The right to family life is not absolute (unlike the right not to be tortured) but may yield in the publicinterest, including safety and economic well-being.
The fingerprints of the food and restaurant industries, with their clear economic conflicts of interest, are all over the public and judicial campaign to block the soda ban.
"The Justice Department tends to see a lot of economic efficiencies in mergers and therefore generally believes that mergers are in the publicinterest, " says Bert Foer, president of the American Antitrust Institute.
Foley Hoag is among many megafirms across the country using the economic slump as an ideal time to lend a hand to cash-strapped publicinterest and legal aid firms.