The Legal Brief - 29th June 2022

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In the last week, SCOTUS laid out three decisions that have garnered global discussion and backlash and left the nation and beyond wondering what may be next.

On Thursday 23th June, the Supreme Court delivered the decision in New York State Piston & Rifle Association v Bruen striking down a New York gun law regarding the concealed carrying of weapons without proper cause despite being made over a century ago. Labelled unconstitutional by the nation’s highest court, this ruling now leaves similar laws in California, Maryland, Hawaii and various other states in jeopardy.

The decision marks the most significant decision regarding gun rights in the US since McDonald v Chicago in 2007, but continues the trend set by recent decisions relaxing gun control. Many critics, including President Biden have announced their disappointment in the decision, particularly given the recent tragedies caused by mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo. The decision has had a polarising effect and is likely to add further fuel to the decades-long debate.

However, hardly a day elapsed before SCOTUS announced another ruling which sent legal shockwaves around the globe. On Friday, Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation reversed the 1973 decision in Roe v Wade which stated that the right to terminate a pregnancy was protected by the constitution.

The ruling confirmed leaked drafts of the lead opinion last month which also caused similar outcry from women’s rights organisations the world over and support from conservative and pro-life groups. The decision was expected by many conservative states, thirteen of whom had passed trigger laws to outlaw medically unnecessary terminations if the Supreme Court reversed Roe v Wade. As a result, these laws are in effect in 6 states and will come into effect in a further 5 in 30 days.

This caused global outcry. The French government announced plans to enshrine the right to terminate a pregnancy into law. Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz all took to Twitter to express their disappointment in the decision and their concerns for women’s rights around the world. British PM Boris Johnson also slated the decision as a ‘step backwards’ while protestors in the UK took to the streets to voice their opinion.

Such a decision comes at a particularly crucial moment for those in the UK as the government seeks to reverse the 1998 Human Rights Act, renewing the initiative after receiving more support following the European Court of Human Rights intervening to prevent the enacting of UK immigration policies to deport refugees to Rwanda. The proposed repeal of the Human Rights Act in favour of a UK Bill of Rights has been deeply criticised by a number of human rights organisations as a way for the government to remove or limit certain rights while proponents praise the move to limit European interference. However, recent decisions in the US have left some UK citizens fearful of how such issues may soon become a cause celebre here too. In fact, Labour MP yesterday made a bid to have the right to abortion included in a Bill of Rights.

Finally, on Monday, the US Supreme Court reversed another historic case in Kennedy v Bremerton School District. The case concerned prayer in schools and was bought by a former coach claiming religious discrimination after losing his job due to his practice of ostentatious prayer demonstrations during matches. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court were persuaded by this case, which had lost at the district and circle levels to reverse the decision Abington v Schemp which outlawed such practices in 1963. Critics have argued that this decision marks a significant deterioration in the separation of church and state, a key tenet of the US constitution, while others suggest that the ruling is simply a fundamentalist reading of the First Amendment right to free speech.

While the last week of decisions may seem shocking to many, the trend of reversing liberal decisions and upholding conservative values is likely to continue. Trump’s three appointees gave conservative judges the supermajority thus it is no coincidence that each of last week’s decisions 6-3 verdicts demonstrate a sharp right turn for the court. In fact, there is likely to be a trend of cases funded by political groups, aiming to erode as many liberal decisions as possible while the court is conservative. Alternatively, this may lead to such rights being more fiercely protected against the growing far right as seen through recent attempts in response to last week’s cases.

Written by Kate Gregory

Until recently, this might have seemed quite an odd question to ask. However, in recent times, there has been quite a large global shift towards looking for alternative "meats" and, despite the fact many of these come from plant-based protein sources, there are more lab-grown alternatives also trying to break through into the mainstream.

One producer of these lab-grown alternatives is the imaginatively named US start-up, East Just, who made headlines around 18 months ago when they released the first commercially available lad-grown meat alternative product - a chicken nugget.

