Environmental roundup
Oklahoma attorney general goes to court claiming private litigant manipulation of endangered/threatened species petition process [Lowell Rothschild & Kevin Ewing; NPR "State Impact"; Oklahoman,...
View ArticlePolice and corrections roundup
“Cops or soldiers? America’s police have become too militarized” [The Economist survey and related editorial] Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) introduces bill to rein in police militarization [Radley Balko]...
View ArticleLiability roundup
By convention the business/defense side isn’t fond of jury trial while plaintiff’s side sings its praises, but Louisiana fight might turn that image on its head [Hayride, sequel at TortsProf (measure...
View ArticleMay 5 roundup
Shakedowns as speech? “Patent trolls are getting First Amendment protection for their demand letters” [ABA Journal] Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp decries press attention to $5K settlement over son’s bike...
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Citizens: use social media to advance social benefit!
The Kansas Board of Regents has adopted a broad new policy barring employees, including faculty, from “improper use of social media,” which include content that “impairs … harmony among co-workers” or...
View ArticleFree speech roundup
“Tenured Wisconsin Prof Sues Former Student Over Online Comments on Her Teaching” [Caron/TaxProf] Recent Paul Alan Levy profile: “The web bully’s worst enemy” [Washingtonian] HHS signals it won’t...
View ArticleCop fired after falling asleep on job wins nearly $1M
Kansas: “A federal jury Tuesday awarded a former McPherson police officer who was found sleeping on duty almost $1 million in wages and damages. Matthew B. Michaels alleged the city violated his civil...
View ArticleDoes the AAUP approve of FOIA-ing professors’ emails?
Should we cheer or boo when outspoken professors at state universities become the target of public records demands filed by antagonists seeking their emails and correspondence? As we had occasion to...
View ArticleSchools roundup
Many states have liberalized rules on family homeschooling, now comes the backlash from proponents of tighter regulation [NY Times] Kansas Supreme Court decrees higher school spending, estimated...
View ArticleDecember 30 roundup
Federal Circuit court of appeals says government can’t deny trademark as “disparaging” just because it frowns on its expressive content, implications are favorable for Washington Redskins in their...
View ArticleSchools and childhood roundup
In the mail: “No Child Left Alone: Getting the Government Out of Parenting,” forthcoming book by Abby Wisse Schachter [more: Pittsburgh Tribune Eric Heyl interview] Neighbor reports Winnipeg mom to...
View ArticleJanuary 18 roundup
Another day, another lawsuit charging a social media company with material support for terrorism. This time it’s Twitter and IS attacks in Paris, Brussels [Benjamin Wittes, Lawfare; Tim Cushing,...
View ArticleFebruary 15 roundup
Federal judge Wolf mulls appointing special master to investigate possible fee fraud in class action against State Street Bank [Boston Globe] Two lawyers start fighting on an airplane over a shared...
View ArticleCritics call Kansas legislative process opaque
“Kansas’ legislative process is among the least transparent in the country, often cutting the public out of debates and making it difficult for constituents to track bills, let alone determine who...
View ArticleSchools roundup
Thread on Broward County, Fla. discipline policies and blame-shifting after Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting [Max Eden on Twitter] Nothing wrong with Kansas making clear that school finance is...
View ArticleSpeaking in Kansas next week
I’ll be giving lunchtime talks at two law schools in Kansas next week, courtesy local chapters of the Federalist Society. On Monday I’ll visit Washburn University Law School in Topeka, where Prof....
View ArticleConstitutional law roundup
Kansas Supreme Court rules 4-3 that cops can conduct warrantless search of private homes if they say they smell marijuana. Practical difference between this and “…whenever they please” is not clear...
View ArticleLiability roundup
As one who wrote at length about the silicone-implant litigation at the time — founded as it was on junk science theories hyped to panic potential plaintiffs — I agree that Elizabeth Warren has...
View ArticleLibel, slander, and defamation roundup
Texas trims back its SLAPP law after complaints it was being used in circumstances far from original design [John G. Browning, D Magazine] Howard Wasserman on John Oliver on SLAPP suits [Prawfsblawg]...
View ArticleSpeaking in Kansas next week
I’ll be giving lunchtime talks at two law schools in Kansas next week, courtesy local chapters of the Federalist Society. On Monday I’ll visit Washburn University Law School in Topeka, where Prof....
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