Moritz Legal Information Blog

Today, a San Francisco ordinance takes effect, banning the inclusion of toys with fast food meals aimed at children, unless those meals meet certain nutritional standards.  McDonald's, however, has found a loophole--instead of including toys with Happy Meals, the toys can be added for a 10-cent charge.  The ten cents is then donated to Ronald McDonald House Charities. San Francisco Chronicle New York Times

The British Library recently announced the launch of a massive historical newspaper archive providing access to over four million pages of UK and Ireland newspapers. The collection covers mainly 19th century issues, but also includes issues from the 18th century. The collection is available without fee. See the library's announcement for more information. Credit goes to Barco 2.0 for the initial coverage.

Jesse Dimmick is currently serving a prison sentence for kidnapping, attempting to elude the police, and theft.  He is now suing the couple he kidnapped while he attempted to elude the police. Dimmick claims that in the home of Jared and Lindsay Rowley, the three entered into a binding oral contract wherein the Rowleys would hide him from the police in exchange for an unspecified amount of money.  Instead, the couple fed Dimmick, waited until he fell asleep in front of a movie, then snuck out of the house, allowing police to enter and arrest him.  Dimmick was accidentally shot during the arrest, and now claims that had the Rowleys not been in breach of contract, he would not have been shot. The Rowleys are seeking to have the suit dismissed, arguing that they never agreed to anything, and that even if they had, any contract would have been made under duress.  Also, there could be no contract because the contract would have been for the illegal act of hiding a fugitive. Dimmick is

This fall Stanford has offered its three most popular computer science courses free to the public online. Thousands of students from around the world enrolled. Stanford is now offering additional classes that may be of cross-discipline interest to law students: Technology Entrepreneurship (on launching a successful startup) and The Lean Launchpad (on turning a great idea into a great company). See more details from Good News .

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act, perhaps it's worth revisiting what the law actually does and does not do. The Kaiser Family Foundation provides a 9-minute animated video on some of the law's details. See also the Foundation's chart explaining the much-disputed "individual mandate" that eventually requires many individuals to purchase health insurance. To view the entire Act, see Public Law 111-148 (only 906 pages). This should help inform your Thanksgiving conversations. Enjoy the holiday tomorrow!

House Bill 14 seeks to amend Ohio laws designating pit bulls as an inherently "dangerous" and "vicious" breed.  The bill has passed the House and moved to the Senate.  Both local dog owners and celebrities like Willie Nelson have spoken out in support of the bill. WFMJ Rolling Stone

Ohio State Representative Lynn Slaby, a former county prosecutor and state appellate court judge, has introduced a bill that would give Ohio prosecutors the right to insist on a jury trial when a criminal defendant waives that right. See coverage from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the bill analysis from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.