JURIST Guest Columnist Uché Ewelukwa Ofodile of University of Arkansas School of Law discusses intellectual property rights of graffiti artists given the changing dynamics in the legal landscape and concepts of nontraditional art… Introduction It was known as 5Pointz but frequently referred to as the “United Nations of Graffiti.” It was a five-story former factory [...]

The Hawaii Senate on Thursday gave final approval to a bill that would legalize medically assisted death for terminally ill patients. The bill applies to patients with less than six months to live. It would allow patients to obtain a medical prescription to assist their passing. Only residents of Hawaii would be eligible. The bill [...]

The Supreme Court of Arkansas ruled Thursday that the state prison system may be permitted to conceal information that could be used to identify third parties who obtain drugs for the state, but must continue to identify the manufacturers of the drugs. The ruling comes from an appeal by the Director of the Arkansas Department [...]

A Los Angeles judge ruled Wednesday that coffee companies are required to display cancer warning labels on coffee because of the chemical produced in the roasting process. The Council for Education and Research on Toxics, a non-profit group, sued several coffee roasters, distributors and retailers under Proposition 65, a California law that requires products that [...]

Four transgender people filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio Thursday against the Ohio Department of Health and Office of Vital Statistics due to the plaintiffs’ inability to change their birth certificates to match their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed through the American Civil Liberties Union of [...]

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy must stand for trial for charges of corruption and influence the 2007 French presidential election. The case will focus on alleged phone calls that transpired between Sarkozy and a French judge who was, at the time, investigating claims that Sarkozy’s 2007 election was illegally funded. In the phone calls, Sarkozy [...]

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions appointed US Attorney for Utah John Huber on Thursday to investigate determinations made by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2016 and 2017. The investigation will look into the DOJ’s “compliance with certain legal requirements and Department and FBI policies and procedures with respect to certain applications filed with the [...]

The International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law Committed in the Syrian Arab Republic since March 2011 (IIIM), a UN quasi-prosecutorial body, issued a report last week stating that they have compiled an “overwhelming volume of … videos and [...]

The NAACP filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Maryland against the US Census Bureau and President Donald Trump, arguing that the federal government’s unpreparedness for the 2020 Census is a violation of the Constitution. According to the complaint, the Bureau faces insufficient staffing, funding and preparation, including the [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday denied Saudi Arabia’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit for involvement in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Victims and families of victims originally brought suit against Saudi Arabia and the Saudi High Commission for Relief in Bosnia and Herzegovina [...]