The Florida International University (FIU) Law School recently hosted the third “Law vs. Antisemitism” conference. Over two days, scholars from around the country – and a variety of disciplines – introduced their ideas on how to fight the rising tide of antisemitism with legal means.

Professor Doron Kalir’s presentation, “The Rise of White Christian Nationalism & Antisemitism: A True Threat,” examined the nexus between antisemitism and White Christian Nationalism, particularly highlighting post-Charlottesville antisemitic rhetoric. While content-based regulation of speech is, of course, forbidden, the Supreme Court has recently reframed the three most important exceptions to that rule (See Counterman v. Colorado (2023)).

The three exceptions are: (1) Incitement to an imminent lawless action – which, Kalir’s paper argues, should be resuscitated in the wake of that march; (2) defamation – which has received much legal attention in the wake of the $750M defamation settlement against Fox News, and therefore could be potentially used effectively against antisemitic statements; (3) and finally, and most importantly, the legal notion of a “true threat” – which, as the Supreme Court clarified, could be speech uttered both in real life and on social media. That, perhaps, could signal the direction of future defense against antisemitism statements online.

Professor Milena Sterio was recently quoted in a PassBlue news article titled “Ukraine Warns the World: It’s Now or Never for Prosecuting Putin.” Within the article, Professor Sterio offers insights into the current status of efforts to establish an aggression tribunal for Ukraine.

Most notably, Professor Sterio explains that if a court were to prosecute Putin or Lavrov for aggression while they are in office, such a court would have to be international in order to get over this principle of head of state immunity.

The full article is available here: https://www.passblue.com/2024/02/21/ukraine-warns-the-world-its-now-or-never-for-prosecuting-putin

Professor Milena Sterio was recently quoted in an AFP news article titled “Conservative websites, commentator, misrepresent WEF panel on ecocide.” In the article, Professor Sterio stated “If we are talking about individuals located in the US, and if their ‘crimes’ were committed in the US, then the ICC would not have jurisdiction at all,” said Milena Sterio, an international law professor at Cleveland State University in the state of Ohio.”

The full article is available here: https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34HC7GU

On February 14th, Professor Milena Sterio delivered a presentation at the International Criminal Law Forum, hosted by several Ukrainian organizations, focusing on “The Treatment of Prisoners of War (POWs) in Accordance with International Humanitarian Law.” The event was held in Kyiv, Ukraine, with Professor Sterio joining remotely.

Professor Milena Sterio recently presented at a conference at Florida International University Law School in Miami, FL, on the topic of “Prosecuting the Crime of Gender Persecution at the ICC” on February 2, 2024. Her presentation was part of FIU Law School’s Symposium entitled “Perspectives on the International Criminal Court and International Criminal Procedure: A Symposium in Memory of Megan Fairlie.”  Additionally, Professor Sterio will author a law review article on the same topic, which will be published by FIU Law Review.

Professor Milena Sterio participated as a panelist in an upcoming episode of the “Talking Foreign Policy” radio show, discussing the topic of “Ukraine Endgame.” The episode will behosted by Dean Michael Scharf from the CWRU School of Law, and other panelists included Daniel Bilak, Partner at Kinstellaw Law Firm in Kyiv, Ukraine; Kevin Nealer, former State Department official; Major General (retired) Darrell Guthrie; and Professor Paul Williams from American University Washington College of Law.

The episode is scheduled to air live on WCPN on Tuesday, Feb. 20, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am and from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm, with on-demand access available on www.ideastream.org

On Feb. 7, Business Insider interviewed several legal experts about the impending Supreme Court case relating to Clause 3 of the 14th Amendment, also known as the Insurrection Clause. Last year, the Colorado Supreme Court held that former President Trump is disqualified from appearing on the ballot in light of that Clause. Trump appealed, and the Supreme Court heard oral argument on Feb. 8, 2024. In the article, Professor Kalir predicted that the Court will reverse the decision by the Colorado Supreme Court, and will allow the former President to appear on the ballot.

Access the full article here: https://www.businessinsider.com/everything-need-know-trump-supreme-court-colorado-ballot-case-2024-2

In his thought-provoking guest column, published in The Plain Dealer on February 4, 2024, Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Cleveland State University College of Law, Steven H. Steinglass, explores a broad coalition of Ohioans working to “Slay the Gerrymander” by placing a proposed constitutional amendment to bar partisan gerrymandering on the Nov. 5, 2024, ballot. Steinglass notes the continued influence of gerrymandering in recent elections and emphasizes the upcoming opportunity for Ohioans to vote on the “Citizens Not Politicians” amendment in November 2024. The proposed amendment aims to eliminate partisan gerrymandering by removing politicians from the redistricting process

To read more on this topic, check out the full column here: https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2024/02/what-is-the-gerrymander-and-will-it-be-slain-steven-h-steinglass.html

On January 30th, Professor Milena Sterio participated in a training of Sudanese women’s groups coordinated by UN Women. This initiative focused on the topic of prosecuting atrocity crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

Professor Milena Sterio recently published a blog post entitled “The ICJ Provisional Measures Order in the South Africa v. Israel Case: Unsurprising; Politically and Legally Significant” on Opinio Juris.

In this blog post, Professor Sterio provides a concise analysis of the Court’s decision, highlighting the unsurprising, surprising, and particularly significant elements of this decision. Although the determination of whether genocidal acts have occurred in the Gaza Strip remains uncertain in the merits stage, the provisional measures phase undoubtedly stands as a victory for South Africa.

The blog post is available here:https://opiniojuris.org/2024/01/27/the-icjs-provisional-measures-order-in-the-south-africa-v-israel-case-unsurprising-politically-and-legally-significant/