They had been hoping to capitalise recently on a chicken export ban in Malaysia, where chicken is a very lucrative product. They have struggled, however, to get their product to market in any great volumes. This begs the question, which will happen first - will lab-grown meat producers be able to scale? Or will plant-based producers make a product that truly tastes like meat. You would have to feel that with a global marketplace primed for a true alternative, whichever can jump their own hurdle quickest, will be primed to capitalise.

Eat Just have also got another product, a minced beef alternative, in the works. It is foreseeable that this should be an easier product to mass-produce, as aesthetics aren't quite so important with a minced product. Maybe combining this with a minced pork alternative would be a good way to get a foothold in this alt-meat market? After all, between China's use of Pork (approx. 50% of the world's annual usage) and the use of minced beef in the Americas, this would be a way of accessing a large potential profit, with only two products.

Written by Duncan Balcon

We have seen many barriers to EVs taking over the roads - there have been issues with raw materials for batteries, problems with the recycling of batteries and, often most concerningly, the lack of infrastructure for a charging network.

Toyota have however experienced a whole new world of pain when it comes to releasing an EV, and have had to recall an entire product line (the bZ4X SUV) in the last week because...wait for it...the wheels may fall off!

Toyota are saying this "only" affects 2,700 units - which may seem small enough, but realistically these are family cars, so we are looking at a potential 13.5k passengers and drivers that could have potentially been affected. The most shocking thing about this story is that this issue isn't even caused by a new part that is being used to allow the transition to Electric Vehicles - the issue lies with the bolts that hold the wheels on! A part, you would imagine, has been used on vehicles for decades. There has been no explanation yet as to how this substandard component has occurred.

Tokai Tokyo Research Institute analyst Seiji Sugiura, when contacted for comment, said “Toyota might want to show that they are extremely careful of the first launch of their EVs” - which seems an odd statement. You would imagine he has probably been recommending these vehicles, or owns one himself, and wants to save face somewhat.

This does mark an important opportunity for other manufacturers, particularly in areas where Toyota is a strong brand name. As for Toyota, a fast recall, rebranding of the car, and relaunch may be the only way of escaping this relatively untouched.

Written by Duncan Balcon

Immigration Law: A Hot Topic ??

To discuss this, we welcomed consultant immigration solicitor, legal commentator and on-screen host,?Skylar M. ?to the?Legally Speaking Podcast ?? ?powered by?Clio - Cloud-Based Legal Technology .

Skylar is regularly featured on TV, print and radio, including?American in Britain ?magazine,?OK! Magazine ,?Legal Cheek ,?Fox News TV ,?GMTV ,?BBC ,?GB News ,?talkRADIO ?and many more!?

She has also been a Speaker at the?San Antonio Bar Association ?International Law Section and a Panellist at?City, University of London ?Family & Career Planning Event in 2021.?

Skylar graduated from?BPP Law School ?and completed her Legal Practice Course, with a distinction, at the?University of Westminster .

Skylar has experience as a Congressional Intern, at the US House of Representatives. She is a board member and spokesperson, liaising with government officials, including US Representatives and Senators.

Skylar trained as a solicitor at?Mackrell.Solicitors , she now specialises in immigration law, with expertise in citizenship applications, as well as business and creative industry matters. Skylar also has experience obtaining visas for those who have previously been denied entry clearance to the UK.

Skylar is currently completing her Masters of Law at?Nottingham Trent University . Alongside her studies, she undertook pro-bono work at the?CAMDEN COMMUNITY LAW CENTRE ?and tutored Law to LPC students.

In this episode, we discuss the following:

?? The responsibilities of a Congressional Intern at the US House of Representative

?? Changes in the immigration law for the next few years

??? What are the roles and responsibilities of a Consultant Solicitor

?? Out now on the Legally Speaking Podcast website and all major audio platforms!

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For further information, or to get your questions answered, please send a message to?Robert Hanna .

If you cannot see a job suitable for you, but are interested to hear about more jobs at KC Partners, please send your CV to?[email protected] ?to be considered.?

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