Professor Milena Sterio participated in the Sound of Ideas radio program on June 26 on WCPN (Cleveland NPR-affiliate) discussing events of the Middle East, focusing in particular on the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict. 

Professor Milena Sterio participated in the “Talking Foreign Policy” radio show, broadcast on the Sound of Ideas on June 23, on the topic of President Trump’s foreign policy.  The episode also included Professors Harold Koh and Oona Hathaway (Yale Law School), Paul Williams (American University Washington College of Law), Kevin Nealer (former State Department official), and Professor Michael Scharf as host (CWRU School of Law). 

Professor Milena Sterio participated as a judge in the quarter-final and semi-final rounds of the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition in The Hague, Netherlands, from June 16-18, in The Hague, Netherlands.  Professor Sterio is a member of the ICC Moot Court Competition’s Board of Directors, and in this capacity she participates every year in the development of the Moot Court problem.

Professor Sterio also participated as a speaker at a panel on the topic of “Prosecuting Environmental Crimes in Ukraine” on June 16, at Leiden University, Netherlands.  In addition to Professor Sterio, the panel discussion featured Andriy Kostin, Ukrainian Ambassador to the Netherlands.  Professor Sterio has been involved in training Ukrainian judges and prosecutors on prosecuting environmental war crimes; she participated in an in-person training in October 2024 in Poland, and will also participate in a similar training in October 2025, also in Poland.  The trainings are organized by the International Bar Association.  

On June 12-13, Professor Sterio participated in the annual meeting of the “Association Internationale de Droit Penal” (International Penal Law Association) in Paris, France.  Professor Sterio currently serves as the U.S. Chapter President of the AIDP  and has played a prominent role in the organization, including developing U.S. national reports on several international penal law topics, and serving as general rapporteur for AIDP’s previous scientific cycle.

Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich appeared on WKYC Channel 3 to discuss bail issues in the prosecution of Gregory Moore for the murder of Eliza Sherman. Moore is charged with stabbing Sherman to death in 2013.

Moore was arrested in Texas and extradited to Ohio, and in May 2025, the trial court set his bond at $2 million. On July 3, Moore posted the bond and was released without other restrictions, such as surrendering his passport.

Professor Witmer-Rich explained that the trial court likely believed Moore would not be able to post such a large bond. He said, “The reason there aren’t other restrictions on the defendant, I think, is that the judge assumed that by setting a $2 million bond, the defendant wouldn’t be able to be released.” 

Professor Witmer-Rich noted that Ohio trial judges often use large bail amounts instead of ordering defendants to be detained, but that this practice has risks. He explained, “If they have concerns about danger, they just jack up the bail amount to something really high. They pick a really big number — like $2 million — and that’s, I think, what the judge did here. $2 million, that means the defendant is not going to get out, and that was set back at the end of May, but in this case, within about a month, the defendant put together whatever he put together, and as soon as you post your $2 million, you’re out.”

Last week the Supreme Court heard oral argument regarding Mr. Trump’s claims of complete immunity from criminal prosecution for crimes he committed while serving as the President. 

In a new Op-Ed, professor Kalir criticized the Supreme Court’s approach to this issue as revealed by several Justices. The short piece argues that our historical founding documents – both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution itself – leaves very little room to argue that the President may violate the law with impunity. In fact, the opposite is true; as then-Judge Jackson noted, our history demonstrates that Presidents are not kings. 

But perhaps more important than any legal line-drawing, Professor Kalir warns that democracy itself may be hanging in the balance. A reversal – technical as it may be – of the opinion below may be convincingly painted by the Trump campaign as “complete exoneration by the Supreme Court.” That, coupled with the fact that the opinion is likely to be issued very close to the election, may tip the scale in favor of a new authoritarian regime. Such result should be prevented at all costs by the Court.  

On May 1, Professor Milena Sterio took part in a Capitol Hill conference centered on the theme of “US Strategic Imperative: Advancing a Just Resolution in Syria.” Within this forum, Professor Sterio contributed to a session focusing specifically on accountability. During her presentation, she outlined the various accountability mechanisms that exist at the international, regional, and national levels to bring Syrian perpetrators of atrocities to justice. Noteworthy attendees at the conference included Senator Shaheen (D- New Hampshire), Representative Wilson (R- South Carolina), Senator Reed (D- Rhode Island), Senator Braun (R- Indiana), and Representative Wild (D- Pennsylvania).

Photo: Professor Sterio with Professor Paul Williams, American University Washington College of Law (conference moderator)

On May 3rd, Professor Milena Sterio participated in the Centre for the Study of United Nations – O.P. Jindal Global University conference on “Confronting Global Conflicts and the Rule of Law: A Focus on Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas. Professor Sterio’s panel was on the specific topic of “Focus on Actions and Challenges in the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas Conflicts, and Discussion on Proposed Reforms.”

Professor Milena Sterio participated in a conference titled “Re-Imagining Transitional Justice in Ukraine” at Northwestern Law School on April 12. The focus of Professor Sterio’s panel was specifically on addressing the prosecution of sexual and gender-based violence in Ukraine

On April 24th, Professor Milena Sterio took part in a training session for various members of the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and various government departments. The focus of the training was on mediation and negotiation of peace agreements. Professor Sterio’s role extends to providing expert guidance to the Kenyan government in establishing a mediation and negotiation unit, a project supported by funding from the U.S. Department of State