The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in two cases. In Sekhar v. United States the court heard arguments on whether an attorney’s “recommendation” is intangible property that can be gained through bribery, and thus under the jurisdiction of federal extortion law , including the Hobbs Act . Paul Clement, the attorney representing Giridhar [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 Tuesday in Moncrieffe v. Holder that noncitizens have not committed an “aggravated felony” if they are convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana, and are eligible for discretionary review of their immigration case. The Immigration and Nationality Act provides that an alien “who is convicted of an aggravated felony [...]

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi swore Monday to preserve the independence of the judicial system despite protests by Islamist groups to remove thousands of judges. Morsi issued a statement after emergency talks on Monday with the Supreme Judicial Council and the prosecutor general. Morsi’s statement comes after Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki resigned Sunday in response to [...]

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled Monday that Apple did not infringe a Motorola patent covering proximity sensors. The USITC concluded that the concept at issue was too obvious to merit patent protection. Although Apple is based in the US, it outsources production of its mobile units to factories in China and Brazil, making [...]

The UK Court of Appeal on Tuesday denied permission to the Home Secretary to appeal to the nation’s Supreme Court the decision not to deport radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan. The appeals court refused to deport Qatada last month, fearing he would face torture if returned to Jordan. Qatada is wanted in Jordan [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit agreed Tuesday to an en banc review of its January decision vacating the conspiracy conviction of Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman Al Bahlul , the media secretary of Osama Bin Laden . A three-judge panel ruled in January that the military tribunal that convicted Al [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Monday lifted a stay of execution for Georgia death row inmate Warren Hill . The appeals court halted the execution in February to allow time to consider whether a federal court can reconsider Hill’s case. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court found that Hill’s [...]

France’s Parliament approved a measure Tuesday to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. The bill was passed in the National Assembly by a 331 to 225 margin following last week’s approval by the Senate . The debate over the bill has sparked a wave of violent protests throughout the country. The bill must [...]

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (RCC) ruled Monday that Russian citizens have the right to challenge parliamentary election results in court within the particular constituency where they originally cast their votes. Last May Russia’s Human Rights Ombudsmen , Vladimir Lukin filed a complaint claiming that regional courts violated the constitution by dismissing citizen’s [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases . In Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International the court considered the only First Amendment case this term, on whether the US Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 requires potential funding recipients to “espouse the government’s views.” [...]