MJIL Blog

Harrison LeFrois After widespread coverage of the 27th United Nations’ (“UN”) Climate Conference of the Parties (“COP27”) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November, 2022,[1] there is more hopeful environmental news to share. The 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (“COP15”) was held in Montreal, Canada from December 7 through December 19, 2022.[2] The Biodiversity Conferences were…

Connor Smith In  February 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) ended the “China Initiative,”  an effort launched in November 2018 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to identify and prosecute Chinese spies who had purportedly infiltrated American research institutions—both public and private.[1] The China Initiative sought to combat industrial espionage and theft of intellectual property, though…

Ali Casey Vanilla is a spice that is enjoyed across the globe. Madagascar, an island country located off the southeastern coast of Africa, produces around 75 to 80 percent of the world’s natural vanilla.[1] Moreover, vanilla is Madagascar’s leading agricultural export.[2] Madagascar vanilla beans are considered the “gold standard” of quality vanilla beans because of…

Jasmin Hernandez Du Bois Despite holding less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States has nearly twenty-five percent of the world’s total prison population.[1] Using Ghana’s paralegal training program as a guidepost, this article seeks to encourage the United States to take a progressive approach to prison reform, including the implementation of…

Jay Kim Soon after the COVID-19 outbreak, the world was under lockdown, but in 2022, the frontline and borderline areas of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (“North Korea”) remain closed.[1] Moreover, the North Korean government continues to enforce the “shoot to kill” order.[2] Under this order, people are shot unconditionally for entering into the…

By Jasmin Hernandez Du Bois In 2022, record heat waves caused by climate change are being set across the globe.[1] One country particularly impacted is Pakistan, a South Asian country bridging India and the Middle East. While monsoons are typical for the region, this year’s torrential downpours smashed centuries of weather records.[2] The floods, which…

By Grant Newman In September, President Biden reiterated he would send U.S. forces to Taiwan if there was an unprecedented attack, calling into question the United States’ “strategic ambiguity” policy after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was met with a display of Chinese military exercises. [1] Fear of a potential clash between the world’s two…

By Samantha Brunn On Friday, March 25, 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden announced at a news conference in Brussels that the U.S. reached an “agreement in principle” with European Union leaders to create a new Privacy Shield law that would replace a previous agreement that was struck down in 2021.[1] The previous EU-U.S. Privacy Shield[2]…

By Matti Mortimore Courts apply a presumption against extraterritoriality when assessing the geographic scope of federal statutes. Unless Congress has clearly indicated a statute regulates conduct abroad, courts will assume it applies only within the United States. The Supreme Court has vigorously enforced the presumption over the last three decades,[1] stating that it should apply…

By Elisabeth Bernabe International conflict manifests in different forms. When one thinks of war, naturally they think of armed assaults conducted through the deployment of destructive weapons. Additionally, conflict can be unleashed online vis-à-vis harmful cyberattacks and foreign vigilante hackers. However, conflict largely manifests through the chess game of international trade. Countries can sanction rivalrous…