Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Wireless Wiretapping Law for Lack of Standing

Clapper v. Amnesty Int’l USA
By Samantha Rothberg – Edited by Jacob Rogers

The Supreme Court reversed and remanded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which had held that a group of attorneys, journalists and human rights organizations had standing to challenge the FISA Amendments Act on the basis of an “objectively reasonable likelihood” that the plaintiffs’ communications would be intercepted under the law.

Drone Strikes and Due Process: The Role of the Separation of Powers in Lethal Action Against U.S. Citizens Outside Traditional Battlefields

Written By: Michelle Sohn
Edited By: Laura Fishwick & Gillian Kassner

Advances in military technology such as drones have greatly enhanced the government’s ability to conduct lethal operations anywhere in the world without ever having to put a single American soldier on the ground. Paradoxically, it is exactly these new advances in military technology that have dredged up a longstanding, yet important conflict between balancing national security with constitutional protections of due process.

Iceland Considers Internet Pornography Ban
By Charlie Stiernberg – Edited by Sarah Jeong

The Associated Press reports that authorities in Iceland are considering a proposal by Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónason to ban pornography on the Internet. Pornography has been illegal in the country for decades, but the law is vague and therefore seldom enforced. The new proposal would not create any new restrictions, but it would reinforce existing law by expressly defining “pornography” as material with violent or degrading content.

Flash Digest: News in Brief

By Michael Hoven

Apple v. Samsung Damages Award Cut by $450 Million

Yelp Review Can Help Show Consumer Confusion

ISPs Announce “Copyright Alert System” to Combat Infringement

Drug Testing of Welfare Recipients Likely Violates Fourth Amendment, Says 11th Circuit

Supreme Court Balances Privacy Rights Against Law Enforcement in DNA Collection Case

Maryland v. King
By Kathleen McGuinness – Edited by Pio Szamel

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Maryland v. King, a challenge to the constitutionality of warrantless DNA sampling of persons arrested for serious crimes. If the policy is found to be unconstitutional, twenty-eight other states and the federal government face potential invalidation of similar laws.