ASULJADMIN

By Abby Dockum. In Iran, 85,000 prisoners—nearly half the prison population—have been released in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In China, after a guard showed symptoms of COVID-19, two thousand prisoners were tested and two hundred tested positive. In at least two other countries, prisoners have rioted—resulting in thirteen deaths in Italy and twenty-three in Colombia—to protest a lack of protective measures against the virus. Coronavirus is now spreading in the United States, home to more than two million incarcerated people—by far the world’s largest prison population. Meanwhile, measures recommended by the CDC to prevent transmission are impossible in many U.S. detention facilities: How can inmates in overcrowded prisons “socially distance” while sharing cells, showers, and cafeterias? How can someone in handcuffs cover a cough or sneeze? How can hands…

By Caitlin Doak. Background In 2000, a jury in Oklahoma convicted Patrick Murphy, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, of murder. After seeking post-conviction relief in Oklahoma state courts, Murphy petitioned the Eastern District of Oklahoma for a writ of habeas corpus. The district court denied habeas relief, finding that the state court decisions were not contrary to federal law. On appeal, the Tenth Circuit reversed, holding that under the Solem v. Bartlett test, Congress had not disestablished the Creek reservation (or the Cherokee, Seminole, Choctaw, and Chickasaw reservations either, collectively known as the Five Tribes). Therefore, the Tenth Circuit held that because the murder took place on an Indian reservation, the state court did not have jurisdiction to convict Mr. Murphy. Oklahoma appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.…

By Harman Dhanoa. Background Standing on U.S. soil, Border Patrol Agent Jesus Mesa shot and killed Sergio Hernández, an unarmed 15-year-old Mexican boy on Mexican soil. Hernández’s parents sued Agent Mesa in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, alleging that a rogue federal officer’s unreasonable use of lethal force violated the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. This lawsuit was their one chance at a damages remedy: they had no alternative relief under Mexican law, state law, the Federal Tort Claims Act, the Alien Tort Statute, or federal criminal law. On February 25, 2020, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court held that the parents could not sue Agent Mesa. Hernandez v. Mesa When a state officer commits a constitutional violation, plaintiffs may recover damages under 42 U.S.C.…

By Madelaine Bauer. Background In the wake of an upcoming election, the Trump campaign has taken action and filed libel lawsuits against both the New York Times and the Washington Post. In February 2020, the Trump campaign began their suits by filing against the New York Times for the March 27, 2019 article titled “The Real Trump-Russia Quid Pro Quo.” It is claimed the article falsely stated that the Trump campaign had a deal with Russia to help against the Clinton Campaign by agreeing to relieve economic sanctions. The Trump campaign declares the New York Times knew the statements were false when they were published. The New York Times has recently responded by asserting that the Trump campaign has no right to punish a writer for having an opinion on…

By Delilah Cassidy. Living on a golf course seems like a dream: waking up to the smell of freshly cut grass, sitting on the porch drinking lemonade during the Arizona spring. But since the Great Recession, what was once a dream for those living on the Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course quickly became a nightmare; a nightmare even the law could not truly wake them up from. Not-So-Happy Gilmore: Three decades ago, a deed restriction was placed on a master-planned Arizona community limiting a portion of the land stating: “[t]he Property shall be used for no purposes other than golf courses . . . .” This restriction could only be changed if either 51% of the homeowners approved of the alternative use or a court found a “material change in the…

By Cory Bernard. The country’s largest competitive wholesale electricity market recently filed a request for rehearing in response to a December 2019 order of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) setting a price floor for new entrants to the market. The Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) prevents any market entrants that receive “out-of-market” payments from bidding their power below an administratively determined price floor. Background The PJM Interconnection (PJM), which provides a market for more than 1,000 companies serving 65 million people to buy and sell electricity, argues the MOPR unnecessarily interfered with the market. Renewable energy advocates, several of whom also recently requested a rehearing, argue that the MOPR oversteps FERC’s jurisdiction because it unreasonably raises rates and effectively negates state-level renewable energy policies. Via the Federal Power Act…

By Jake Abrahamian. Background Later this year, the Supreme Court is set to decide USPTO v. Booking.com B.V. in a ruling that will determine whether a generic name can be transformed into a protectable trademark when followed by a top-level domain (“.com”). The issue arose when Booking.com, a hotel accommodations service, sought to register booking.com as its trademark, but the USPTO refused on the ground that booking and .com were generic. However, the Fourth Circuit found that as a whole, booking.com could be something that consumers perceive as a brand. And this is the heart of trademark law. Trademarks are brand identifiers. They indicate source. When you see a small bitten apple on the back of a laptop, you know who made the computer. The policy theory behind protecting trademarks…