Author: Justin Lane

For the unacquainted, PRISM is the government’s surveillance program, recently exposed by Edward Snowden. The program collected gigantic amounts of metadata on calls made in the United States until June 6, 2013, when The Guardian released documents and information that Snowden had shared with it. It’s now apparent that while threats to American security are real, the threats to American privacy are just as severe and this program, and others like it, give restrictive regimes, like Iran, dangerous support for holding back internet expansion. In the simplest terms, America desires to lead the world in liberty and freedom and,...

Below of Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. This week, we’ve seen a resurgence of interest in the case of Karen Bartlett, the ending of Kentucky’s private prisons, Rick Scott’s banning of computers and smart phones in Florida, whistleblowers and transvaginal mesh litigation. Top Video With Bartlett, Supreme Court Delivers Devastating Blow to Consumers The Supreme Court has given a major injury to the American consumer with its decision in Mutual Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. v. Bartlett. Deciding that federal law preempts defect design claims for generic drug manufacturers, the Justices have again displayed their allegiance to...

It’s real. Life after Sharknado can happen; you can continue. Natural disasters are serious threats and can severely affect the lives of those in their wake. In no case is this more apparent than that of the heinous July 11th Sharknado. Countless lives lost and senseless killings abounded. What could be worse? What can be learned? #Sharknado overtook Twitter last night, highlighting the attention spans of some. People may be cynical about it and try to capitalize on the ironic popularity but, really, we all got to share in a good bit of fun last night. Will you ever...

The Department of Justice announced Monday that it has intervened in a False Claims lawsuit against Infirmary Health System. At issue in the suit is an arrangement that existed between a subsidiary of Infirmary Health System, IMC-Diagnostics & Medical Clinic, through which Medicare was billed for services referred by Diagnostic Physicians Group. The Justice Department alleges that the practice violates the Stark Act and Anti-Kickback Statute. In an effort to prevent physicians from turning patients into commodities to be traded for profit and at the expense of American taxpayers, the Stark Act and Anti-Kickback statutes were established. These laws...