The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in Chafin v. Chafin , an international child custody dispute. The court will decide whether a parent can appeal in a custody suit when a district court has determined the child’s habitual residence is another country and the child has already been removed from the US, or [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Wednesday denied a request for a rehearing on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations that require tobacco companies to display graphic images on their packaging. In a 2-1 decision issued in August, the DC Circuit struck down the regulations, holding that the FDA’s [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Brendan Block, Saint Louis University School of Law Class of 2013, argues for exigency to apply to driving while intoxicated (DWI) suspects to allow for warrantless blood tests…

Attorneys for the federal government on Monday filed a motion with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to dismiss a complaint challenging the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) . Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt had filed a suit in January against the federal health care law arguing that “Congress [...]

JURIST Guest Columnist Preston Findlay, a representative for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, argues that the Supreme Court should hold that US courts have the power to handle appeals stemming for international child abduction cases…

The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down two state laws, HB 2780 and HB 1970 , limiting abortion rights for physicians and patients for unconstitutionality. The first law mandated that physicians must require that any patient seeking an abortion undergo an ultra-sound, whereby the image of the fetus was to be described and placed [...]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967 Richard Falk called on Israel Wednesday to fully implement and continue to support the recent conflict-ending ceasefire agreement with Palestinians in Gaza. Falk concluded a week-long mission evaluating the overall impact of Israel’s prolonged occupation and [...]

An Arizona judge ruled Monday that Arizona’s medical marijuana law is constitutional and instructed the state to permit dispensaries to open. Judge Michael Gordon of the Maricopa County Superior Court rebuffed arguments from Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne that federal laws barring the use of marijuana preempted the state law allowing medicinal marijuana which was [...]

An Israeli court has approved the nation’s first same-sex divorce even though the country does not officially recognize same-sex marriage. The court ruled Sunday that the couple, who were married in Canada and live in Israel, should be recognized as married and should be allowed to sever the relationship . Not allowing the separation, the [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay addressed the growing issue of global business’ role in gross human rights abuses in a statement on Tuesday. In addressing the Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, Pillay detailed the importance of taking steps to implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights . Pillay [...]