Law students and JURIST special guests comment on their legal experiences around the world. http://jurist.org/dateline JURISTremove_this@pitt.edu JURIST Associate Editor Fangxing Li, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2014, explores the upcoming US Supreme Court decision on affirmative action policies in institutions of higher education and argues that these policies harm rather than help diversity in schools that employ those policies...In March, the US Supreme Court granted certiorari on Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. This is the second affirmative action case currently before the Court; the oral argument of the another case, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, was conducted in October 2012. The current debate on affirmative action is whether the Court should overrule Grutter v. Bollinger, the most recent landmark http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/05/fangxing-li-affirmative-action.php 2013-05-17T01:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/05/fangxing-li-affirmative-action.php Elizabeth Hand JURIST Guest Columnist Shubin Nikita, Russian State University for the Humanities, Law Faculty, explores a new amendment to Russian law affecting non-commercial organizations...On November 21, 2012, Federal Law 121-FL came into force in Russia. This law works to amend various legislative acts, such as those regarding public associations, non-profit organizations and the laundering of crime proceeds to finance terrorism. They also amend the Code of Administrative Offences and the Criminal Code. This need for various amendments came about with the act's creation of the concept of a "non-commercial organization (NCO) carrying functions of a foreign agent." This is elusively defined by the act as an NCO that both carries out http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/05/shubin-nikita-russian-law.php 2013-05-10T13:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/05/shubin-nikita-russian-law.php Elizabeth Imbarlina JURIST Guest Columnist Ibrahim Fares, an LL.M. Candidate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2013, explains the impact of religion on legal rights in Palestine...Religion affects many aspects of life in Palestine, including legal rights. One sensitive issue in Palestine is converting from Islam to Christianity (or vice versa) and from within a religion to a different school. Religion may not have legal effects in the US or Europe; however in the Arabic world in general, and in Palestine in particular, it has significant legal implications. As a result, this article seeks to clarify the legal system of converting religions in Palestine under the Palestinian Basic http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/05/ibrahim-fare-religious-freedom.php 2013-05-01T11:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/05/ibrahim-fare-religious-freedom.php Elizabeth Imbarlina JURIST Guest Columnist Olga Synoverska is an LL.M. candidate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2013, and has interned at OMP Law Offices in Kyiv Ukraine while studying for her law degree. Synoverska discusses a recent change to the laws of Ukraine regarding the commonplace practice of Members of Parliament entering votes for their colleagues...On February 22, 2013, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the Parliament) amended Part 3, Article 47, of the Law of Ukraine on the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The new changes were made to ensure each member of Parliament personally votes instead of having a deputy or another http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/olga-synoverska-ukraine-voting.php 2013-04-25T16:05:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/olga-synoverska-ukraine-voting.php Michael Micsky JURIST Guest Columnist Qiwei Chen, an LL.M. candidate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2013, discusses China's new leaders election and the current disputes on hukou, the household registration system...On March 17, 2013, the National People's Congress (NPC), the highest state body and the unicameral legislative house in China, and the People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), whose members represent various defined groups of society, ended their annual meeting in Beijing, China. The NPC and the CPPCC are the two most important political and legal meetings in China. The NPC meets for about two weeks each year at the same time as the CPPCC, usually in the http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/qiwei-chen-china-reform.php 2013-04-18T11:45:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/qiwei-chen-china-reform.php Fangxing Li JURIST Guest Columnist Felipe Alberto Herrera, Northwestern Law School Class of 2013, discusses the effects of the recent educational reforms in Mexico...Over the past several weeks, national education reform has become a sizzling topic of debate in Mexico. The debate climaxed with the February arrest of Elba Esther Gordillo, former head of Mexico's national teachers' union, on allegations of embezzlement. Gordillo's arrest is like a telenovela and an irresistible spectacle: the sums of money she is accused of stealing are staggering, as is the gawdiness of the items she acquired with it. There are even websites that will show you the California mansions and retail credit card bills she allegedly http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/felipe-herrera-education-reform.php 2013-04-16T14:15:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/felipe-herrera-education-reform.php Emily Osgood JURIST Guest Columnist Kim Brancato, DePaul University College of Law Class of 2014, discusses the successes and failures of recent women's rights legislation in India...As an observer at the fifty-fourth session of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee hearing a few weeks ago in Geneva, I witnessed the importance of access to justice to the international community. As access to justice for women has been recognized as a major obstacle to the protection of women's human rights throughout the world, the committee began the preliminary stages for adopting a general recommendation on this topic by requesting information from the international community. On http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/kim-brancato-human-rights.php 2013-04-12T09:30:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/kim-brancato-human-rights.php Emily Osgood JURIST Guest Columnist, Daniel Perrone, St. John's University School of Law Class of 2013, discusses the implications of the US Supreme Court decision insulating generic drug manufacturers from liability against failure to warn claims...In 2011, generic drugs accounted [PDF] for nearly 80 percent of the 3.7 billion prescriptions filled in the US. This staggering figure should come as no surprise considering the cost of a generic drug is, on average, 80 to 85 percent lower than its brand-name equivalent. However, the decision to consume a drug's cheaper, generic equivalent does come at a price. Thanks to the US Supreme Court's ruling in PLIVA, Inc. v. Mensing, consumers injured by generic http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/daniel-perrone-generic-drugs.php 2013-04-11T09:55:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/daniel-perrone-generic-drugs.php Endia Vereen JURIST Guest Columnist Kathryn Young, University of Virginia School of Law Class of 2013, analyzes the uses, reliability and legality of independent reports in light of their increased uses in collegiate sports...When sports scandals break, a common tool used by universities is the "independent report." To understand how these reports function, two recent examples can be illustrative: the Freeh report and the Martin report. The Freeh report [PDF] was commissioned by Pennsylvania State University ("Penn State") after the Jerry Sandusky child abuse allegations. Former FBI Director Louis Freeh and his law firm compiled the report with the help of a special investigative counsel. Freeh investigated four Penn State administrators: University http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/kathryn-young-independent-reports.php 2013-04-08T11:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/kathryn-young-independent-reports.php Elizabeth Imbarlina JURIST Guest Columnist John McAvoy, Widener University School of Law Class of 2013, explains how public policy affected the outcome of Lebron v. Wilkins... The Power of Public Policy The notion of drug testing welfare recipients has recently become a highly publicized and debated issue. Newspapers and blogs across the country have helped fuel this debate by examining the policy considerations, which lend either strong support or extreme opposition to the legislation. The American people have expressed strong opinions on the topic via social media outlets. Recently, a Facebook "chain meme" has brought even more attention to the proposed legislation. The meme has helped turn legislation affecting a relatively small http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/john-mcavoy-drug-testing.php 2013-04-01T12:35:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/04/john-mcavoy-drug-testing.php Elizabeth Imbarlina