Clinical Professor of Law Doron Kalir was interviewed recently by the Cleveland Jewish News on current political developments in Israel. The article discussed recent efforts – and failures – by several parties to establish a coalition in Israel.

Separately, Professor Kalir completed a series of three lectures on Jewish Philosophy as a Practical Guide to Life. The lectures, given as part of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun’s Fall Weingold Forum, discussed the choices a person who accepted the Jewish God into their lives has to consider.

Associate Dean and Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich appeared in a News Channel 5 story about the progress of the Cleveland Division of Police under the federal consent decree.  He explained, for example, that the CDP used to have a huge backlog of civilian complaints that were never resolved.  Today, in contrast, that backlog is gone and civilian complaints are addressed and resolved.

Professor Witmer-Rich also emphasized they key role of rebuilding trust:

“The very beginning of the Consent Decree talked about trust between the community and the police,” said Witmer-Rich. “That’s really the fundamental issue here, is trust. When you have trust between a community and its police department, you can have mistakes made on either side and you can still have a functioning relationship and you can move forward. But when there’s a really severe breakdown in trust, and that was definitely the case, then it’s very hard to have a well-functioning police department.”

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, was quoted in a story in Fortune Magazine on the ongoing congressional investigation into anticompetitive conduct by the Apple corporation. Investigators for the House Judiciary Committee recently sent detailed questions to Apple and several other Big Tech firms asking them about their business practices, and this week Apple returned its much-anticipated answers.  Sagers opined on how seriously to take Apple’s explanations, and whether there might be anticompetitive behavior afoot in spite of them.

On November 19, Professor Reginald Oh spoke at a CMBA “Hot Talk” focused on the ongoing impeachment inquiry.  Professor Oh appeared on a panel with Professor Jonathan Adler (Case Western Reserve University School of Law), moderated by Marisa Darden, co-chair of the CMBA Criminal Law section.

Professor Oh laid out the case for impeachment, explaining the interrelated concepts of bribery and extortion, and why the existing evidence demonstrates that President Trump committed both bribery and extortion in his conduct.  Professor Oh also responded to some of the defenses that have been advanced to date.

On November 15, Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich testified at a public hearing of the Ohio House of Representatives Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Criminal Sentencing.  The hearing, held at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law, featured various criminal law experts, including Professor Witmer-Rich.  The hearing addressed ways the legislature can protect the public, make laws less complicated, reform prisons and assist rehabilitated offenders who are looking for a second chance.

Professor Witmer-Rich testified in favor of abolishing the marital rape exemption under Ohio law.  In addition, he addressed the issue of collateral consequences of criminal convictions, which restrict where ex-offenders can live and what jobs they can hold, among other issues.  He urged the Subcommittee to dramatically reduce the number of collateral consequences to enable rehabilitated offenders to get  second change to succeed.

The Criminal Justice Subcommittee is co-chaired by Representative Diane Grendell and Representative Tavia Galonski.

Professor Milena Sterio was interviewed for the Vital Interests blog on the topic of Global Justice.  In the interview, Professor Sterio discussed the ups and downs of American engagement with the International Criminal Court, the strength and weaknesses of the ICC in pursuing justice around the world, and also the work of other international criminal tribunals.

Vital Interests is a prominent blog published by the Center on National Security at Fordham Law School.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, joined a new think tank based in the Yale Law School called the Thurman Arnold Project, which will generate scholarship and advocacy for vigorous competition policy. Founded by Yale economist and Justice Department veteran Fiona Scott Morton with a grant from the Knight  Foundation, the center is named for Thurman Arnold, a celebrated and influential antitrust enforcer who led the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt. Arnold is largely credited with founding modern antitrust law in the 1930s, and inaugurating the period of vigorous enforcement that spanned the post-War and Cold War eras.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the American Society of International Law Midyear Meeting, held at Brooklyn Law School, on November 8th.  Professor Sterio presented her paper, “Women at International Criminal Tribunals.” Professor Sterio’s paper was selected from a competitive call for papers.

Professor Brian Ray appeared on News Channel 5 discussing the rising use of facial recognition in Ohio law enforcement.  Professor Ray is a member of the Ohio facial recognition Task Force, created by Ohio Attorney General David Yost to propose a state-wide policy governing the use of facial recognition.  In the news segment, Professor Ray discusses the risk that widespread use of facial recognition could chill lawful protest and other activities protected by the First Amendment.