Controlling Drug Prices: Bloomberg Proposes to Limit Evergreening Posted on February 11, 2020 Drug Prices, Mike Bloomberg 2020 (last visited Feb. 10, 2020). Drug prices continue to climb faster than any other form of healthcare spending. In the first half of 2019, the prices of 3,400 drugs rose, on average, 5 times the rate of inflation. To combat the problem, Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg has honed in on the pharmaceutical industry’s patent...
Continue reading

Alasaad v. McAleenan: Federal District Court Rules Suspicionless Searches of Smart Phones at U.S. Ports of Entry Unconstitutional Posted on January 05, 2020 Alasaad v. McAleenan, No. 17-cv-11730-DJC (D. Mass Nov. 12, 2019). On November 12, 2019, Judge Casper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that suspicionless searches of electronic devices at the border violate the Fourth Amendment, in what the ACLU is calling “a major victory for privacy rights.” The suit, Alasaad v. McAleenan, was filed by...
Continue reading

Longoria v. San Benito: Texas High School Allowed to Remove Student from Cheerleading Team for “Inappropriate” Twitter Posts Posted on December 02, 2019 Zulema Longoria ex rel M.L. v. San Benito Independent Consolidate School District, No. 18-41060 (5th Cir. Nov. 4, 2019). Despite a district court’s ruling that a Texas high school student’s cheerleading coaches violated her First Amendment rights, the Fifth Circuit denied her appeal for relief based on the qualified immunity of the school officials. The student was removed from...
Continue reading

TikTok Under Investigation for Posing a Threat to National Security—is Chinese Tech Running Out of Time in the U.S.? Posted on December 02, 2019 This past October, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) opened a national security review of TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, over concerns about potential misuse of users' personal data. This investigation comes after petitions made by three Senators asking CFIUS to “conduct an assessment of the national security risks posed by TikTok and to...
Continue reading

Google v. Oracle: SCOTUS to Determine How Copyright Laws Apply to APIs Posted on December 01, 2019 Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., 886 F.3d 1179 (Fed. Cir. 2018), cert. granted, (U.S. Jan. 24, 2019) (No.18-956), petition hosted by SCOTUSBlog. On November 15th, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari to Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., 886 F.3d 1179 (Fed. Cir. 2018). The issues to be decided are whether copyright protection extends to...
Continue reading

US v. Gilead: The US Government Flexes Its Patent Muscles to Fight High Drug Costs Posted on December 01, 2019 United States v. Gilead Sciences, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-02103-UNA (D. Del. Nov. 6, 2019). An unusual patent infringement case was filed earlier this month in the Federal District Court for the District of Delaware. The United States doesn’t regularly enforce its intellectual property rights against drug manufacturers, but as discussed in the Washington Post, it appears to be doing so here...
Continue reading

Washington v. Department of State: First Amendment Claims Won’t Overcome Procedural Defects, Blocking Publication of 3D-printable Weapons File Posted on November 26, 2019 State of Washington v. United States Department of State, No. C18-1115RSL (W.D. Wash. Nov. 12, 2019), hosted by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General On November 12, 2019, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington found that the State Department violated the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) in its decision to modify the United States...
Continue reading

UConn Students’ Arrests following Racial Slurs Raises First Amendment Concerns Posted on November 14, 2019 On Monday, October 21, 2019, two students at the University of Connecticut (“UConn”) were arrested and charged with ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race. The students were walking through a campus parking lot playing a game in which they yelled vulgar words, including racial slurs. UConn students and activists have been disappointed with the University’s...
Continue reading

Patel v. Facebook: Ninth Circuit Grants Facebook’s Motion to Stay in Facial Recognition Lawsuit Posted on November 14, 2019 Patel, et al. v. Facebook, Inc., No. 3:15-cv-03747-JD (N.D. Cal. Aug. 8, 2019), hosted by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). On October 20, 2019, the Ninth Circuit granted Facebook a motion to stay in Patel v. Facebook, pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 41(d)(2), to allow Facebook to file a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme...
Continue reading

The FBI’s Surveillance Program Violated the Patriot Act and American Civil Liberties Posted on November 14, 2019 Archival of Document regarding the Section 702 2018 Certification, N.Y. Times, https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/1880-fisa-rulings/40a12372947056b0dc08/optimized/full.pdf (last visited Nov. 14, 2019). On October 8, 2019, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released three redacted opinions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (“FISC”) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (“FISCR”) regarding reauthorization of Section 702 of the Patriot Act. In 2008...
Continue reading