The US Supreme Court granted certiorari on Friday in Shelby County v. Holder to determine whether Congress exceeded its authority when it renewed Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . Section 5 requires jurisdictions with a history of preventing minority groups from voting to receive preclearance from the US Department of Justice [...]

Opponents of Washington’s new law legalizing same-sex marriage conceded defeat Thursday in their efforts for a referendum veto. Referendum 74 gave Washington voters the choice to accept or reject the state same-sex marriage legislation, which was signed into law by Governor Christine Gregoire in February. While the referendum was too close to call for most [...]

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday that MoneyGram International, Inc. entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ. According to the DOJ, MoneyGram admitted “to criminally aiding and abetting wire fraud and failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.” From 2004 to 2009, MoneyGram processed thousands of transactions obtained by MoneyGram [...]

The US Supreme Court affirmed a stay of execution late Thursday night for Pennsylvania inmate Hubert Michael. The Supreme Court’s decision affirms the 14-day stay of execution allowed by the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit earlier on Thursday. The Third Circuit also requested that US District Judge John Jones III, a judge [...]

Irwin Lipkin, a former controller of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, (BLMIS) pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal court Thursday to falsifying records. The full range of charges to which Lipkin has pleaded guilty include conspiracy to commit securities fraud, to make false filings with the Security Exchanges Commission (SEC) , and to falsify [...]

Fear of deportation prevents many migrant women in Belgium from seeking necessary protection from domestic violence, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Friday. The 57-page report, entitled “‘The Law was Against Me’: Migrant Women’s Access to Protection for Family Violence in Belgium,” found that women who immigrate to Belgium to join their [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Louise Lau, University of Texas School of Law Class of 2013, analyzes the effects that Lululemon’s design patent lawsuit against Calvin Klein might have on the fashion industry… In an industry that has traditionally accepted inspiration and appropriation as the status quo, Lululemon Athletica’s lawsuit against Calvin Klein Inc., speaks loudly to [...]

The International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Thursday rejected a third request for early release for former Bosnian Serb parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik . Krajisnik was convicted in 2006 of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation and inhumane acts during the 1992-95 Bosnian Civil War . He was sentenced to 27 years in a British [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Stephen Halbrook says that the Fifth Circuit’s decision in NRA v. BATFE misinterprets Second Amendment history and leads to absurd results…

JURIST Guest Columnist Clark Asay of The Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law says that the European Union’s recent investigation of Google’s new privacy policy, along with several other EU data privacy initiatives, may impact US privacy regulation and practice….