In 2008 the Second Circuit ruled that Salim could be resentenced according to heightened standards [JURIST report] for acts of terrorism. The government argued that the district court should have imposed a longer sentence according to the enhanced sentencing guidelines for acts of terrorism [US Sentencing Guidelines § 3A1.4, PDF]. The Second Circuit agreed, rejecting the district court's contention that the crime could not be considered terrorism because it did not transcend national boundaries. The appeals court held that the terrorism enhancement does not require transnational conduct, stating that "Congress could have defined 'Federal crime of terrorism' to include a requirement that the offense conduct transcend national boundaries, but it did not." Also in 2008 the Second Circuit upheld [JURIST report] the convictions of three men related to the 1998 embassy attacks.

[W]e, as did the district court, must allow summary judgment for appellees, unless appellants have produced in the record at least enough support for their position to establish "a genuine dispute" as to some material fact from which we could discern that the adoption or implementation of the guidelines by the appellees was "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law." There is no serious dispute of fact in this case. Appellants advance three arguments for invalidating the NIH guidelines, each of which relies upon a proposition of law.

In August 2010 the DC District Court took up the case on remand from the DC Circuit and issued a preliminary injection [JURIST report] blocking federal funding for the research. On appeal the DC Circuit vacated the injunction [JURIST report] and again remanded to the district court, which granted the summary judgment under appeal in Friday's decision. The NIH controversy arose after President Barack Obama [official website] signed an executive order [text; JURIST report] in 2009 that removed the previous administration's eight-year restriction on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. After the preliminary injunction on stem research was granted last year the Obama administration appealed [JURIST report] the injunction, arguing that the ruling was overbroad and endangered an array of research across multiple programs and centers while only serving a very attenuated economic interest of the plaintiffs in the case.

This case raises novel questions about the scope of the government's authority to force the manufacturer of a product to go beyond making purely factual and accurate commercial disclosures and undermine its own economic interest ... in this case, by making "every single pack of cigarettes in the country mini billboard" for the government's anti-smoking message.

In March the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the graphic cigarette label warnings are constitutional. The court decided unanimously that the portions of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (FSPTCA) [HR 1256 text] designed to limit the tobacco industry's ability to advertise to children, including a ban on distributing clothing and goods with logos or brand names, as well as sponsorship of cultural, athletic and social events requiring cigarette packaging and advertisements, is a valid restriction of commercial speech. Earlier that month, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the FDA regulation recommending warning labels is unconstitutional [JURIST report], issuing a permanent injunction

Myanmar President Thein Sein [BBC profile] last week announced the creation of a 27-member commission tasked with investigating the cause of the sectarian violence [JURIST report] between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists. Earlier this month HRW accused government forces [JURIST report] of human rights violations following the clashes. Last month spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Melissa Fleming reported that ten UN staff and aid workers had been arrested [JURIST report] in the northwestern Rakhine state and three of them are facing unknown criminal charges. In June HRW had urged [JURIST report] the Chinese government to provide basic food and shelter needs to refugees from Myanmar after finding refugee abuse. Earlier that month HRW also called on [JURIST report] Bangladesh to open its borders to Myanmar refugees a day after it demanded Myanmar ensure the safety of communities in the Arakan State subject to the violence between Arakan Buddhists and ethnic Rohingya Muslims.

Plaintiffs reasonably fear, based upon official communications to them ... from their superiors, past events, and public sources, that if they follow the requirements of federal law, contrary to the "Directive," and arrest an alien or issue an alien an Notice to Appear (NTA) in removal proceedings, they will be disciplined or suffer other adverse employment consequences.

Immigration laws [JURIST backgrounder] have became a hot button issue over the past few years when many states, Arizona being the first, passed laws giving their state and local officials more power to crack down on illegal immigration. On Wednesday a federal judge heard arguments [JURIST report] on whether to uphold a controversial provision of Arizona's immigration law that requires police to check the immigration status of people they stop. The provision was upheld [JURIST report] by the US Supreme Court but only on the grounds that it did not conflict with the federal government's powers regarding illegal immigration. On Monday the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] partially struck down [JURIST report] Alabama and Georgia's immigration laws, but upheld other provisions. Last week Utah's Attorney General argued that the state's restrictive immigration law should be upheld [JURIST report] in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Arizona v. United States.

