MJIL Blog

By Cody Humpherys Quebec’s recently passed secularism law, Bill 21, prohibits a wide array of government employees from wearing religious symbols (such as hijabs, turbans, and kippahs) in the course of their work.[1] While there may be debate as to whether this legislative measure is allowable under Canadian constitutional law,[2] the passage of the bill…

By Gloria Park On March 11, 2019, a famous South Korean singer was revealed to have circulated illegal and explicit “molka” footage in a chatroom including other male celebrities.[1] This was the singer’s second known time being accused of committing the offense.[2] Eventually, he was sentenced.[3] This allegation was one cog of the broader Burning…

By Elysia Lampert British Airways, Marriott, Google. What do these entities have in common? Each organization has been fined under the GDPR[1], or General Data Protection Regulation. It has been nearly two years since the GDPR came into effect,[2] and though enforcement has been relatively gradual[3], the regulation has proved that it has teeth. A…

By Tim Will The U.S. dairy industry is going through many changes and facing many challenges. Domestic milk consumption per capita continues a decline that has now lasted decades, and alternative milk products are crowding supermarket shelves.[1] Additionally, as domestic demand has slowed, milk production has, and continues to, increase per cow as a result…

By Caleb Harrison As the climate deteriorates and people around the world increasingly need to migrate, the United States (“US”) seeks to develop and implement migration control technologies like migrant databases and facial recognition technologies (“FRTs”) that threaten free movement.[1] For example, the US has recently begun implementing its “Extreme Vetting Initiative” (“EVI”)—an effort to…

By Mike Franken In the past weeks, there have been numerous articles condemning President Trump’s securing of oil fields in southeastern Syria amidst the United States withdrawal from the conflict.[1] Further, there has been discussion on whether or not these acts are war crimes under the United States War Crimes Act and international law.[2] There…

By Amanda Tesarek On November 9, 2019, a group of lawyers huddled outside the Indian Supreme Court began to cheer, “Jai Shri Ram”[1] ; after a long legal battle, a unanimous verdict now declared a perennially-disputed 2.77-acre parcel of land in Ayodhya as the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama and ordered that a Hindu…

By Ryan Rainey On Nov. 8, a Brazilian judge ordered the release of former President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva from a federal prison.[1] The order followed a decision from Brazil’s highest court to allow criminal defendants to avoid imprisonment while they await the outcome of their appeals.[2] Lula’s criminal case is still pending, and…

By Jenna Jonjua On Monday, November 4, 2019, the Trump administration served notice of U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement to the United Nation.[1] In doing so, the U.S., only second in greenhouse gas emissions[2], begins the process of breaking from nearly every other country on the planet, a group accounting for 97 percent of…

By Elizabeth Frazier The Trump administration withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May 2018, reimposing a sanctions regime on Iran in the months that followed.[1] In contrast to economic sanctions authorized by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, unilateral sanctions are implemented by a single state…