Professor Mark Sundahl, director of CM|Law’s Global Space Law Center, was interviewed by PRI’s Marco Werman about the challenges of law enforcement in space.  The discussion included questions of who has jurisdiction over crimes in space, how law enforcement might function on Mars or the moon, and regulation of new non-traditional space activities such as asteroid mining and private space stations.  Professor Sundahl is directly involved in national and international work on formulating new legal frameworks for these and related space-law issues.

CM|Law is the only law school in the United States with a center dedicated exclusively to the study of the law of outer space.

Professor Mark Sundahl, director of CM|Law’s Global Space Law Center, was featured in a New York Times story, “How a Bitter Divorce Battle on Earth Led to Claims of a Crime in Space.”  The article centers on a “bitter separation” between NASA Astronaut Anne McClain and her spouse, Summer Worden.

According to the article, Ms. Worden noticed that Ms. McClain seemed to know about her spending habits, even though the two were estranged.  After some investigation, Ms. Worden’s bank reported that her account had been accessed by a NASA computer network.  Ms. McClain, who was serving on a six-month mission on the International Space Station (ISS), “acknowledged that she had accessed the bank account from space, insisting through a lawyer that she was merely shepherding the couple’s still-intertwined finances.”

The article notes that the ISS, run by space agencies from the United States, Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada, has “long-established procedures to handle any jurisdictional questions that arise when astronauts of various nations are orbiting Earth together.”  The article then turned to Professor Sundahl, who observed “he was not aware of any previous allegation of a crime committed in space.”  NASA officials likewise stated that they were “unaware of any crimes committed on the space station.”  Professor Sundahl is quoted as stating, “Just because it’s in space doesn’t mean it’s not subject to law.”

Professor Sundahl also commented on the complexities raised by the discovery process in this context:  “One potential issue that could arise with any criminal case or lawsuit over extraterrestrial bank communications, Mr. Sundahl said, is discovery: NASA officials would be wary of opening up highly sensitive computer networks to examination by lawyers, for example. But those sorts of legal questions, he said, are going to be inevitable as people spend more time in outer space.”

The article concludes as follows:  “The more we go out there and spend time out there,” Mr. Sundahl said, “all the things we do here are going to happen in space.”

Professor Sundahl has written extensively on space law issues, and served on both domestic and international space law projects, such as the NASA Advisory Council Regulatory and Policy Committee, The Hague Working Group on the Governance of Space Resources, and the ICAO/UNOOSA Space Learning Group.  He is a member of the Board of Editors of Air & Space Law and has served as the Assistant Executive Secretary of the International Institute of Space Law.

CM|Law is the only law school in the United States with a center dedicated exclusively to the study of the law of outer space.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, was quoted in a Washington Post story about the Apple computer corporation and the problems posed by its control of the Apple App Store. Specifically, Apple has proposed new privacy and security rules for applications designed for children, raising again the concern that Apple’s dominance over mobile device software enables it to harm software developers and consumers.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the Southeast Law Schools Association (SEALS) Annual Meeting in Boca Raton, Florida.  Professor Sterio presented on three different panels.  On August 1, she presented on a panel entitled “A Fresh Look at Issues Facing International Criminal Trials: From Nuremburg to the Future of the ICC,” and on August 2, she presented her paper, “Women as Judges at International Criminal Tribunals” on a Works-In-Progress panel.  She also participated as a discussant at a Discussion Group entitled “Differences and Preferred Teaching Methods in Legal Education from Around the World.”  The Discussion Group was organized by the Global Legal Education Consortium, a sub-group of the SEALS organization.

Professor Sterio is the Charles R. Emrick Jr.-Calfee Halter & Griswold Professor of Law.

On August 6, 2019, Jonathan Witmer-Rich, Associate Dean of Academic Enrichment, spoke on a panel at the annual Conference of Court Information Officers, held this year in Cleveland.  This international conference of court information officers–the public relations personnel for judicial systems–featured attendees from around the nation and the world, including the Ukraine and Australia.

Professor Witmer-Rich appeared on a panel with the Honorable John Russo, Presiding and Administrative Judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, and Darren Toms, the common pleas Court Information Officer.  The panel discussed Season 3 of the Serial podcast, which focused on the day-to-day workings of criminal justice systems in Cuyahoga County.  The Serial producers worked closely with both Judge Russo and Mr. Toms in gaining access to the Cuyahoga County court system.

Professor Witmer-Rich discussed the course he taught in Spring 2019 focused on the Serial Podcast, titled “Understanding and Reforming the Criminal Justice Process.”  He and the other panelists discussed the benefits of openness and transparency for a court system, as well as how to manage the possible criticisms and concerns that can arise when a judicial system is placed under close journalistic scrutiny.