

Comments Sought on Revisions to NY UCC

A UCC omnibus bill being introduced in the New York Legislature would revise UCC Articles 1, 3, 4, 7, 8, and 9, to embody the latest UCC Model Versions.  If you have views about particular advantages and disadvantages to adoption, or suggested revisions, Norman Silber would be interested in knowing about them.  Please email him at Norman.Silber@Hofstra.edu

Mortgage tax break up for debate in fiscal cliff talks

In the fiscal cliff negotiations, a lot is on the table. One policy formally viewed as untouchable but now up for discussion, the Washington Post reports, is the mortgage-interest deduction, which is designed to encourage home ownership but has been criticized as responsible for inflating home prices and benefiting the wealthy disproportionally. The Post story […]

United Airlines Sues Website Critical of United Airlines

by Brian Wolfman One of the nice things about the Internet is that it brings down the cost of communicating with the public, potentially democratizing free speech. At fairly low cost, consumers can establish websites that criticize big businesses. Sometimes those big businesses don't like that and sue the owners of the critical websites. Often […]