Blog — Legal Idiocy

Posted 6/6/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #15: Warning: Reading All Potential Side Effects Might Cause Drowsiness

The New York Times reports on a May 2011 paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine which reveals that “the average drug label lists 70 possible side effects and some drugs list more than 500”—including those that are minor, uncommon, or could occur in the absence of taking the drug. Indiana University’s Dr. Jon Duke, one of the paper’s authors, states that drug companies’ fear of lawsuits is responsible for this frequent “overwarning.” The Times article relates: “Listing every inkling of an adverse reaction can help drug companies in lawsuits, Dr. Duke said. If someone sues about a side effect that is listed in the drug’s package insert, the company can say patients had been warned.”

Posted 6/6/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #14: Legal Fear Prevents Rescue of Drowning Man

San Francisco’s ABC News affiliate reports that firefighters in Alameda, CA, were prevented from rescuing a suicidal man—who drowned 150 yards offshore, after being in the water for over an hour—because they were not certified “in land-based water rescues.” And without such certification, a fire division chief explained, the city could’ve been exposed to liability. Rules even prevented the department from recovering the body, a task which was left to a 20-something onlooker. 

Posted 5/31/11

Legal Idiocy #13: Maryland School’s Policy ‘Prevents … Even a Modicum of Common Sense’

Criticizing Easton High School’s (MD) April 2011 decision to suspend two 17-year-old lacrosse players for possession of a pen knife and lighter—pursuant to the school’s “zero tolerance” policy on weapons, and despite the boys’ explanation that the items were used to fix their lacrosse sticks—the Baltimore Sun editorial board writes:

It’s entirely appropriate for Talbot County or any other district to have a policy against deadly weapons at school. The problem is in officials’ insistence that such a policy prevents them from employing even a modicum of common sense. It is a problem not limited to Talbot County; too often, those in a position of authority appear scared to exercise judgment for fear that they will be criticized and instead seem to wish that every conceivable situation they encounter might be addressed by inviolable rules that they can simply follow.

Posted 5/31/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #12: Lady in Red Tape

The Herald News(MA) reports that the Westport School Committee faced “a little bureaucratic conundrum” in April 2011 after a parent offered to donate a prom dress to a student in need. “The parent wanted to go through the school,” noted the school superintendant. The committee eventually declined to accept the dress out of concern that, if it were accepted, it’d have to be considered school property. And one committee member offered up this nightmare scenario: “If we end up with five of them a year and we have to keep them, we’ll be dry cleaning them ….”

Posted 5/23/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #11: Regulation, Regulation, Regulation

“The nation’s biggest property owner, the U.S. government has 14,000 office buildings, warehouses and other properties that have officially been deemed unneeded,” relates the Seattle Times. “Yet speedy disposal historically has been stymied by layers of red tape, political interference and bureaucratic inertia ….” The fact that federal property sales are subject to 20 different laws no doubt contributes to the delay.

Posted 5/23/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #10: Six Employees. One Inmate. No Sense.

The juvenile detention center in Manitowoc County, WI, costs over $300,000 a year to operate. It holds one offender. When the county executive proposed closing the facility and moving the lone juvenile to a neighboring county, they were rebuffed. Why? David Frum explains: "Answer: a union work rule. The relevant contract forbids the county to do any subcontracting if unionized workers have been laid off. So, unless the county can find other jobs for the six juvenile detention center workers, the county cannot contractually pay another county to store its lone inmate."

Posted 5/23/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #9: Dead Letter Law for Dead Letter Offices

Despite operating at a loss of $8.5 billion in fiscal year 2010 alone, the United States Postal Service is hamstrung in its ability to close the least profitable of its 32,000 branches due to a law that states they can only close offices "for maintenance problems, lease expirations or other reasons that don't include profitability."

Posted 5/16/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #8: The Seats on the Bus Go Unused

An April 2011 New York Times article relates that the Port Washington, NY, school district sends out 17 buses with 1,122 total seats at the end of the school day, despite the fact that more than half of those seats routinely go empty, to comply with state laws that require districts “to provide a seat for every eligible child every day.” “‘It’s ludicrous to be doing this, and you can’t get anyone to listen,’ said Geoffrey N. Gordon, the Port Washington superintendent, who estimated that the practice of running more buses than needed costs the district $2 million a year.”

Posted 5/16/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #7: Uniform Absurdity in New Jersey

An April 2011 report by New Jersey Comptroller Matthew Boxer reveals that of the $22 million a year the state spends on clothing allowances for state workers, some $3 million goes to workers who aren’t required to wear a uniform. The report also found that “only California’s $450 clothing allowance comes close to New Jersey’s $700 allowance, with many others paying between $58 and $175 …. And unlike other states, New Jersey does not require the employee to submit a receipt to verify clothing purchases.”

Posted 5/16/11 by Common Good

Legal Idiocy #6: There’s a Rule Against Everything

In an interview with C-SPAN, explaining why “the biggest project [on his desk] is to really liberate the workforce,” New York City Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith states: “Over the last hundred years, in order to make sure that mayors didn’t hire their friends and give contracts to their buddies, there are lots of rules. And if 100 rules are good, 1,000 rules are good. And if 1,000 rules are good, 10,000 rules are good. And now, there’s a rule against everything.”