The US District Court for the Eastern District of California declared California’s SB 50 to be unconstitutional on Thursday because it regulated the federal government’s right to sell federal property in violation of intergovernmental immunity. The judge wrote that under the doctrine of intergovernmental immunity “a state law is invalid if it ‘regulates the United States directly or discriminates [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada ruled 7-1 on Friday that two Canadian electric companies, Hydro-Quebec and Churchill Falls Corporation, had no obligation to renegotiate a contract from 1969. Churchill Falls Corp. brought the suit, claiming that the contract should be renegotiated due to changes in the electricity market which occurred after the signing. Under the current contract, Hydro-Quebec receives [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Monday in two separate cases regarding the Federal Arbitration Act. At issue in the first case, Henry Schein Inc. v. Archer and White Sales Inc., is whether a court must submit a matter to arbitration if the court determines that the claim is “wholly groundless.” The petitioner argued, “A court does not have [...]
The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that online fantasy sports sites are not violating the Indiana right of publicity statute by using images and statistics of players because such information is under the “material that has newsworthy value” exception. Three college athletes brought the suit against FanDuel, Inc. and DraftKings, Inc. for using their names, images [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday that annotations that were “made an inextricable part of Georgia’s laws” cannot be copyrighted by the state. The court said that in general, laws cannot be copyrighted because they are “authored by the People.” After examining the identity of the authors, the authority of the annotations, and [...]
The European Court of Justice on Friday ordered Poland to immediately suspend its lowering of the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court judges. While a former hearing with the Court of Justice is already scheduled, the court demands that the suspension go into effect that the judges continue on in their positions during the interim. In April Poland lowered [...]
The US Supreme Court granted certiorari Friday in a case that will determine whether private operators of public access channels qualify as state actors for First Amendment purposes. In Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) suspended producer Jesus Melendez from a leadership program for allegedly harassing an employee. In response, Melendez and [...]
Romania’s referendum Sunday to change the constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman failed due to lack of voter participation. The national election bureau reported that only 20.4 percent of Romanian citizens voted in the referendum, which required a 30 percent voter turnout. The Coalition for the Family, a conservative lobbying group, petitioned the Romanian government [...]
A judge on Peru’s highest court overturned a pardon of Peru’s former president, Alberto Fujimori on Wednesday. Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2009 for approving a civilian massacre during his presidency. Former president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski pardoned Fujimori in 2017 due to Fujimori’s heart condition. However, human rights experts denounced the pardon, claiming that it was politically motivated and that Fujimori [...]
Tokyo passed a law on Friday that prohibits “the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, citizens, and enterprises” from “unduly discriminat on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.” The law was passed in light of Tokyo hosting the 2020 Olympic Games. After Russia passed anti-LGBT legislation before hosting the Olympics in 2014, the International Olympic Committee added a [...]
