Public Justice

May 6, 2013 In Blog

It’s now a little harder to access public records

By Leah Nicholls, Kazan-Budd Attorney Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held, unanimously, that states can limit access to their public records to citizens of that state. The case was McBurney v. Young, and it challenged a provision of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act providing…

May 6, 2013 In Blog

See no evil, hear no evil: Why America needs to know what goes on inside factory farms

By Leslie Brueckner, Senior Attorney When I was a kid, steak was a luxury. A pork roast was a treat. Even chicken wasn’t cheap. Meat was something special, and prices reflected that fact. The reason meat and poultry cost real money back then is because…

May 3, 2013 In Blog

Supreme Court breaks the rules to cut classes

By Arthur Bryant, Executive Director In high school, I knew classmates who broke the rules to cut classes. Unfortunately, five members of the U.S Supreme Court just did the same thing. After briefing and argument were complete in Comcast v. Behrend and Genesis Healthcare Corp….

May 1, 2013 In Blog

Class actions against payday lenders show how Concepcion has been used to gut state consumer protection laws

By Paul Bland, Senior Attorney Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court, by the usual 5-4 vote, decided in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that the Federal Arbitration Act requires courts to enforce previously illegal contract terms banning consumers from joining together to sue businesses that…

April 26, 2013 In Blog Anti-Bullying

Disability harassment in schools: Fifth Circuit explains two legal theories

By Adrian Alvarez, Goldberg-Robb Attorney Disability harassment in our schools is a serious problem. A recent study found that students with disabilities are more likely than their non-disabled peers to be bullied. The study also showed that students with disabilities tended to be less popular,…

April 24, 2013 In Blog

Is the Genesis decision a license to bribe?

By Paul Bland, Senior Attorney In a class action, one or more people who believe their legal rights have been violated bring a lawsuit on behalf of a group of people whom they believe have been harmed in the same way. The person or persons…

April 23, 2013 In Blog

No more rubber stamps allowing mining companies to bury streams

By Jim Hecker, Environmental Enforcement Project Director The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ streamlined procedure for permitting coal mines to fill Appalachian streams with mining waste suffered another blow yesterday when an appeals court threw out the Corps’ 2007 version of Nationwide Permit 21, commonly…

April 18, 2013 In Blog

Kafka meets Heller at the NRC

By Richard Webster, Power-Cotchett Attorney I am currently representing clients on the Jersey Shore in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission administrative process. This process nominally allows concerned citizens to petition for enforcement of NRC’s safety requirements. Unfortunately, the experience has led me to a greater appreciation…

April 17, 2013 In Blog

What happens on the island should stay on the island: Abraham v. St. Croix Renaissance Group argument recap

By Leah Nicholls, Kazan-Budd Attorney Yesterday, we had oral argument in the Third Circuit on an important Class Action Fairness Act question. The question — when toxic tort cases limited to locations within a single state can be removed to federal court under CAFA —…

April 12, 2013 In Blog

SCOTUSblog again crunches the numbers on cert-stage amicus influence

By Avi Kramer, Communications Dept. Here are two sentences from a 2008 article on Slate: Each year, parties that have lost in the lower courts file about 9,000 petitions for a writ of certiorari (cert for short) in which they beg the [U.S. Supreme] Court…