Ars Technica reports on a disturbing report out of Colorado that Denver cops are querying state and federal law enforcement databases for personal uses, such as "to help officers' in the romance department and to assist friends, according to an independent department monitor." Read the story here and the independent monitor's report here (go to page 16 for […]
NPR reports: Doctors have long disputed the accusation that the payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies have any relationship to how they prescribe drugs. There's been little evidence to settle the matter, until now. A ProPublica analysis has found that doctors who receive payments from the medical industry do indeed prescribe drugs differently on average […]
From Politico's Morning Money, by Ben White: M.M. hosted a panel at the ABA conference on Wednesday that generated some controversy when Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, said people needed to "find a way to neuter" Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), whom he called "the Darth Vader of […]
We have received the following Call for Papers: The three Consumer-Protection related committees of the ABA Antitrust Section (Consumer Protection, Privacy, and Advertising Disputes & Litigation Committees) are excited to announce a new initiative geared towards young lawyers and law students interested in the consumer protection and privacy fields – an opportunity to get published […]
Predictably, privacy groups like the idea; ISPs don't. NPR has the story.
House Financial Services Chair Jeb Hensarling gave a speech today to the American Bankers Association Frank Act. During the speech, he said the following about the CFPB: [T]hey’re certainly not helped when Obama’s Financial Control Law [his name for the Dodd-Frank Act that created the CFPB, among other things] has killed off a benefit many, […]
We've discussed previously the troubling practice of some state and local courts using low-level offenses to generate fees, sometimes for the courts themselves and sometimes for for-profit entities that run court-related services. (See, for instance, here and here.) Now the Justice Department is warning states that these practices are unconstitutional and must stop, the New […]
The Department of Education announced on Friday a proposal to establish borrower-friendly processes for seeking and obtaining loan relief triggered by unscrupulous conduct by higher education institutions. The Department also proposed options to protect students from the use of mandatory arbitration provisions in enrollment agreements. The proposals were made in connection with an ongoing negotiated […]
Ralph Nader has an article on tort law entitled "Suing for Justice – Your lawsuits are good for America" in April's edition of Harper's Magazine. His conclusion: We are at a moment in our legal history at which the tort system, built over the course of a century in courts of law by tens of […]
Last week, the Vermont Attorney General announced that Advantage Payment Systems will pay $22,000 to settle claims that the company violated state consumer laws by processing electronic payments to payday lenders charging 100-300% interest despite the fact that Vermont law forbids interest rates of greater than 24%. Apparently, the company has already stopped processing payments in Vermont […]