Asset forfeiture is the controversial practice of taking people's stuff when they may be involved in criminal activity. Why is the program controversial? Because sometimes the government seizes the assets of people who are innocent and it's very difficult to get it back. Compounding the problem is a racial disparity in whose stuff gets taken. […]
by Jeff Sovern A few weeks ago, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Georgetown Law Professor David Cole, titled What Liberals Can Learn From the N.R.A. Consumer advocates who seek to change the law would find the entire piece worth reading, but I was particularly struck by one paragraph (which is self-serving, both when […]
by Paul Alan Levy Ted Frank’s comment on my post yesterday about the y-y-yuge sanction imposed on Donald Trump for bringing a frivolous defamation claim hit the nail on the head – this was an April Fools Day prank. But as Eric Turkewitz, who created the concept and posted the first blog on the subject, explains […]
Think California's proposed minimum wage is too high? Other states too low? Consider this calculator for what constitutes a living wage, by state, created by an MIT professor.
As UPI reports: Coast Professional and National Recoveries were among the five private collection agencies terminated in February 2015 after they made "materially inaccurate representations" to borrowers in default, the Education Department said. But in the final few months of 2015, Coast Professional was given an additional $863.5 million worth of student loans, and National […]
by Paul Alan Levy Could a $500,000,000 sanction for frivolous litigation be large enough that even Donald Trump would start taking the First Amendment seriously, and stop trying to use the courts to suppress lawful speech that he doesn’t like? In the final analysis, that is the issue raised by Erik Turkewitz’ blog post today. […]
Here. Bad news for lawyers.
Here. Excerpt: The problem is one of disclosure. Do news organizations do a sufficient job of helping people understand that one story or link is real news while another was provided by an advertiser? * * * Consumers might say: "If it's interesting content, what's the difference?" The difference is that the goal of journalism […]
by Paul Alan Levy Techdirt carries word of an ingenious scheme that two California lawyers have been running to get unflattering reviews removed from Google’s search results without ever proving defamation in an adversary proceeding and, indeed, without risk of an adversary proceeding. Opinion Corp., which hosts the consumer review site PissedConsumer.com, noticed a suspicious […]
Back by Gov. Jerry Brown, California's proposal to raise the minimum wage holds out the possibility of a huge gain for workers. California's proposed $15 minimum would make it not just a leader in this country but also the world, catching up to global leaders France and Australia. But the opposing side is also on […]