When Patents are Sovereigns: The Competitive Harms of Leasing Tribal Immunity
Under the Hatch-Waxman and America Invents Acts, Congress has established a system for judicial and administrative review of prescription-drug patents that balances exclusive rights for patent holders and the entry of generic competitors. Threatening this balance, the pharmaceutical company Allergan recently transferred prescription drug patents to the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, a federally recognized Indian tribe. Because tribal sovereign immunity limits the jurisdiction of courts and other adjudicatory bodies to hear cases involving tribal interests, such actions by brand-name pharmaceutical companies may prevent generic companies and other parties from invalidating patents, likely leading to higher drug prices.
Cross-Enforcement of the Fourth Amendment
In “Cross-Enforcement of the Fourth Amendment,” forthcoming in the Harvard Law Review, Orin S. Kerr of the Southern California Gould School of Law tackles the complexity of identifying who can enforce what law under the Fourth Amendment.
Court: South Carolina Law Poses Risk to Student Rights
Students’ freedom of expression and due process are put at risk by a South Carolina law that led to the arrest of two high school students for videotaping a classmate being flipped out of a chair, a federal appeals court says.
When Public Servants Receive Gifts
Richard Painter, Associate Reporter for ALI’s Government Ethics Principles project, provides insight on the treatment of gifts to and financial transactions and relationships with public servants in the video below.
Adolescents More Likely to Plead Guilty to Crimes They Did Not Commit
According to Psych Central, experts are finding that teenagers are far more likely to confess to crimes they didn’t commit compared to adults.
A study’s findings concluded that because they are less capable of making mature decisions, teenagers should not be permitted to make deals where they face a lesser charge in return for pleading guilty.
Post-Government Employment Restrictions
Richard Briffault, Reporter for ALI’s Government Ethics Principles project, addresses the principles that ought to apply when a public servant leaves public employment for a private-sector position in the video below.
The ALI Adviser is intended to inform readers about the legal topics and issues examined in many of ALI’s current projects; posts do not necessarily represent the position of the Institute taken in those projects. Posts on The ALI Adviser are written by ALI project participants, ALI members, and outside sources.