JURIST Guest Columnist Griffen Thorne, Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Class of 2015, discusses the intricacies of double jeopardy and the point at which jeopardy is thought to first occur… Double jeopardy is among the most complex doctrines of constitutional criminal procedure and among the most important protections of the criminally accused. The Double [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Lane v. Franks that a public employee’s sworn testimony outside the scope of his ordinary job duties is entitled to First Amendment protection. Edward Lane was fired from his job at Central Alabama Community College (CACC) after he determined that an elected official was on the payroll [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in United States v. Clarke that a taxpayer can only question Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials about their reasons for issuing a summons when he can “point to specific facts or circumstances plausibly raising an inference of bad faith.” The case involves the IRS issuance of five summonses [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday in Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International that an abstract idea is not patentable simply because it is tied to a computer system. In this case, Alice Corp. sued CLS for patent infringement of four of its patents: US Patent Numbers 5,970,479 (the ‘479 patent), 6,912,510 (the ‘510 [...]

An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced 12 men to death for the murder of former Deputy Director of Giza Security Nabil Farrag. The defendants were charged with the formation of an illegal militant group, the murder of the police chief and attacking police and armed forces, Christians and local churches. The convicted men were all [...]

A Turkish court on Wednesday sentenced two former generals to life imprisonment for leading Turkey’s 1980 coup d’etat that led to three years of military rule. The two retired generals, 96-year-old Kenan Evren , who held the presidential office for seven years following the military takeover, and 89-year-old former air force commander Tahsin Sahinkaya, are [...]

The Chambre des Deputes , Luxembourg’s national legislative body, approved a bill on Wednesday extending marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples. The bill was passed by an overwhelming majority of 54 in favor, four against. Openly gay prime minister Xavier Bettel announced after his election last year that he would bring the bill before [...]

The US Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday announced that it will cancel six trademark registrations belonging to National Football League team the Washington Redskins . Administrative trademark judge Karen Kuhlke found that the trademarks, which include the team’s name, logo and the name of their cheerleading team, were “disparaging to Native Americans” and had [...]

US officials on Tuesday arrested 89-year-old Johann Breyer on charges that he was a Nazi SS guard at Auschwitz and Buchenwald during World War II. Breyer has admitted to serving at Auschwitz but claims that his service was involuntary and that he did not take part in any killings. Breyer was arrested at his home [...]

Chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda on Tuesday urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to take action to end the conflict in Darfur and bring perpetrators to justice . Bensouda noted that it has been nearly 10 years since the UNSC referred the situation in Darfur to the ICC. She sharply [...]