Browne Lewis, Leon and Gloria Plevin Professor of Law and Director of the Center for Health Law & Policy at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, was interviewed by Refinery29 about Ohio’s new bill banning abortions after 20 weeks. The law makes it a fourth degree felony for physicians to perform abortions after 20 weeks except in cases where the mother’s life in in danger.  The law contains no exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.  Ohio became the 18^th state to ban abortions after 20 weeks. The law is scheduled to take effect in 90 days.  Similar laws in Arizona and Idaho have been struck down as unconstitutional.  The proponents of the bill have indicated that it is a step towards getting the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Refinery29 is an online magazine that focuses on issues that are important to women.  It is published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany. The article is available here.   

Professor Mickey Davis was interviewed in a video entitled “Could you Patent the Sun?,” which was produced by Retro Report for The New York Times.  The video was published on The New York Times website and is available here.  The video addresses the high costs of pharmaceutical drugs, which is in part driven by the fact that pharmaceutical companies hold patents over the development of many drugs.

Professor Karin Mika presented at the Legal Writing Institute December Workshop, held on December 10th at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.  The title of her presentation was, “Necessary Distractions:  How technology has changed the way our students learn.”  The presentation discussed the decreasing attention spans of all of us, and gave suggestions as to how classroom delivery must change in order to accommodate decreased attention spans.  Professor Mika also gave suggestions (as she usually does) about how technology should be incorporated into the classroom experience.

On December 9th, Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio presented at the American Society of International Law- International Criminal Law Interest Group Workshop at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX.  Professor Sterio’s paper, which was selected from a competitive call for papers, was entitled “The Karadzic Genocide Conviction: Inferences, Knowledge, and Intent.”

On December 7, 2016, Professor Kevin O’Neill was interviewed (via Skype) for a television program produced at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington. The program, called Wingspan, explores regional and national political issues. Professor O’Neill was interviewed to provide a First Amendment perspective on campus hate speech, political correctness, and ideological polarization.

At Professor Mead’s urging, Toledo City Council unanimously repealed several local restrictions on charitable solicitation Tuesday evening.  First, Toledo repealed a law that requires any nonprofit seeking donations to apply for a permit every month.  Toledo’s permit law and other municipal regulations of charities had been discussed by Professor Mead on the Nonprofit Law Professor Blog, (where he serves as contributing editor) and at a presentation to a national research conference on nonprofit organizations in November.

Second, Toledo repealed a set of restrictions on panhandling, making it the fourth Ohio city (following Akron, Dayton, and Fairlawn) since May to repeal an anti-panhandling law.  The argument against the anti-panhandling law drew on a series of Professor Mead’s articles as well as a lawsuit against the City of Akron that was co-counseled by the Cleveland-Marshall Civil Litigation Clinic and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.

Professor Matthew W. Green Jr. presented at the Northeast Ohio Faculty Colloquium on Friday, December 9^th at the Blue Canyon Restaurant in Twinsburg, OH.  The title of Professor Green’s talk was “Same-Sex Sex and Immutable Traits: Employment Discrimination after Obergefell v. Hodges.”