Judge rules 9/11 lawsuit against Saudi Arabia can proceed
A lawsuit accusing the Saudi Arabian government of complicity in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and seeking billions of dollars in damages, can go forward, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Comparative International Law, Foreign Relations Law and Fragmentation: Can the Center Hold?
Foreign relations law focuses on the domestic institutions that conduct a state’s relations with foreign actors, whether states, international organizations, or foreign persons. One of its tasks is to intervene between international and domestic law.
California Supreme Court upholds collection of DNA from suspected felons not yet convicted of a crime
The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that authorities are legally entitled to collect DNA from suspected felons when they are booked into local lockups, overturning a lower court ruling that questioned the constitutionality of the practice.
Children in the Justice System
Children and the Law Restatement Reporters Elizabeth Scott, Emily Buss, and David Meyer highlight the ways in which children are different from adults, particularly the heightened vulnerability when in police custody.
Pushback Against the CLOUD Act
USA Today addresses the privacy concerns raised after Congress passed the CLOUD Act, a bill that would allow police in other countries to have access to emails and other electronic communications more easily from their own citizens as well as Americans.
When Patents are Sovereigns: The Competitive Harms of Leasing Tribal Immunity
Under the Hatch-Waxman and America Invents Acts, Congress has established a system for judicial and administrative review of prescription-drug patents that balances exclusive rights for patent holders and the entry of generic competitors. Threatening this balance, the pharmaceutical company Allergan recently transferred prescription drug patents to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, a federally recognized Indian tribe. Because tribal sovereign immunity limits the jurisdiction of courts and other adjudicatory bodies to hear cases involving tribal interests, such actions by brand-name pharmaceutical companies may prevent generic companies and other parties from invalidating patents, likely leading to higher drug prices.
The ALI Adviser is intended to inform readers about the legal topics and issues examined in many of ALI’s current projects; posts do not necessarily represent the position of the Institute taken in those projects. Posts on The ALI Adviser are written by ALI project participants, ALI members, and outside sources.