New Pew study on student debt: “Young Adults, Student Debt and Economic Well-Being”

The Pew Research Center has just issued a report called Young Adults, Student Debt and Economic Well-Being. Among other things, it finds that Student debt burdens are weighing on the economic fortunes of younger Americans, as households headed by young adults owing student debt lag far behind their peers in terms of wealth accumulation, according […]

How does the Obama administration’s civil-rights enforcement record compare to the Bush II administration’s civil-rights enforcement record?

That's what law professor Michael Selmi is talking about in his new article, The Obama Administration's Civil Rights Record: The Difference an Administration Makes. Here is the abstract: This essay reviews the Obama Administration’s civil rights record during its first Administration, with a particular focus on the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice […]

California Court of Appeals Creates New Argument for Protecting Anonymous Online Speech

by Paul Alan Levy In a decision issued today, the California Second District Court of Appeal has created an additional way for anonymous speakers, and for web operators who host anonymous comments, to protect the right to speak anonymously.   Instead of invoking the First Amendment as courts in other states, and indeed other appellate courts […]

NACA adopts Third Edition of its Standards and Guidelines for Litigating and Settling Class Actions

by Stephen Gardner The Board of Directors of the National Association of Consumer Advocates adopted the Third Edition of its Standards and Guidelines for Litigating and Settling Class Actions on May 13 (Download here), continuing a tradition of setting high standards for the ways consumer class actions are handled that began with the first Guidelines adopted in […]

HHS Lawyer Threatens Blogger with Defamation Action

by Paul Alan Levy   Popehat carried a story yesterday about a demand letter from a "senior attorney" for the US Department of Health and Human Services named Dale Berkeley (who pompously signed himself as "Ph.D. / J.D."), complaining about two lame parodies on a web site that opposes Alcoholic Anonymous and asserts that there is […]

A few automakers taking the lead on rear visibility safety

We've told you about the long saga to coax the DOT to issue a rear visibility safety standard, as mandated by Congress six years ago, to help prevent "backover" crashes, which primarily affect young children and the elderly. Six weeks ago, DOT finally issued the long-delayed standard, which will effectively require backup cameras in all […]

Should the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate be repealed?

by Brian Wolfman Yes, according to this study issued by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Urban Institute. To oversimplify, the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate requires employers with over 50 employees to provide their full-time employees with reasonably priced health insurance that meets the ACA's minimum requirements (or to pay penalties if they don't comply […]