California attorney Michael Newdow filed suit Monday in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio seeking the removal of the phrase “In God We Trust” from US Currency. Newdow represents 49 plaintiffs, including organizations like Michigan Atheists and the Northern Ohio Freethought Society, as well as many unnamed plaintiffs, who oppose the [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Alexander Burns of Valparaiso University discusses growing pains associated with law enforcement body cameras use, implementation, and pending Indiana legislation…In this article I will address several legal and practical issues presented by law enforcement body cameras including: privacy concerns for victims, juveniles and witnesses, especially when an officer is interviewing a witness [...]
The US House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation that would increase sanctions against North Korea for its continuation of nuclear testing. The Foreign Affairs Committee amended the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement Act to include ways to prevent North Kore from funding its nuclear program. The 418-2 vote comes after reports that North Korea successfully [...]
Four individuals on Monday filed suit against the government of Israel in US federal court over injuries they say they claim were inflicted by the Israeli Defense Forces during a deadly 2010 raid. The plaintiffs, Americans David Schermerhorn, Mary Ann Wright and Huwaida Arraf and Belgian national Margriet Deknopper, are seeking damages for their injuries [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Robert A. Sedler of Wayne State University Law School discusses the validity of censoring disparaging trademarks… The Constitution changes everything. When the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused to register as a trademark the name of an Asian-American rock band, The Slants , on the ground that the name “disparages and [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Tuesday. In Duncan v. Owens the court heard arguments to determine whether habeas relief can be given without precedent that the inference of motive at trial violates the defendant’s right to due process. The case arose when Lawrence Owens, who was convicted of first-degree murder [...]
The US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in Bruce v. Samuels that the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA) requires prisoners to pay filing fees on a per-case, not a per-prison basis. The particular question in the case was when a prisoner has more than one case or appeal pending, does the PLRA cap the prisoner’s filing [...]
UN human rights experts called Monday for a review of the UK’s draft Investigatory Powers bill . They fear that the present draft of the bill could threaten freedom of expression and association. The bill is intended to govern how UK authorities monitor suspects under surveillance. In a report to the Joint Committee on the [...]
The Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court granted the two largest daily fantasy websites a stay on Monday allowing them to continue to operate within the state during their appeal. The appeal comes in a challenge from New York’s attorney general Eric Schneiderman, who claims that FanDuel and DraftKings are illegal gambling [...]
Human rights experts from the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) joined in sending an open letter Monday urging the US government to shut down the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay on its fourteenth anniversary. The letter mentioned the recent steps by the Obama administration to close the facility, but noted that [...]
