Rails-to-Trails programs at a crossroads
A recent Supreme Court of the United States decision may stall Rails-to-Trails programs in some states. [...]
Understanding the Law
Explaining court cases, statutes, and executive actions across the country, providing valuable analysis of the facts and legal impact on the public.
Litigation is inevitable after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370
The disappearance of Flight MH370 implicates a variety of legal issues ranging from investigatory responsibility to international civil procedure. [...]
Heads up, employers!
North Carolina’s new law broadly limits employers’ inquiries about expunged records. [...]
No Easy Decision: The legal, political, and foreign policy dynamics of extraditing Amanda Knox
The question of whether to extradite Amanda Knox—should Italy make such a request—transcends purely legal questions and implicates political and foreign policy concerns as well. [...]
Uber’s service offers a quick and convenient ride, but what does it offer when a ride leads to tragedy? [Updated]
The Uber mobile app is an innovative way for people to get a ride to almost anywhere, but Uber’s terms of service absolve the company from any liability, allowing Uber to profit from these drivers and still free itself from all responsibility. [...]
And I was like baby, baby, baby, ohhh, please don’t deport me!
What do eggs being thrown on houses, drag racing in Miami, DUIs, and being yelled at by Keyshawn Johnson all have in common? Justin Bieber. It is “the Biebs’s” latest run in with the law, however, that has the Internet buzzing and people petitioning for him to be deported back to Canada. The petition, which was created on January 23, 2014, has over 250,000 signatures as of February 15, 2014. It claims that Bieber is threatening the safety of the American people and is a terrible [...]
Gun Trusts: Useful tools or subversive legal instruments?
More than half of the deadliest mass shootings in United States history have occurred within the past decade. In 2012, Americans were rocked by the news of deadly shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Aurora, Colorado. Tragedies like those that occurred in Newtown and Aurora spark renewed debate about the proper scope of gun restrictions in the United States. The debate over stricter gun regulation is ongoing, as public opinion is split (forty-nine percent of respondents favor more [...]
Sherlock Holmes and Copyright Law: Elementary, my dear Watson
Each time Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Sherlock Holmes faced an especially challenging problem, he called it “a five pipe problem.” By this, Holmes meant that finding a solution was difficult enough to keep him up through the night, enough time for him to fill his pipe with tobacco five times. The legal problems that arose before Sherlock Holmes was added to the public domain in the United States are complicated enough to be dubbed “five pipe problems.” Over 125 [...]
“By Force If Necessary:” Administering drugs to defendants unfit to stand trial
On December 24, 2013, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit affirmed an order authorizing medication to be administered to Simon Dillon “by force if necessary” so that he would be competent to stand trial. By weighing the government’s prosecutorial interests above “special circumstances,” the Court’s opinion examines forcibly medicating a defendant to restore his competency. It is not morally acceptable to punish a defendant who does not understand why he is being punished. [...]
Copyright in the Internet Age: Choice-of-law issues in modern international media disputes
BY: KRISTOPHER HAWKINS, Guest Contributor Editor’s Note: The Campbell Law Observer has partnered with Judge Paul C. Ridgeway, Resident Superior Court Judge of the 10th Judicial District, to provide students from his International Business Litigation and Arbitration seminar the opportunity to have their research papers published with the CLO. The following article is one of many guest contributions from Campbell Law students to be published over the next two weeks. The advent of [...]
The implications under International Law of using domestic criminal proceedings as a weapon in the “War on Terror”
Despite the complex obstacles posed by the intersection of Domestic and International Law, the U.S. moves forward in its efforts to expand jurisdiction over international terrorists. [...]
Tasers: How much force is too much?
At the Supreme Court of North Carolina’s request, the North Carolina Court of Appeals is set to review Bryan DeBaun’s lawsuit against the City of Durham. DeBaun claims that the Durham Police Department’s use of force policy is both unconstitutional and dangerous. On the night of July 24, 2009, DeBaun was stopped by a Durham police officer as he was crossing the street, carrying a case of beer on his way home from a night of drinking. The officer requested that DeBaun produce [...]
Private Citizens can fight international terrorism through civil lawsuits
BY: Taylor Hutchens, Guest Contributor January 14, 2013 Editor’s Note: The Campbell Law Observer has partnered with Judge Paul C. Ridgeway, Resident Superior Court Judge of the 10th Judicial District, to provide students from his International Business Litigation and Arbitration seminar the opportunity to have their research papers published with the CLO. The following article is one of many guest contributions from Campbell Law students to be published over the next two weeks. The [...]
Show Me The Money: The increasingly complex laws of collegiate athletics
It all started with a football player’s tweet. In the early morning hours of May 29, 2010, Marvin Austin, then a defensive tackle for the University of North Carolina (UNC) Tar Heels, posted, “I live In club LIV so I get the tenant rate… bottles comin [sic] like its [sic] a giveaway.” Those seemingly innocuous words, later identified as lyrics from hip-hop artist Rick Ross’s song “Sweet Life,” launched an NCAA investigation into the team and, eventually, the entire [...]
Owning your own content pays off
After experiencing the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, photojournalist Daniel Morel posted several photos of the devastation to his Twitter page in hopes of selling them to news agencies and other potential buyers. Instead, Lisandro Suero, a resident of the Dominican Republic, copied the photos and sold them to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Getty Images as his own, in violation of Twitter’s copyright policy. The photos eventually surfaced in news sources such as The Washington Post, leading [...]
