Category Archives: Uncategorized

Does the federal courts’ PACER system undermine the public’s constitutional right of access to court papers?

That's the issue addressed in The Price of Ignorance: The Constitutional Cost of Fees for Access to Electronic Public Court Records by Stephen Schultze. Here's the abstract: The United States federal judiciary maintains a system called PACER, “Public Access to Court Electronic Records.” PACER is the public gateway into the electronic repository for documents filed in federal […]

Despite Claims that CFPB Regs Increase Lending Costs, MBA Reports Mortgage Origination Costs Close to Historic Lows

by Jeff Sovern Housing Wire reports on mortgage origination costs in a report headlined MBA: The cost to produce a mortgage falls closer to historic lows, with a subhead reading "Independent mortgage bank production profitability improves."  Reports like this make it difficult to justify claims that the CFPB is significantly adding to lending costs.

Arbitration, Concerted Action, and the Gig Economy

Those who follow the arbitration wars probably know that the upcoming Supreme Court term will kick off with an epic battle in those wars–literally. The first argument on the first Monday in October will be in the consolidated cases of Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, and NLRB v. Murphy Oil Corp.. The […]

Federal judge issues permanent nationwide injunction against Obama-era rule giving more employees overtime pay

We've posted several times (for instance, here and here) about the Obama Administration's rule significantly raising the pay threshold that triggers exceptions to the general rule that workers must be paid 1.5 times their ordinary pay for every hour they work over 40 per week. Put simply, the Obama Administration rule meant overtime pay for far more workers. […]

Anonymous Users Who Emailed the DisruptJ20 Web Site, and Who Received Emails From That Site, Seek Court Protection for Their Anonymity

by Paul Alan Levy In a motion for leave to intervene filed today, three anonymous Internet users who sought information from the DisruptJ20 web site, who joined listservs through which such information was communicated, or who volunteered to provide legal support work for the range of nonviolent protest activities advertised on the site, are asking […]

This is, well, sickening

Reporter Sarah Kliff is reporting at Vox  that  The Trump administration plans to deeply cut Obamacare outreach and advertising, officials announced Thursday. They will reduce Obamacare advertising spending 90 percent, from the $100 million that the Obama administration spent last year to $10 million this year, and cut the budget for the in-person enrollment program by 41 […]

DeVos deregulating for-profit colleges

Politico reports that, seven months into the Trump administration, Department of Education Secretary DeVos has: — Moved to gut two major Obama-era regulations reviled by the industry that would have cut off funding to low-performing programs and made it easier for defrauded students to wipe out their loans; — Appointed a former for-profit college official, […]

Wells Fargo reports up to 1.4 million more fake accounts

Wells Fargo now says it has found a total of up to 3.5 million potentially fake bank and credit card accounts, up from its earlier tally of approximately 2.1 million. The additional fake accounts were discovered by a previously-announced analysis that went back to January 2009 and that reviewed the original May 2011 to mid-2015 […]

Last chance to weigh in on FCC’s net neutrality roll-back

A Washington Post column reminds us: "Today marks your final opportunity to submit comments to federal regulators who want to undo the government's net neutrality rules for Internet providers, in a move that could have sweeping implications for the future of the Web. The push to weaken or eliminate the rules has been met with praise from […]