Oct

26

Iqbal’s Plausibility Ruling Heading for a Congressional Hearing

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | October 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Joe Seiner (South Carolina) brings to my attention a very important development in the world of civil procedure and employment discrimination law.
David Ingram of the National Law Journal reports:
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, the 5-month-old U.S. Supreme Court decision that has become a thorn in the side of the plaintiffs bar, will get a Capitol Hill [...]

Oct

6

Gross Goes Ledbetter

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | October 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

It now appears that the Gross ADEA decision might be going the way of the Ledbetter pay discrimination Title VII decision.  From CQ Politics:
A trio of top Democrats from both chambers plan legislation aimed at rolling back a Supreme Court ruling they say makes it harder for plaintiffs to win age discrimination suits.
Tom Harkin [...]

Sep

16

Baucus Healthcare Bill Falls Short on Public Option, Employer Mandates, and the Effective Date for the Legislation

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | September 16, 2009 | 2 Comments

In what will certainly be the news of the day, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT), released his version of the national health care reform bill.
Although there are many interesting provisions in the Baucus Bill, including a requirement that individuals have health insurance coverage, the establishment of a health care exchange, proposed [...]

Sep

3

Low Income Employees Losing Income Left and Right

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | September 3, 2009 | 1 Comment

Steve Greenhouse over at the New York Times gives us the scoop about an interesting new workplace study by Ruth Milkman, among others:
Low-wage workers are routinely denied proper overtime pay and are often paid less than the minimum wage, according to a new study based on a survey of workers in New York, Los [...]

Aug

24

The Public Health Option and Lessons from the San Francisco Experiment

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | August 24, 2009 | 4 Comments

As I prepare to provide brief commentary on various legislative provisions for a CCH publication that will explain health care reform legislation once it is finalized, I could not help but take notice of this important op-ed. It is by a trio of labor and health economists that ran in the New York Times [...]

Aug

23

Town Hall Meetings and Democracy

Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | August 23, 2009 | 3 Comments

It is difficult to watch the video of the various “town hall meetings” and constituent listening sessions that have taken place during the current congressional recess.  The overwhelming feeling engendered by these scenes of screaming faces is a feeling of despair for the future of democracy itself.  After all, town hall meetings hold an important [...]

Jul

20

The Sotomayor Hearings — What We Can Agree On?

Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | July 20, 2009 | 5 Comments

Here is something that we can all agree on. Maybe. Over at PrawfsBlawg, Howard Wasserman of Florida International says that the Sotomayor hearings have been “inane and meaningless.” This has been a widely shared reaction among liberal legal academics and lawyers. They are disappointed in (even if they are willing to excuse) her retreat into [...]

Jul

16

Commentary on Sotomayor Hearings

Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | July 16, 2009 | 7 Comments

Paul Secunda has an interesting guest post on the ACS Blog regarding the role of the Ricci case in the confirmation hearings.  Meanwhile, over at the Federalist Society website, our former colleague Scott Moss is part of a lively ongoing debate on the hearings.

Jun

20

Why We Fight

Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | June 20, 2009 | 1 Comment

I often wonder why it is that some people disagree with my political views.  My logic is unassailable, the breadth of my historical knowledge is unmatched, my moral foundation cannot be questioned, and I am far more charming and better looking than my opponents.  Why don’t they agree with me?
My summer project was to seek [...]

May

17

Legislation of the Year . . . If the Year Is 1950

Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | May 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Senator Charles Schumer recently announced plans to introduce the “Shareholder Bill of Rights Act of 2009.”  This bill is a compendium of corporate governance reforms that shareholder activists have been advocating for many years.  Among other things, the bill would require companies to elect the entire board of directors each year, rather than putting only [...]

May

4

Fairness in Federal Cocaine Sentencing Policy

Posted by: Jon Deitrich | May 4, 2009 | Leave a Comment

As is notorious, federal law treats one gram of crack cocaine the same as 100 grams of powder cocaine. Thus, a defendant caught with five grams of crack faces the same five-year mandatory minimum prison term as a powder cocaine offender in possession of 500 grams; 50 grams of crack produces the same ten-year minimum as five kilograms [...]

Dec

29

Hills on Local Democracy and ERISA Preemption

Posted by: Paul M. Secunda | December 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Rick Hills (NYU), one of the more thought-provoking and provocative thinkers over at PrawfsBlawg, has an interesting post on the interaction between the democratic process and the law of ERISA preemption.
His post takes off from the recent ERISA preemption case of Golden Gate Restaurant Association, in which the Ninth Circuit recently held that a [...]

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