Professor Karin Mika was selected as an editor for the ABA’s annual “Year in Review” newsletter that reviews legislation around the world. Prof. Mika edited the article “Food, Agriculture, and Cannabis” Law. The article focuses primarily on changes in cannabis law around the world, including making medicinal cannabis easier to acquire in countries outside the U.S., while also focusing on a potential amendment in the U.S. Farm Bill Law that could decimate the hemp industry.

Prof. Mika also published “Using AI to Enhance Document Drafting” in the fall/winter newsletter of AALS Section on Legal Writing and describes incorporating AI into her upper-level Drafting class and “From Peripheral to Pivotal: The Role of Legal Writing in the Modern Law School Mission,” in Vol. 5 of Proceedings, which is sponsored by the University of Oregon Law School. The article provides a brief history of Legal Writing as it was integrated into the law school curriculum. It also discusses status issues as they relate to skills professionals in law schools.

Prof. Mika was interviewed as part of the 30th Anniversary celebration for the Association of Legal Writing Directors and served on the Legal Writing Blackwell Awards Committee, which is one of the most prestigious honors given by the profession of Legal Writing and is named after Tom Blackwell who was shot and killed by a distraught student at Appalachia Law School. The Award is given yearly to those whose commitment to others goes above and beyond. The Awards reception is held annually at the AALS.

Professor Milena Sterio was quoted in a Nov. 27, 2024  Guardian article entitled “France says Netanyahu is immune from ICC warrant as Israel is not member of court” (written by  Julian Borger) which is available here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/27/france-says-netanyahu-is-immune-from-icc-warrant-as-israel-is-not-member-of-cour

This article reports on the French government’s recent statement that it would not execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, because the French government believes that the latter enjoys immunity.  Professor Sterio was quoted as follows: “The French government’s legal position now with respect to Netanyahu is inconsistent as compared to its position just a few months ago with respect to Putin,” Milena Sterio, a professor at the Cleveland State University College of Law, said. “It is possible that the French government is softening its view vis-a-vis Israel/Netanyahu in order to maintain working ties with the Israeli government, and in order to be in a position to continue to mediate between Israel and Lebanese-based Hezbollah.”

Professor Milena Sterio participated in the 2024 American Society of International Law (ASIL) Midyear Meeting held at the University of Chicago on November 15-16.  Professor Sterio presented her paper, “Parallel Proceeding to Protect the Environment at International Courts” on November 15; on November 16, she moderated a panel on the topic of genocide.

Professor Sterio also participated as a panelist in an episode of the Talking Foreign Policy radio show, on the topic of Taiwan and whether Taiwan is at risk in light of recent Chinese activities in the South China Sea and elsewhere. This episode was broadcast of WCPN/89.7 on December 2, and it is also available on demand here: https://case.edu/law/centers-institutes/cox-international-law-center/talking-foreign-policy

Professor Milena Sterio presented at two different side events at the 2024 International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties in The Hague, Netherlands.  First, Professor Sterio presented on December 2 at a side event entitled “The Flame of Justice: Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.”  This side event was sponsored by the governments of Canada and Sierra Leone, and the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone; Professor Sterio’s remarks focused on the most significant legacies of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  Second, Professor Sterio moderated a side event on December 4 entitled “The Veto.”  This event was sponsored by the governments of Guatemala, The Netherlands, Switzerland, as well as the Public International Law and Policy Group, the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and the Open Society Justice Initiative.  This side event focused on discussing possible legal limits that may exist on the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members’ ability to exercise the veto in the face of atrocity crimes.  Finally, Professor Sterio attended a briefing by the outgoing U.S. Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack, on December 7, which focused predominantly on the risk of U.S. sanctions against the ICC.  

Dean Lee Fisher published Custodians of Civility, Defenders of Democracy, Guardians of Justice, 73 Clev. St. L. Rev. 2 (2024). The article reiterates conversations by panelists at the Cleveland State Law Review’s symposium discussing the use of law to become Guardians of Justice, the relationship between education and democracy, and the Ohio Constitution as a tool for recapturing the state’s democratic values.