Law students and JURIST special guests comment on their legal experiences around the world. http://jurist.org/dateline JURISTremove_this@pitt.edu JURIST Guest Columnists Natasha Major and Marcus Childs Moore, respectively Class of 2013 and 2012 from Howard University School of Law, analyze the ruling in Apple v. Samsung and argue that granting Apple's request for permanent injunctions against Samsung devices is an unfounded attempt to influence the marketplace from the courtroom...The Apple v. Samsung case is an early Christmas gift to any intellectual property junkie. The complex litigation covers various areas of intellectual property law. Two teaspoons of trade dress issues, one full cup of design patents, two pinches of software patents and a dash of antitrust are the main ingredients of this case. The lawsuit involves a variety of http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/10/major-moore-apple-samsung.php 2012-10-04T10:10:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/10/major-moore-apple-samsung.php Leigh Argentieri JURIST Guest Columnist Karlanna Lewis, Yale Law School Class of 2015, uses the Pussy Riot incident to draw comparisons between Russia and the West in terms of their restrictions and protections of freedom of expression...Pussy Riot, a Russian feminist punk band, is the subject of much Western attention; however they are not as famous for their music, as for the legal implications of their thinly veiled political trial. On February 17, 2012, five members of the band protested Russian President Vladimir Putin's re-election in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral. Though the punk prayer lasted less than two minutes before the band was removed from the church, three band members were http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/10/karlana-lewis-pussy-riot.php 2012-10-02T12:15:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/10/karlana-lewis-pussy-riot.php Michael Micsky JURIST Guest Columnist Rebecca Buckwalter-Poza, Yale Law School Class of 2014, posits that while Pussy Riot advocates much-needed overarching political and legal reforms, it also needlessly tramples current laws in so doing... On February 21, 2012, five members of the female rock group Pussy Riot invaded Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior, a Russian Orthodox Church, to protest the reelection of Russian President Vladimir Putin. They performed for less than a minute before being ejected. The rockers used those seconds to belt out a song titled "Holy Shit," criticizing Putin and the Russian Orthodox Church — as well as indicting the Virgin Mary. Soon after, three members of the band http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/10/rebecca-buckwalterpoza-pussy-riot.php 2012-10-01T13:15:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/10/rebecca-buckwalterpoza-pussy-riot.php Michael Micsky JURIST Guest Columnist Gerard Dondero, University of Nevada William S. Boyd School of Law Class of 2013, argues that while the recent New York district court decision in US v. Dicristina represents a change in the legal analysis of games of skill, most US states still utilize outdated judicial standards to evaluate gambling...A recent opinion out of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York has been making waves. Most US courts confronted with the question of whether poker is a game of skill under the predominance test tend to categorize poker as a "game of chance." However, Judge Weinstein in US v. Dicristina found poker to http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/gerard-dondero-gambling-law.php 2012-09-26T12:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/gerard-dondero-gambling-law.php Elizabeth Imbarlina JURIST Guest Columnist Eileen Ward, St. John's University School of Law Class of 2013, is the author of the fifth article in a 15-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Ward offers insight about why the US should adopt the Convention on the Elimination of Forms of Discrimination Against Women...What do Iran, Sudan, Somalia and the US all have in common? It is not that women who are sentenced to death are raped before being executed — that is exclusive to Iran. It is not that genital mutilation is commonplace — that is Somalia. It is not that women wearing knee-length skirts can http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/eileen-ward-womens-rights.php 2012-09-24T16:20:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/eileen-ward-womens-rights.php Elizabeth Hand JURIST Guest Columnist Katie McLay, University of Pittsburgh School of Law Class of 2014, is an officer for the University of Pittsburgh School of Law's Federalist Society. She compares and contrasts the current controversy surrounding two salient constitutional issues: gun control and voter ID laws...Over the past few weeks, the news cycle nationwide — and certainly within my home state of Pennsylvania — has been dominated by limited topics. Two of those topics are of direct constitutional relevance: voter ID regulations and restrictions on gun rights. Recently, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a law that would require voters to present one of several prescribed forms of identification in order to http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/katie-mclay-voter-ID-guns.php 2012-09-19T13:10:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/katie-mclay-voter-ID-guns.php Elizabeth Hand JURIST Guest Columnist Frank Barile, St. John's University School of Law Class of 2013, is the author of the fourth article in a 15-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Barile explains the negative impact of a new Florida law on welfare law and policy...The US is on the brink of what could be a watershed moment for welfare law and policy. Florida and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are currently engaged in litigation regarding the constitutionality of a Florida law that, if upheld, would require all applicants of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to consent to and pay for drug http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/frank-barile-welfare-policy.php 2012-09-17T14:10:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/frank-barile-welfare-policy.php Emily Osgood JURIST Guest Columnist Jesse Oppenheim, Brooklyn Law School Class of 2013, offers legal context to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's recent opinion in The Observer...On August 28, word leaked out that Archbishop Desmond Tutu had pulled out of an international summit in South Africa because he refused to share a platform with the "morally indefensible" former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Days later, Tutu published an opinion article in The Observer explaining his position. The Iraq war "has destabilized and polarized the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in history," wrote Tutu, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/jesse-oppenheim-desmond-tutu.php 2012-09-13T11:15:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/jesse-oppenheim-desmond-tutu.php Elizabeth Imbarlina JURIST Guest Columnist Michael Pinto, St. John's University School of Law Class of 2013, is the author of the third article in a 15-part series from the staffers of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development. Pinto explains why expanding the available exemptions to the New York Marriage Equality Act to include individuals could have a detrimental effect on civil rights...Mention the expression freedom of religion to any political junkie and you are bound to get a rise out of him. Actually, whenever you mention politics and religion in the same sentence, you are bound to get someone's blood boiling. But it seems as if these two subjects have http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/michael-pinto-civil-rights.php 2012-09-11T14:00:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/michael-pinto-civil-rights.php Michael Micsky JURIST Guest Columnist Ryan Suto, Syracuse University College of Law Class of 2013, discusses how the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry acts as a method of rule-of-law in post-conflict resolution and acknowledges its limitations...On February 14, 2011, Bahrain joined the Arab Spring when thousands of protesters filled the streets, demanding economic reforms from King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and the government. Over the course of a month the scene worsened, as violence and police responses escalated. As the protests continued, a sectarian element became apparent: while the government is headed by the Sunni al-Khalifa family, a majority of protesters were Shia. A contention of the opposition is that the ruling http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/ryan-suto-bahrain-resolution.php 2012-09-05T12:25:00-05:00 http://jurist.org/dateline/2012/09/ryan-suto-bahrain-resolution.php Elizabeth Imbarlina