Legal Educator in Residence Howard E. Katz was an invited participant in a workshop hosted by the Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership at the St. Thomas University School of Law in Minneapolis on April 19th and 20th. The workshop focused on “Professional Identity Formation in the Professional Responsibility Course.”
During the event, Prof. Katz engaged in plenary and breakout sessions, contributing insights and brainstorming strategies aimed at integrating professional identity formation into Professional Responsibility casebooks and courses.
Prof. Brian Ray lead a conversation with national technology journalist Stacey Higginbotham on the ways connected devices and systems fail, and how those failures should inform new business models, laws and regulations, and even etiquette. Stacey has been covering technology topics for twenty years, most prominently on her long-running podcast and newsletter “Stacey on IoT” and more recently as an adviser to Consumer Reports on technology policy.
In a recent Akron Beacon Journal article, Professor Milena Sterio was quoted discussing Eric T. Nshimiye, a resident of Lake Township, who was accused of committing murder and sexual assaults during the Rwanda genocide nearly three decades ago.
In the article, Professor Sterio explains that U.S. federal prosecutors lack the authority to charge Nshimiye with genocide. This is due to the limitation within U.S. law, where the U.S. criminal justice system cannot prosecute cases involving the killing of non-U.S. citizens by other non-U.S. citizens outside of the United States. Further stating that a connection to the United States must exist for someone to face federal charges.
Professor Brandon Stump has been invited by Emory University School of Medicine to speak at their annual Autism Celebration Month event. The organizers were impressed by his article on Superman and stare decisis, prompting them to reach out to him for participation. Set to take place on Thursday, April 18, 2024, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. via Zoom, this year’s event will revolve around the theme of “Pathways and Passions.” What sets this event apart is its unique approach of bringing together three Autistic academics to discuss their individual research endeavors, which need not necessarily focus solely on Autism-related topics. This initiative aims to counter the common trend where disabled individuals are often pigeonholed into speaking solely about their disability, neglecting their other areas of expertise and interests.
In his upcoming presentation, Professor Stump will delve into his recent research examining the potential for establishing a labor union specifically tailored for drag queens participating in reality television shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. Despite recent successes achieved by SAG-AFTRA, reality show casts remain excluded from these organizing efforts. Thus far, the National Labor Relations Board has yet to address the question of whether contestants on reality shows are covered under the National Labor Relations Act. With a growing commitment among production companies to diversify reality show casts intentionally, the absence of labor protections poses a significant concern. This situation risks creating an unprotected and disadvantaged pathway for marginalized individuals working in reality television.
On March 22, Professor Milena Sterio moderated a Roundtable on “Establishing a Single Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.” This discussion was part of the PILPG Thought Leadership Initiative. The Initiative focuses on prominent international law and international affairs topics and organizes monthly expert roundtables to share expertise and reflections from our work on peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and war crimes prosecution.
The Roundtable focused on the feasibility of establishing a single consolidated residual mechanism for all or multiple international/hybrid tribunals. Experts shared their insights and discussed the feasibility of this idea, addressing the legal and practical issues associated with such consolidation.
Legal Educator-in-Residence Howard E. Katz made a presentation on “Innovative Teaching Techniques” to the faculty at the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center on March 21st in Baton Rouge, as part of their Spring 2024 Faculty Speaker Series. Although well received and with a very nice turnout, it did not cause quite as much of a stir as the LSU women’s basketball team beginning their NCAA title defense the next day at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on campus.
Professor Milena Sterio was elected Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law Midwest Interest Group; her term will begin in April 2024 and will last for three years. Professor Sterio had previously Co-Chaired this Interest Group, and she also currently serves on the Executive Council at ASIL.
Professor Milena Sterio participated in the “Transforming Transitional Justice: Innovative Approaches for Centering Communities to Lead Post-Conflict” conference, which was convened by the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth & Reconciliation (a consortium of organizations and experts funded by the U.S. State Department). During the event, Professor Sterio shared insights from her efforts to provide human rights documentation training to a cohort of Rohingya refugees residing in the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh.
Brian Ray, Leon M. & Gloria Plevin Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Online Programs, chaired the drafting group for the Sedona Conference’s U.S. Biometric Systems Privacy Primer (“Primer“) (download here). Recently published for public comment, the Primer provides a general introduction to biometric systems and a summary of existing U.S. laws regulating the collection, use, and sharing of the biometric information these technologies collect.
The Primer is written as a resource for lawyers, judges, legislators, and other policymakers. It provides a general guide to the relationships among the technical, legal, and policy aspects of biometric systems – with a particular focus on privacy and related concerns these systems may raise.
Professor Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, wrote and filed a brief on behalf of himself and other academics in United States v. American Airlines Group, a Justice Department antitrust challenge pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The case involved a remarkable tie-up between two air carriers in the Northeast, where air travel markets were already quite congested, and on the government’s allegations it would have severely injured competition there. Upon request from the Justice Department and State Attorneys General, Professor Sagers drafted the brief, which garnered support from 25 professors specializing in law, business, and economics from esteemed institutions such as Stanford, NYU, George Washington, USC, UC Irvine, among others.
CSU Law Faculty 