Jay W. Belle Isle, Author at Legal Reader

Before becoming LegalReader's Editor-in-Chief, Jay W. Belle Isle worked as a freelance copywriter with clients on four continents. Jay has a degree in Business Administration from Cleary University and a Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School. Jay has also worked as a contracts administrator for a DOD contractor specializing in vehicle armor.

Will a $1B Lawsuit Finally Bring a Fair Conclusion to Unethical Medical Experiments in Guatemala?

April 9, 2015

A $1B lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Johns Hopkins University, the Rockefeller Foundation and pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb on behalf of the nearly 800 former research subjects, their families and estates, over the role these institutions played in government-sponsored unethical medical experiments in the 1940s and 1950s in Guatemala. During these experiments, hundreds of unknowing

Attorneys General Request Congressional Probe into Herbal Supplement Safety

April 9, 2015

A group of 14 attorneys general have recently asked Congress to investigate herbal supplement safety and to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration more oversight of the industry. Says New York AG, Eric Schneiderman, “When consumers take an herbal supplement, they should be able to do so with full knowledge of what is in

Chemical Safety Reform: Two Bills & Impact on the TSCA

April 7, 2015

Two bills that would reform the federal Toxic Substances Control Act are before Congress. One increases protections against exposure to potentially deadly chemicals and the other… well, the American Chemistry Council (ACC), which is the leading trade organization and lobbyist for the chemical industry, allegedly penned the other. In my grandparents’ day, that was called

Florida Crash Brings 15-Passenger Van Safety Issues Back to the News

April 7, 2015

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating a recent crash involving a 15-passenger van, a vehicle that’s been under scrutiny for years regarding safety issues. The crash killed eight members of a Florida church. The deadly accident occurred at an unlit T-intersection in farm country. NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said the agency plans to

Image by Alexandre Boucher, via Unsplash.com.

Human Nature and the Push to Legislate Safe Driving

April 7, 2015

Vehicle safety groups are always working toward making our highways and byways safer and some of their efforts have paid off. Seat belt use in some states is up and “no texting and driving” laws are in place to cut down on the incidence of distracted driving. All of this has, of course, led to

Premature Removals as Underhanded Defendant Tactics

April 7, 2015

No one can reasonably deny that law often resembles a game of chess, in which the filing of a claim is the opening salvo. However, there is a disturbing new trend that would have Bobby Fischer throwing up his hands in disgust, namely, premature removals of cases from state to federal courts. Some background is

A Last-ditch Effort to Save the Original RFRA in Indiana: ‘Cake is Speech’

April 5, 2015

This is not an April Fools’ joke, I promise. Although it is one of the most entertaining pieces of news I’ve seen all week. I strongly suggest you put down your fork before reading further. I wouldn’t want you to choke on your cake, er, speech. Indiana Baptist pastor Tim Overton, in a Thursday morning

Verdict in for Walden v Chrysler in Fiery Death of 4-year-old Remi Walden

April 3, 2015

Earlier I wrote about Chrysler-Fiat’s CEO and his less-than-compassionate response during deposition in this case. I’ll bet he regrets that robotic and idiotic stance today. The verdict is in and the jury has awarded the Walden family $150 million dollars. The breakdown is $30M for pain and suffering and $120M for value of Remi Walden’s

California Works to Stop ‘Kill All Gays’ Ballot Proposal

April 2, 2015

Before I begin this analysis, I have to take a brief moment to warn you: What you are about to read is absolutely a current initiative in California. If the recent RFRA debacle in Indiana rubbed you the wrong way, this one is going to walk up to you and punch you in the throat.

UPDATE: Proposed Changes to Indiana RFRA Law Would Return Hoosier Hospitality

April 2, 2015

Cooler heads may prevail in Indiana returning the famous Hoosier hospitality to its former prominence after the recent Religious Freedom Restoration Act sparked national protest. Business, sports and civic leaders were against the divisive RFRA from the beginning fearing it would result in open discrimination of the state’s LGBTQ community and a substantial loss of

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