Blog Posts in 2019
Posted on Aug 23, 2019 By David Thomas
THE MYSTERY ILLNESS Since the end of June, nearly 153 cases of a respiratory illness with lung damage have quickly spread across 16 states. The illness has a cluster of common symptoms: shortness of ...
Continue reading "A Mystery Illness: The CDC Invesitgates" »
Posted on Aug 15, 2019 By David Thomas
The following is Part Two of our blog discussing the laws surrounding the mass shootings that occurred on August 3 and 4, 2019, in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, respectively. WHAT’S IN A ...
Continue reading "An American Tragedy Part Two: Domestic Terrorism" »
Posted on Aug 8, 2019 By David Thomas
The following blog is Part I in a two-part series devoted to discussing the law surrounding the horrific mass shootings that occurred August 3 and 4, 2019, in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, ...
Continue reading "An American Tragedy: Part One" »
Posted on Aug 1, 2019 By David Thomas
THE NEW COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL On Monday, July 29, 2019, ProPublica and The Wall Street Journal published stories on independent investigations revealing a new college admissions scandal. This ...
Continue reading "The Guardianship Scandal" »
Posted on Jul 29, 2019 By David Thomas
A NEW RULE UPENDS AN OLD SYSTEM On July 15, 2019, the Trump Administration published its “Interim Final Rule on Asylum Seekers,” (see 8 CFR Part 208, and 8 CFR Parts 1003, 1208). Not only ...
Continue reading "A New Rule That Breaks Old Systems" »
Posted on Jul 19, 2019 By David Thomas
In our March 7, 2019 blog, we discussed the surging popularity of e-scooters and the huge number of injuries being seen in Emergency Rooms across the country of e-scooter riders and pedestrians hit by ...
Continue reading "The E-Scooter Craze Turns Deadly: Part II" »
Posted on Jul 11, 2019 By David Thomas
BIG PHARMA GOES ON TRIAL We discussed the first case to go to trial in the Opioid Trials in our May 31, 2019 blog (see: The Beginning of the Opioid Trials). The State of Oklahoma is suing Johnson ...
Continue reading "The Opioid Trials Have Begun" »
Posted on Jun 28, 2019 By David Thomas
SUPREME COURT ROUND-UP This week marks the end of the Supreme Court’s 2018-2019 term, and true to form, SCOTUS waited to hand down some of its most anticipated decisions until now. The following ...
Continue reading "Trends in the Law: Democracy Protected or Denied?" »
Posted on Jun 26, 2019 By David Thomas
FIND YOUR FRIENDS FINDS A DAUGHTER Rarely do we hear a news story that makes us feel good, but this weekend we had that pleasure. A North Carolina teenager, Macy Smith, had missed her curfew, and was ...
Continue reading "Be Careful. Be Smart. Use Your Smartphone." »
Posted on Jun 26, 2019 By David Thomas
TRAGEDY STRIKES Last year, Bode Miller, the Olympic skier, and his wife Morgan, made the unthinkable announcement that their 19 month old daughter Emmy had drowned in a neighbor’s pool. The ...
Continue reading "Summer's Favorite Sport Can Be Its Deadliest" »
Posted on Jun 26, 2019 By David Thomas
THE 2020 CENSUS: AN ACCURATE COUNT OR GERRYMANDERING TOOL? In April, our blog discussed the controversies surrounding the U.S. Department of Commerce’s attempt to add a question regarding ...
Continue reading "New Evidence of an Old Bias" »
Posted on May 31, 2019 By David Thomas
THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY There is no white bronco, no ill-fitting pair of gloves, and no dream team. But there are deaths—thousands of deaths—and instead of a bloody knife, the alleged ...
Continue reading "The Beginning of the Opioid Trials" »
Posted on May 23, 2019 By David Thomas
This is a new installment in our Trends in the Law series. THREE CO-EQUAL BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT NO MORE In a recent interview with Fox News, President Trump made the following statement: “We ...
Continue reading "Trends in the Law: Courts as Lawmakers" »
Posted on May 16, 2019 By David Thomas
A GLOBAL STRIKE On May 8, 2019, Uber drivers in the U.S., U.K., Australia and South America participated in a work stoppage in order to send a message to Uber executives and potential investors ahead ...
Continue reading "The Uber Strike: What it Means for the Future" »
Posted on May 8, 2019 By David Thomas
NATIONAL BIKE MONTH May is National Bike Month. The dedication to two-wheeled adventure was established in 1956, and for over half a century has been sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists. ...
Continue reading "National Bike Month" »
Posted on Apr 25, 2019 By David Thomas
The following is an installment in our Trends in the Law series. THE PLAYERS We know some of the parents involved: famous actresses; fashion designer husbands; wealthy real estate developers; private ...
Continue reading "College Admissions: The Law Behind the Scandal" »
Posted on Apr 17, 2019 By David Thomas
HIDDEN CAMERAS: SECURITY OR INVASION OF PRIVACY? You’ve arrived at your vacation destination after a long day of travel, and have just settled into your Airbnb. The two bedroom, two bathroom ...
Continue reading "Hidden Cameras in Airbnbs: Too Much Sharing?" »
Posted on Apr 10, 2019 By David Thomas
MURDER IN S. CAROLINA SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON RIDE SHARES Two weeks ago, Samantha Josephson, a University of South Carolina senior, thought she was getting into the Uber she had called to pick her up. She ...
Continue reading "Ride Share Driver or Predator: The Sharing Economy's Latest Hurdle" »
Posted on Apr 3, 2019 By David Thomas
A CASE TO WATCH A case to be argued before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in three weeks has both legal scholars and lay people talking. Department of Commerce v. U.S. District Court ...
Continue reading "The Citizenship Question" »
Posted on Mar 27, 2019 By David Thomas
TAKING BIG PHARMA TO COURT On January 3, 2019, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr filed a lawsuit in Superior Court of Gwinnett County against opioid manufacturers and distributors for their false ...
Continue reading "The Opioid Crisis: Getting Big Pharma to Pay" »
Posted on Mar 21, 2019 By David Thomas
Below is an installment in our Trends in the Law series. EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION: THE LAWS Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers with more than 15 employees from ...
Continue reading "Trends in the Law: Race-Based Discrimination" »
Posted on Mar 14, 2019 By David Thomas
THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY CRISIS A study commissioned by the Governors Highway Safety Association and released recently found that U.S. pedestrian deaths hit a 28-year high last year, rising 4% in just ...
Continue reading "The Pedestrian Safety Crisis" »
Posted on Mar 14, 2019 By David Thomas
THE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY CRISIS A study commissioned by the Governors Highway Safety Association and released recently found that U.S. pedestrian deaths hit a 28-year high last year, rising 4% in just ...
Continue reading "The Pedestrian Safety Crisis" »
Posted on Mar 7, 2019 By David Thomas
Electronic Scooters, or e-scooters, are the new “disruptive transportation technology.” Translation: e-scooters are the new craze in how to get from point A to point B. Their convenience ...
Continue reading "E-Scooters and the Three Cs" »
Posted on Jan 4, 2019 By David Thomas
TRENDS IN THE LAW SERIES: Cases on the Horizon in the High Court The 2018-2019 term of the Supreme Court of the United States has already had some noteworthy cases—Gamble v. U.S. is one such ...
Continue reading "Trends in the Law: On the Horizon in the High Court" »