JURIST Guest Columnist Tim Lynch of The Cato Institute discusses the right of defendants to choose between a trial by jury or trial by judge… Trial by jury is one of the most celebrated rights in the American Constitution, but what if the accused person would rather be tried by a judge instead? That question [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled 7-1 Monday in Taylor v. United States that the Hobbs Act applies to a drug robbery. The Hobbs Act makes it a crime for a person to affect commerce, or to attempt to do so, by robbery. In an opinion by Justice Samuel Alito, the court found that because Congress [...]
The US Supreme Court on Monday denied certiorari in two separate cases challenging bans on assault-style weapons. The court denied the appeals without comment, letting stand lower court rulings that had upheld the bans as constitutional. The cases were Shew v. Malloy, concerning Connecticut’s ban, and and Kampfer v. Cuomo , dealing with New York’s [...]
The New York Senate on Saturday passed a bill to legalize fantasy sports amid national concerns that the activity qualifies as illegal gambling. The bill would require frequent and highly-skilled players to sufficiently identify themselves online to prevent them from taking advantage of casual players. Fantasy sports sites would also be required to give 15.5 [...]
The Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday upheld the death sentences of six defendants, including three journalists, charged with espionage for leaking state secrets to Qatar. While the defendants were originally sentenced to death in May , the Egyptian court was required to seek advice from Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam before finalizing its ruling. Though former [...]
The Mexican Congress on Friday passed several anti-corruption bills that would increase the severity of penalties for corruption charges. Should President Enrique Peña Nieto approve the bill, public officials would face increased fines and jail time for crimes such as bribery, embezzlement and illegal enrichment. While the bill would require government-funded entities to make public [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Nicholas M. Wooldridge discusses judge Aaron Persky’s sentencing of convicted Stanford sex offender Brock Turner… Brock Allen Turner was convicted of three felony counts related to his digital penetration of an unconscious victim behind a dumpster at a frat party and sentenced to a short six month period of imprisonment. Turner’s sentencing [...]
The Assembly of Kosovo voted press release] Friday to extend the European mandate known as EU Rule of Law mission (EULEX ) for two years. The move comes after the EU voted on Monday to extend and fully fund the mandate until 2018. The parliament had previous issues about the mandate in regards to what [...]
More than 40 prosecutors in Virginia filed an amicus brief Friday in support of a challenge to the governor’s executive action to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 felons individuals in the state. The prosecutors argue that the governor’s actions are not only in violation of the Virginia constitution but also an issue of [...]
The UN Working Group on Discrimination against Women in Law called on the world’s governments to take quick, effective steps towards ensuring women are granted equal rights to health, including reproductive and sexual health. The report , presented Friday, refers to the “instrumentalization” of women in the healthcare system, in particular the “subjection of women’s [...]
