FTC alleges DeVry ads misled students about employment and income prospects

The Federal Trade Commission announced today: The [FTC] has filed suit against the operators of DeVry University, alleging that DeVry’s advertisements deceived consumers about the likelihood that students would find jobs in their fields of study, and would earn more than those graduating with bachelor's degrees from other colleges or universities. In its complaint against […]

“Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards”

…is the subtitle of a damning report issued last week by the Center for Effective Government. The report (full title: "Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards") finds "compelling evidence that increasing social inequality is linked to environmental degradation and that the health of people of color and those living in […]

When insurers drop critical drugs

As NPR reports, insurance decisions about which drugs to cover present patients and doctors with an unfair choice: pay exorbitant prices or settle for a medication that may not work right. Dropping drugs leaves patients in a bind and ignores the fact that different drugs work better for different patients. Why drop some drugs? Insurers say they are trying to […]

We told state courts that they must obey federal law 200 years ago

That's what it took less than two pages for the Supreme Court to say today to the Idaho Supreme Court in James v. City of Boise. Under 42 U.S.C. 1988 and many other similar civil-rights-type fee-shifting statutes, a court "may" "in its discretion" award attorney's fees to the prevailing party. Many years ago, the Supreme Court […]

Study of Privacy Policy Vagueness

Joel R. Reidenberg of Fordham, Jaspreet Bhatia and Travis Breaux, both of Carnegie Mellon,and Thomas B. Norton also of Fordham have written Automated Comparisons of Ambiguity in Privacy Policies and the Impact of Regulation. Here is the abstract: Website privacy policies often contain ambiguous language that undermines the purpose and value of privacy notices for […]

Josuhua Wright & John Yun on the FTC’s Unfairness Power and Digital Platforms

Former FTC Commissioner Joshua D. Wright, now of George Mason,  and John M. Yun of the FTC have written Stop Chug-a-Lug-a-Lugin 5 Miles an Hour on Your International Harvester: How Modern Economics Brings the FTC's Unfairness Analysis Up to Speed with Digital Platforms, 6 George Washington Law Review,  2130 (2015). Here is the abstract: In this […]