We told you last June that a panel of the D.C. Circuit had largely upheld the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas rules issued after the Supreme Court's decision in Massachusetts v. EPA demanded regulatory action on greenhouse gases. The panel's 82-page opinion, written by Judge Per Curiam (Sentelle, Rogers, and Tatel), was pretty comprehensive. Yesterday (nearly […]
We posted yesterday about a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that authorized non-class members to intervene for the purpose of objecting to a district court's certification and settlement of a class action that might affect their interests. Class action lawyer Rob Bramson has made an interesting comment on […]
Today, the Washington Post reported on a new study quantifying how often surgeons make "never" mistakes, i.e., mistakes that should never happen, such as leaving an object in a patient, performing the wrong procedure, or performing the procedure on the wrong body part. Apparently, between 1990 and 2010, about 500 "never" events were reported to […]
by Jeff Sovern According to an article in Evan Hendricks's Privacy Times from October 24 (I'm behind in my reading), the FTC is working on a standardized privacy label akin to the nutrition facts labeling on food. The label is to focus on five main items. Not so readable as a single grade, but it […]
Chris Jay Hoofnagle and Jennifer M. Urban, both of Berkeley Law, and Su Li of Berkely’s Center for the Study of Law and Society, have written Privacy and Advertising Mail. Here’s the abstract: In this paper, we consider why Americans may frame the generation and receipt of unsolicited advertising mail as a privacy violation. We then present data […]
by Paul Alan Levy The death of Robert Bork today has revived the old debate about the defeat of his nomination to the Supreme Court, but I am sorry to see many of the ordinarily reliable sources missing the boat in their discussions. The New York Times, for example, talks about how liberals opposed him […]
Read this article on that topic by Stephanie Greene and Christine O'Brien. Here is the abstract: If you spend time at work checking Facebook or shopping online you might be violating your employer’s computer policy. But you might also be committing a federal crime. For the past decade or so, courts have disagreed over the […]
This NYT story, though published in October, seems increasingly relevant as the fiscal cliff talks grind on without resolution. The takeaway: a 2007 tax break to exempt mortgage debt relief from being taxed as income is about to expire. Like everything else in the budget, its fate is at stake in the current fiscal negotiations.
Ever make a plane reservation well in advance, try to pick a seat on-line (which the airline suggests that you do), and find out that the only "free" seats are a few crappy middle seats? All the others are "grayed out," indicating that they have already been reserved. Hmm. That's funny, I just bought that […]
Here. It's about the CFPB's forthcoming qualified mortgage rules. An excerpt: The rules are meant to help bolster the housing market. By shielding banks from potential litigation, policy makers contend that the industry will have a powerful incentive to make higher quality home loans. But some banking and housing specialists worry that borrowers are losing […]