Garcia Opposes En Banc Rehearing But Ducks Issues of Prior Restraint and Copyright Misuse

by Paul Alan Levy I blogged recently about several of the issues raised by Cindy Lee Garcia's copyright claims against Google, which we addressed in an amicus brief filed well before the amicus due date, specifically to give her the chance to address those issues.  I suppose that I should be flattered that Garcia mentions […]

The government tests cars for crashworthiness — why not child car seats too?

That's the question implicit in today's NYT report on tests of child car seats run by our friends at Consumer Reports. The Times explains: A new testing procedure, said by the magazine to represent an investment of more than a half-million dollars and over two years of work, was developed to evaluate the crash protection […]

Which Law Schools Are Teaching Consumer Law This Year?

by Jeff Sovern In preparation for remarks at the University of Houston's  Teaching Consumer Law Conference, to be held this year in Santa Fe in May, I asked my research assistant, Preston Postlethwaite, to review the web sites of the ABA-accredited schools to see which are teaching consumer law courses this school year.  According to Preston, 49 […]

Supreme Court Denies Frequent Flyer’s Claim Against Airline

By Adina Rosenbaum, Public Citizen This morning, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Northwest v. Ginsberg, holding that the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) preempts Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsberg’s claim that Northwest breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing when it terminated his frequent flyer program membership. Rabbi Ginsberg was a long-standing […]

Fifth Circuit revives Texas offshoot of Dukes v. Walmart class action

After the Supreme Court (in)famously reversed class certification in the nationwide Dukes v. Walmart employment discrimination class action in 2011, smaller class actions have gone forward in its place in various parts of the country. The case against Walmart in Texas was dismissed by the district court based on the statute of limitations. This week, […]

Supreme Court strikes down federal aggregate campaign donation limits under First Amendment

That's what the Court did today, by a 5-4 vote, in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission. The main opinion was written by Chief Justice Roberts. Justice Thomas, concurring in the judgment, would have gone further and overruled Buckley v. Valeo, which, among other things, upheld certain individual limits on contributions to particular candidates. No surprise […]

A Comment on the Senate Banking Committee Hearing on Alternative Financial Products

by Jeff Sovern Last week, the Senate Banking Committee held a hearing on Alternative Financial Products. The American Banker account is here, albeit behind a paywall.   I found most interesting the payday lending discussion, and in particular the arguments made against regulation.  At one point, a Senator (I think Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania), questioned a witness, Stephanie […]