Evaluate law by happiness impact, profs suggest; is 20 years in prison four times worse than five?

Three Chicago-based law professors are suggesting an alternative to cost-benefit analysis in evaluating laws: well-being analysis, which looks at happiness and quality of life. In their new book Happiness and the Law, the law professors use research such as the General Social Survey, which tracks happiness and quality of life,…

Jan 13, 2015 5:45 AM CST

American Indians challenging eagle feather rules get a boost from Hobby Lobby ruling

In many American Indian religions, the eagle is considered a link to the creator and the spirit world. Its feathers are an important part of rituals, facilitating spiritual or physical purification.

Jan 1, 2015 5:53 AM CST

1975-1984: Environmental law is born

Jan 1, 2015 5:05 AM CST

No Fracking Way: Towns across the country are stopping the big energy industry

On a hot June summer day this year, residents from the small farming town of Dryden, in upstate New York, gathered in front of the local courthouse to celebrate. The state's highest court had just ruled that their town could ban oil and gas development, including a controversial drilling method…

Nov 1, 2014 5:15 AM CDT

The Sashimi Provision

Nov 1, 2014 3:20 AM CDT

Report: Lax regulation puts employees and patrons of gun ranges at risk of lead poisoning

It is a little-known fact that a number of shooting ranges throughout the country are contaminated with lead, spread by vapor and dust when guns are fired. And because of lax federal and state regulation and enforcement, not enough is being done to correct the problem, which can cause serious…

Oct 17, 2014 3:55 PM CDT

Too Many Lawyers? Not Here. In rural America, lawyers are few and far between

Wishek, North Dakota, is 90 minutes southeast of Bismarck and roughly six hours from either Minneapolis-Saint Paul or Winnipeg, Manitoba. Settled by ethnic Germans fleeing Russia, it’s a farm community on the opposite end of the state from North Dakota’s oil boom. As a result, Wishek hasn’t seen the influx…

Oct 1, 2014 5:40 AM CDT

Uproar over Forest Service plan to require media to get permits to take wilderness photos

A furor has ignited over a U.S. Forest Service plan to require members of the media, as well as commercial photographers, to pay up to $1,500 for a permit before taking video or still shots in some 36 million designated federal wilderness acres. Amidst criticism from both Democratic and Republican…

Sep 25, 2014 4:50 PM CDT

Citing climate change concerns, prosecutor drops criminal charges against coal protesters

A Massachusetts prosecutor has dropped criminal charges against two environmental activists who blocked a coal shipment to a power plant, saying he agreed with their point about climate change. Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter dropped a conspiracy charge against protesters Jay O’Hara and Ken Ward and downgraded other charges…

Sep 10, 2014 7:46 AM CDT

BP grossly negligent in Gulf oil spill, federal judge rules; company could face $18B in penalties

BP Plc was grossly negligent concerning the massive 2010 oil spill that occurred after a deadly explosion and fire at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a federal judge in New Orleans has ruled. The Thursday decision by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, who was selected…

Sep 4, 2014 5:30 PM CDT

Towns and cities can ban fracking in their borders, New York high court rules

New York’s highest court has upheld the “home rule” powers of even the smallest localities to ban fracking in order to preserve their rural and small-town character, Bloomberg News reports. Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, is the practice by which oil and gas are extracted from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures…

Jul 1, 2014 5:20 PM CDT

SCOTUS partially limits EPA’s greenhouse gas authority; Scalia says EPA got most of what it wanted

The U.S. Supreme Court partially curbed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases in a decision released on Monday. Justice Antonin Scalia announced the opinion (PDF) for the court, which sided with industry on one greenhouse-gas issue and with the EPA on the other. Speaking from the bench,…

Jun 23, 2014 3:34 PM CDT

Kelly Hart opens New Orleans office with 6-lawyer team from Gordon Arata

A former Louisiana state lawmaker has opened a New Orleans office for Kelly Hart & Hallman. Headed by Loulan J. Pitre Jr., the office is the first outside Texas for the 140-attorney law firm, which will be known in New Orleans as Kelly Hart & Pitre, according to a law…

Jun 23, 2014 2:45 PM CDT

Superfund law doesn’t pre-empt state outer limit for filing tort suit, SCOTUS says

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against a group of North Carolina property owners suing over contaminated water who claimed the state’s outer time limit for filing lawsuits didn’t apply. The property owners had argued the federal Superfund law governing the cleanup of hazardous waste pre-empted the state statute of…

Jun 9, 2014 7:09 PM CDT

California’s ban on standard-caged birds poses a chicken-egg problem

Jun 1, 2014 9:10 AM CDT