In July the US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] announced that it would investigate Pennsylvania's voter ID law [JURIST report]. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania [advocacy website] challenged the law [petition for review, PDF; JURIST report] in May, asking a court to block enforcement of the law in the upcoming November elections. The group claims that the new law violates the Pennsylvania Constitution [text] and will prevent eligible voters from casting their votes. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett [official website] signed the bill into law [JURIST report] in March. It was passed earlier that week in the House of Representatives by a vote of 104-88. Supporters of the proposed legislation said that it will combat voter fraud. Unlike the current trend of voter ID laws, Pennsylvania's allows voters to vote without an ID as long as they verify their identity within six days of voting. Absentee ballots will also only require identification by Social Security number. There are now 32 US states [NCSL backgrounder] that require voters to present some form of ID at the polls, but the issue remains controversial.

Apple and Samsung have been embroiled in continuous patent litigation in courts around the world. Earlier this month the US District Court for the Northern District of California [official website] denied a motion by Apple requesting that the court sanction Samsung by ruling in Apple's favor in the ongoing $2.5 billion patent litigation between the two companies there. In July a UK court ruled [JURIST report] that Samsung tablets do not infringe on Apple's design. Earlier in July a federal judge issued an injunction [JURIST report] against Samsung to stop the sale of its Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US. A week earlier the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit had rejected [Bloomberg report; CAFC notice] Samsung's appeal of the decision that remanded the case to the district court giving Apple another opportunity to ban Samsung's Galaxy products in the states after it partially reversed [JURIST report] the district court's refusal to grant a temporary injunction for Apple against Samsung. Apple's request for a temporary injunction was denied [JURIST report] by the district court in December.

The theft of intellectual property, particularly within the cyber arena, is a growing problem and one that cannot be ignored by the U.S government's law enforcement community. These thefts cost companies millions of dollars and can even inhibit the development and implementation of new ideas and applications. The FBI, in working with its various corporate and government partners, is not only committed to combating such thefts but is well poised to coordinate with the many jurisdictions that are impacted by such activities.

Recently, there has been a surge in government attention to copyright issues. In January US lawmakers decided to postpone [JURIST report] discussion of the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) [text, PDF]. Also in January the Spanish government approved a new law [JURIST report] that creates a government agency with the authority to force Internet service providers to block certain websites that are involved in pirating copyrighted material. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in November that Internet service providers cannot be required by law to monitor [JURIST report] their customers' activities as an attempt to combat illegal sharing of copyrighted material.

Germany has been slowly expanding its same-sex union rights. This expansion has been largely driven by court rulings. Earlier this month, a German court ruled that homosexual couples in a civil union should receive the same tax benefits [JURIST report] as heterosexual married couples. In 2010 the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that a portion of the tax code requiring gay couples to pay a larger inheritance tax than partners in heterosexual marriages is unconstitutional [JURIST report]. Before the ruling the German tax code required gay couples to pay between 17 and 50 percent for an inheritance tax upon the death of a partner, while heterosexual married partners were required to pay between 7 and 30 percent for the tax. In June of the same year an administrative court in Berlin held that a same-sex marriage performed abroad must be recognized [JURIST report] in a registered partnership in Germany.

Last week an Egyptian lawyer challenged Morsi's self-grant of legislative and executive powers [JURIST report] in a Cairo court. Last month Morsi ordered the release [JURIST report] of 572 people convicted in tribunals by the Egyptian military. Earlier in July, a few days after he was sworn in, Morsi issued a decree [JURIST reports] calling the dissolved Egyptian parliament back into session, despite a previous ruling by the country's Supreme Constitutional Court [official website] dissolving it due to its finding that one-third of its members were elected illegally [JURIST report]. The court suspended Morsi's decree two days later, after which Morsi vowed that he would respect the ruling [JURIST reports]. A court struck down [JURIST report] a government decree in June that restored broad arrest powers to Egyptian military officials. Days before its dissolution, the Egyptian parliament elected a new constitutional council after lawmakers finally reached an agreement [JURIST reports] on the political composition of the council. In April the country's Administrative Court effectively suspended [JURIST report] the work of the 100-member council responsible for drafting the country's new constitution after ruling in favor of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the formation of the panel.