By Mani Dabiri | Published November 28, 2019 | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Tags: billofrights, dueprocess, history |
Thanksgiving 2019
This year, among other things, I’m grateful to live in a country where one group, party, or faction doesn’t wield a monopoly on power. Where power, in fact, ultimately belongs to no one but the republic itself. I was born in Iran, and for the last two weeks, the government there has waged a vicious Read More
Read MoreA Class of World-Class Footballers
The federal court in Los Angeles has certified a class action in the case of soccer players from the U.S. women’s national team who have sued over unequal pay. What does that mean? It means the court agreed that the plaintiffs should be grouped together as a class because there’s a lot of them, for Read More
Read MoreHealthcare Investigations at Warp Speed
We covered one of the U.S. Justice Department’s major healthcare sweeps last month. But we didn’t know the feds had shut things down with such blinding speed. Reportedly, it took them six to eight months from first alert to coordinated raids. The investigation is said to have begun earlier this year when analysts detected a surge in Read More
Read MoreFTC Sues Over Phony Business Practices Online
Speaking of online reviews, the Federal Trade Commission just moved to settle two cases against businesses it alleged engaged in deceptive acts or practices online. In the first, the agency alleged the defendants sold fake likes, views, followers, and subscribers on YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and other platforms. And they did not discriminate. They sold to everyone: Read More
Read MoreDon’t Violate HIPAA Fighting Bad Yelp Reviews
Healthcare providers, beware: You cannot respond to bad online reviews by disclosing your patients’ protected health information (or PHI). As you know, PHI refers to any health information that identifies or could be used to identify a patient. If you’re not sure what counts, do your homework or call your lawyer. But don’t disclose it Read More
Read MoreMore Varsity Blues
As the college-admissions scandal winds its way through court, California’s clawing back the money. The tax money, that is. A few days ago, the state enacted a new law that scrutinizes all tax deductions these defendants may have taken for charitable donations to any college or university. It applies to every tax year beginning with 2014. It also denies Read More
Read MoreThe Lure of Free Cancer Screenings
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department announced a major takedown of telemedicine that it says went too far. It’s among the bigger healthcare-fraud sweeps to date: 35 people charged with over $2.1 billion in false or fraudulent bills. The defendants hail from telemedicine companies and genetic-testing labs and include nine physicians. They reportedly billed Medicare for tens Read More
Read MoreThe Judiciary Act of 1789
No one gets it right all the time, and that includes courts. But 230 years ago today, an act of Congress created the country’s federal courts, and that’s worth celebrating. You may not know this, but the only court required by the Constitution was the Supreme Court. It left the rest to Congress. Here’s what Read More
Read MoreYou Cannot Be Serious
The Fourth Amendment is supposed to protect your right to be secure against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” Those are the actual words of the text, which is why I put them in quotes. But earlier this month, the federal court of appeals that covers California and eight other states could not say whether it violated the Fourth Amendment Read More
Read MoreMy 9/11 Memory
Do you remember where you were? I was 22 years old, and I was at a small fitness center in the apartment complex we lived in. It was early, and I was the only one in there. I got on the treadmill, wearing earphones, listening to music, and absent-mindedly looking at a TV that was Read More
Read More
