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Too Little Too Late

August 20, 1973
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WASHINGTON–Can the legal system and lawyers be reformed from within or chiefly from without by an increasingly impatient and outraged public? Earlier this month, we held a conference in Washington entitled “Verdict on Lawyers” to discuss this and other questions relating to the popular criticism of lawyers these days. A few blocks away, the venerable…

Rating the Professionals

August 13, 1973
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WASHINGTON–There is probably no group of companies whose price gouging has been investigated more thoroughly by Congress than the drug industry. Starting with Senator Kefauver’s probe in the early sixties and continuing with Senator Nelson’s hearings over the past four years, the details of this most profitable industry have been laid bare publicly. Yet very…

Drugging the Public

August 6, 1973
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There is probably no group of companies whose price gouging has been investigated more thoroughly by Congress than the drug industry. Starting with Senator Kefauver’s probe in the early sixties and continuing with Senator Nelson’s hearings over the past four years, the details of this most profitable industry have been laid bare publicly. Yet very…

Lemming-Like Lawyers

July 30, 1973
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July is the month when thousands of law school graduates anxiously take their bar examinations so they can become lawyers for millions of people throughout their careers. Preciously little scrutiny has been given to the bar examination in the fifty states by the legal profession, law professors, students and others interested in how lawyers are…

The Dangers of Insecticides

July 23, 1973
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Millions of Americans watch it or read about it everyday. The Shell No‑Pest Strip is being heavily advertised in the summer season as an effective and harm‑ less insecticide “when used as directed.” From women’s magazines to the “Today” show (where Barbara Walters touts it), the No-Pest Strip is shown as the homemaker’s answer to…

Consumer Protection: It’s Up to You!

July 16, 1973
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It would be reasonable to expect, given the Watergate scandal, spiraling inflation and general consumer dissatisfaction, that President Nixon would reverse his opposition to several consumer protection bills now pending before Congress. But he has not. White House opposition to a consumer class action bill and other long overdue measures to help consumers gain justice…

Stomach Pains

July 9, 1973
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Arlene Lehto,a citizen of Duluth, Minnesota has been on a crusade to prevent pollution of Lake Superior. This tenacious drive has put her in conflict with a powerful company, the Reserve Mining Co., which dumps 67,000 tons a day of solid waste called tailings” from its taconite (low grade iron ore) processing plant 60 miles…

Radioactive Leaks

July 2, 1973
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Even among the strongest backers of the commercial nuclear power program in this country, the problem of how to store the hot radioactive wastes is acknow­ledged as unsolved and potentially very dangerous. These radioactive wastes, many of which will remain lethally active for tens of thousands of years, are largely deposited in tanks at several…

Public Spirits Spread

June 25, 1973
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In the forefront of many consumers, taxpayer and environmental struggles have been increasing numbers of public interest lawyers representing citizens’ grievances and reforms in courts, before legislatures and regulatory agencies. These lawyers, while still small in number, are pushing law firms, bar associations and law schools to question what they should be doing to connect…

Taking the Government to Court

June 18, 1973
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New kinds of plaintiffs are taking the federal government to court in increasing numbers of cases. These plaintiffs are Senators and Representatives. Their causes almost invariably charge that a government agency or department has acted unlawfully under laws passed by Congress or under the Constitution. Just a few days ago, Federal District Judge William B.…