By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) On December 6th, the Supreme Court ruled on Samsung Electronics Co v. Apple Inc., finding in a unanimous ruling that a previous ruling awarding Apple $399 million in monetary damages from Samsung’s design patent infringement was incorrectly calculated. This was the first time that the Supreme Court heard a case regarding design patents in years, and it is a continuation...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) A recent Gallup poll found that 60% of Americans support the legalization of marijuana (cannabis). This figure closely parallels the findings of other studies that show support for legalization has reached a solid majority. On November 8th, ballot results across the country reflected this shift. California, along with three other states, legalized recreational use of...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) As the results from the presidential election continue to trickle in, there are many questions that remain unanswered. Some of these questions relate to the future, such as what the Supreme Court will look like during the next four years. Others relate to the past, and how historical events may have shaped this election. One of these historical events is the 2013...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) In late October, telecommunication companies AT&T and Time Warner announced agreement on a deal for AT&T to buy Time Warner for $85 billion. The immediate public reaction has not been positive, with many concerned that the merger will create a media company so large that it will distort market competition and violate anti-trust law. Significantly, this...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) While Rodrigo Duterte campaigned to become President of the Philippines, his record for cracking down on crime as mayor of the capital city was one of his biggest selling points. Thus, when he took office in June of this year, the public widely expected him to enforce strict anti-crime and anti-drug laws with a heavy hand. The international community did not anticipate...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, enacted in 2010, was an attempt to regulate and reform the United States’ financial services industry as the economy began to recover from the Great Recession of the late 2000s. Title X of this act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency whose conception is largely attributed to...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) Tax avoidance by multinational corporations (MNCs) has long been a controversial topic in international law. Recently, individual nations have begun to reform their tax codes to better regulate MNCs operating in their jurisdiction. The European Commission, however, is attempting to supersede the authority of individual nations’ tax laws. Last month, the Commission...
By Kyla Eastling (CMC ’18) On August 29th, the California state senate passed SB 1157, otherwise known as the Strengthening Family Connections: In-Person Visitation bill, with bipartisan support. The bill would require jails and prisons within the state to allow in-person visitation from inmates’ families by 2022 at the latest. If signed by Governor Jerry Brown, the bill would make...
