banzhaf News

NYTimes food columnist Mark Bittman is only the latest expert to acknowledge the addictive nature of many fast foods, and to recommend political action -- not just education -- to counter the second biggest cause of unnecessary health care costs.

A class action law suit which has been filed against food giant ConAgra for labeling its cooking oils as "All-Natural" could open the floodgates to litigation against many food companies which make "Natural," "All-Natural," or "100%-Natural" claims

A multi-million dollar class action law suit filed against ConAgra for labeling its foods as "all natural," is reminiscent of another very successful law suit over McDonald's claim that its french fries were cooked in "100% Pure Vegetable Oil"

Cigarette companies claiming that it's unconstitutional to require them to advise the public with graphic health warnings seem to forget that this is exactly what happened more than 40 years ago

A new study showing that people on vacation to the U.S. gain about eight pounds, more than when visiting any other country, helps confirm that the U.S. has an environment which tends to cause obesity -- fortunately, there are effective remedies

Female House members will now enjoy the same easy access to restroom facilities adjacent to the House floor long enjoyed by their male counterparts, thanks to the filing of a sex discrimination complaint by a public interest law professor.

The Transportation Safety Administration [TSA] has suggested it will begin focusing on individual passenger characteristics – sometimes called terrorism profiling – to increase the effectiveness of its screening in deterring terrorist incidents

An administration which is concerned enough to issue official warnings about al-Quida's plans to surgically implant bombs in suicide passengers may want to reconsider its reluctance to adopt terrorist profiling, says legal expert

More companies now follow FORBES suggestion -- "Don't Hire Smokers" -- and thereby save perhaps $11,000 per worker, and even more employers would follow the escalating trend if they know how easy it was to avoid so-called smokers' rights laws

The FDA is likely to follow a government-mandated report which recommends that nicotine products designed to substitute for cigarette smoking be subjected to such expensive testing that few companies could afford to market them

Some 40% of large and medium-sized companies are expected to charge smokers as much as $2000 more annually for their health insurance, but this is a lot less than actuarial tables dictate or what the federal government permits

While the controversy continues over the use of pepper spray to deal with illegal actions by OWS protestors, many seem to be overlooking a weapon which is likely to be far more effective than sprays, tear gas, police batons, or even jail

Although the Supercommittee failed to recommend a plan to save $1.2 trillion over 10 years, President Obama could achieve that goal by taking a few simple steps which cost virtually nothing, add no new taxes, and require no congressional action

"Occupy Wall Street" [OWS] protesters who plan to "shut down" Wall Street and more could be subject to massive civil liability for torts ranging from false imprisonment to civil tort conspiracy, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf

Although the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review "Obamacare", it is quite possible that it will not rule upon the law's constitutionality during its current term and before the 2012 elections, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf

Catholic U has issued a statement expressing regret over a complaint, now being formally investigated, charging that it unlawfully refused to permit Muslim students to form a student association like the Jewish one which already exists on campus.

Fox News reports that: "The Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights confirmed that it is investigating allegations that Catholic University violated the human rights of Muslim students by not allowing them to form a Muslim student group"

The Chairman of the House Transportation Committee has termed the TSA's "behavior detection" program an expensive "idiotic mess," but there is an alternative effective search enhancement technique based upon well-established mathematical principles

The President of Catholic University, John Garvey, has been directed to respond to new charges of illegal discrimination at his university -- against both Muslims and women -- and to do so in writing by next Thursday

In the wake of the first criminal indictment of a Catholic Bishop, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, has been charged with violations of the Human Rights Act for allegedly discriminating against Muslims and women at Catholic U

Netflix, yielding to public pressure, has abandoned plans to separate its DVD and streaming-video services into two separate companies, a move which could weaken its position in a legal proceeding in which it is charged with violating human rights

"Campus Covered in 'Co-Ed' Graffiti Protest" blares the headline in today's issue of Catholic University's [CUA] student newspaper, while another report makes it clear that the "vast majority of CUA students do not want to live in single sex dorms."

Netflix has been charged with violating human rights in a complaint which alleges that willfully refusing to provide closed captioning on most of the programs it transmits over the Internet constitutes illegal discrimination against the handicapped

"Benchslapping" has been turned around in a scathing piece in the New York Times in which Justice "Nino Scalia" is castigated for "poking his nose in a local legal wrangle" involving Catholic U's sex-segregated dorms which might come before him.

NYTimes food columnist Mark Bittman is only the latest expert to acknowledge the addictive nature of many fast foods, and to recommend political action -- not just education -- to counter the second biggest cause of unnecessary health care costs.

A just-released IIHS report on the safety of SUV's failed to include vital life-saving information buyers should be given, says a public interest law professor who has successful brought legal actions related to vehicle safety

At that time, Garvey will be asked to explain why requiring students to live in sex-segregated dormitories does not constitute illegal sex discrimination under a statute which permits discrimination only when it is absolutely necessary.

A class action law suit which has been filed against food giant ConAgra for labeling its cooking oils as "All-Natural" could open the floodgates to litigation against many food companies which make "Natural," "All-Natural," or "100%-Natural" claims

A multi-million dollar class action law suit filed against ConAgra for labeling its foods as "all natural," is reminiscent of another very successful law suit over McDonald's claim that its french fries were cooked in "100% Pure Vegetable Oil"

The TSA has begun testing "chat downs" before mandating them nationwide, even though they apparently lack statistical or scientific validity, while ignoring effective search enhancement techniques based upon well-established mathematical principles

Cigarette companies claiming that it's unconstitutional to require them to advise the public with graphic health warnings seem to forget that this is exactly what happened more than 40 years ago

A new study showing that people on vacation to the U.S. gain about eight pounds, more than when visiting any other country, helps confirm that the U.S. has an environment which tends to cause obesity -- fortunately, there are effective remedies

The same law professor who has filed a sex discrimination complaint over Catholic University's move to all sex-segregated dorms just scored a major victory when Congress acquiesced by providing a female restroom adjacent to the House floor

Female House members will now enjoy the same easy access to restroom facilities adjacent to the House floor long enjoyed by their male counterparts, thanks to the filing of a sex discrimination complaint by a public interest law professor.

Although served with a formal legal complaint charging illegal sex discrimination by forcing all on-campus students to reside in sex-segregated dorms, CU has refused repeated requests from the media to justify their legal position

The Transportation Safety Administration [TSA] has suggested it will begin focusing on individual passenger characteristics – sometimes called terrorism profiling – to increase the effectiveness of its screening in deterring terrorist incidents

Catholic University's President John Garvey has been served with a notarized formal legal complaint charging that his plan to segregate all of CU's dormitories on the basis of gender constitutes illegal sex discrimination under the Human Rights Act

An administration which is concerned enough to issue official warnings about al-Quida's plans to surgically implant bombs in suicide passengers may want to reconsider its reluctance to adopt terrorist profiling, says legal expert

The administration's warning to governments and airlines that terrorists might attempt to board planes with explosives concealed in their bodies could accelerate a movement to engage in terrorist profiling, including religion and ethnicity

The George Washington University Law School, in a remarkable coincidence, has been tied to three famous (or infamous) law suits against McDonald's, as well as three different movies, one of which is premiering on HBO Monday evening.

Texas has revived a bill that would make it illegal for TSA agents to engage in “intrusive touching” without probable cause, but the bill could be made stronger by using tort law now that courts have seemingly upheld suits against the agency,

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] will announce what the new enhanced warnings on cigarette packs will look like. A very recent comprehensive report provides the best available information for the media and others.

Catholic University has received an intent-to-sue legal notice, suggesting that its plan to gender-segregate all of its dormitories would constitute illegal sex discrimination under the District of Columbia's Human Rights Act

Catholic University's recent announcement that it will go back to dormitories segregated by gender may trigger a legal challenge, because sex discrimination is prohibited in DC under virtually all circumstances, says a successful litigator

A court has upheld a law suit alleging that charging a man two dollars more than a woman for a manicure constitutes unlawful sex discrimination, has issued a preliminary injunction against the practice, and will consider $200,000 damages as a result

The IIHS provides vehicle ratings based upon several safety factors, and the federal government other safety ratings, but it's very difficult for potential car buyers to learn the one factor which might be more significant than any one of these

A report recommending that parents consider purchasing an SUV for their teen drivers, based on findings that electronic control systems now minimize rollovers, is incomplete and potentially misleading because it omits life-saving information

While Texas's efforts to pass a law to fight groping by TSA employees may have been derailed by federal threats to shut down its air space, law suits based upon existing tort law theories have now been shown to be viable new weapons, says expert

The announcement by IARC that cell phones "might possibly"cause brain cancer, and that children might be at "particular risk," must be viewed in context with cancer and other risks from 2nd and 3rd hand tobacco smoke which are very well established

Neil Cavuto reportedly "lost it" when debating a lawyer who said he's like to legally kill off Ronald McDonald, just as he helped kill off Joe Camel, as he told his opponent that he (Cavuto) would arrest John Banzhaf if he were in his studio

Now that McDonald's has rejected calls backed up by a very expensive advertising campaign asking the company to retire Ronald, perhaps it's time to use legal action to kill him off, just as antismoking activists did with Joe Camel

At a shareholders meeting today, McDonald's will consider a proposal to retire their mascot Ronald, someone who is a legal, public relations, and even religious liability, says the man behind two law suits against the golden arches.

Full-page ads in major newspapers around the country are demanding that McDonald's retire Ronald because of his role in the epidemic of pediatric obesity, a role which goes beyond enticing impressionable children and constitutes misrepresentation

Toyota suffered a loss when a judge refused to dismiss sudden acceleration lawsuits, and upheld claims based upon economic loss, but an earlier lawsuit and a major study strongly suggest that the plaintiffs will need new theories of legal liability

More than 10% of doctors in a recent survey refuse to accept patients who are too fat. While some doctors decline to perform operations on patients who refuse to quit smoking, the two situations are different from a legal point of view, says expert.

The obesity epidemic has pushed Pepsi, the largest food and drink company in the U.S., into a strange new world of robots which can taste food like humans, to drinkifying snacks and snackifing drinks, and to resizing the salt on its junk food snacks

The President's decision not to release photographs of the corpse of bin Laden may allow him to have his cake and eat it too, since it is likely that Freedom of Information Act [FOIA] demands already pending could force their release in the future.

A new study shows that kids exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke have statistically higher levels of mental health problems, including "major depressive disorder," ADHD, and "conduct disorder," noted the man behind the nonsmokers' rights movement.