International Law Section panelists (from L-R): Professor Cindy Buys; Professor Milena Sterio, Dean Michael Scharf; Professor Paul Williams; Professor Tom McDonnell

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio presented and moderated several panels at the AALS 2019 Annual Meeting in New Orleans.  In addition, Professor Sterio was elected to the Executive Committee of the Women in Legal Education section.

On January 3, Professor Sterio moderated a panel sponsored by the National Security Law section, entitled “Junior Scholars Works-In-Progress.” Professor Sterio had participated in the National Security Law section’s subcommittee on works-in-progress, and had thus helped select papers for this panel.  Professor Sterio served as Treasurer of the National Security Law section during 2018, and she was elected as Secretary of this section for 2019.

On January 4, Professor Sterio moderated a panel sponsored by the International Law section, entitled “U.S. Leadership in Global Affairs in 21st Century International Law.”  Professor Sterio had organized this panel, in her capacity as Chair of the International Law section.

On January 5, Professor Sterio presented at the Annual Breakfast for International Law Faculties, sponsored by the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.  Professor Sterio presented remarks on “Anti-Globalization Forces and International Criminal Law.”

On January 6, Professor Sterio moderated a panel sponsored by the International Human Rights and International Law sections, entitled “New Voices in Human Rights and International Law.”  Professor Sterio had helped select papers for this panel in her capacity as member of this section’s Executive Committee.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, spoke with various news outlets recently about ongoing antitrust matters. He spoke with both Bloomberg and the trade journal Comm Daily about the Justice Department’s appeal of the high-profile loss in its challenge to the merger of AT&T and Time Warner.

He spoke with the widely read technology blog Ars Technica about a potentially spectacular new antitrust suit just filed by the failed ride-share firm Sidecar against Uber, and he commented for the Washington Examiner on a federal judge’s notable criticism of a government approval of the CVS-Aetna merger.

Finally, he spoke with Reorg M&A, a trade publication of Reorg Research, Inc., about the unusual litigation developments in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust challenge to the merger of two industrial pigment manufacturers, Tronox and Cristal. The significance of the case concerns ongoing uncertainties over the Commission’s in-house adjudication procedures before Administrative Law Judges.

Plenary, Assembly of States Parties, International Criminal Court

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio attended the 17th annual Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands, from December 10-12.  The Assembly of States Parties is the ICC’s management oversight and legislative body, which consists of representatives of ICC member states.  Attendance at the Assembly is limited to member states’ representatives, as well as to delegates of accredited NGOs.  Professor Sterio attended the Assembly as a delegate of the Public International Law and Policy Group, a Washington, D.C.-based NGO which provides free legal assistance to parties involved in peace negotiations, drafts post-conflict constitutions, and works on transitional justice and war crimes prosecution issues.  Professor Sterio currently serves as one of three Directors of the PILPG Board of Directors.  Professor Sterio has also published a blog post on Intlawgrrls, describing her experience at this year’s ASP; the blog post, entitled “Three Themes from the 17th Assembly of States Parties of the ICC: New Prosecutor, Victims’ Role, and Cooperation,” is available here.

Briefing of the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda

World Forum, site of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court

The updated 2019 edition of Professor Deborah Geier’s free e-textbook for the first course in Federal Income Taxation is now posted on CALI’s eLangdell’s website. The ePub format (for iPads) and the Mobi format (for Kindles) should be posted by December 20.

The 2019 edition incorporates all inflation-adjusted numbers (tax tables, standard deduction, payroll tax ceiling, etc.), updates some tables and graphs on economic data, and corrects mistakes that were inevitably made when Professor Geier had to incorporate all of the many changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in two frantic weeks last December so that professors who used the textbook in the spring semester had a fully updated version.

Here’s the link to the 2019 textbook: https://www.cali.org/books/us-federal-income-taxation-individuals

Professor Deborah Geier was a guest on the “Sound of Ideas” program on WCPN 90.3 on Wednesday, November 28, to discuss the possible impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted last December on charitable giving. To listen to the program, go to minute 39 here:

http://www.ideastream.org/programs/sound-of-ideas/cuyahoga-county-jail-conditions-how-tax-reform-affects-charity-donations

Prof. Mark Sundahl was appointed last week by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to the NASA Advisory Council Regulatory and Policy Committee. The Committee will provide advice to the Administrator regarding the policy and regulatory changes that are needed to assist NASA in its mission to increase mankind’s understanding and use of outer space. In its first meeting at NASA Headquarters, the Committee issued recommendations to, among other things, increase the commercial use of the International Space Station through reform of the regulations regarding intellectual property rights and the access of commercial partners to privately-owned hardware installed on the ISS.  The Committee will continue to assist NASA in leveraging the strengths of the private sector in the development of human activity in Earth orbit, on the Moon, and eventually on Mars and other celestial bodies.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, recently published “Antitrust Law as a Problem in Economics” in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. The Encyclopedias are a series of free online resources of the Oxford University Press, featuring contributions by leading experts and used by researchers around the world.

Clinical Professor of Law Doron Kalir recently served as an attorney for Relator Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association in disciplinary proceedings before the Ohio Supreme Court. In this role, Professor Kalir, who taught Legal Profession at the Law School, reviewed the voluminous investigation materials, authored a complaint, attended several hearings, and learned a great deal from Heather Zirke, CMBA’s Bar Counsel. Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court issued an order “accepting the Respondent’s application for resignation from the practice of law,” and closing the case.

Clinical Professor of Law Doron Kalir published a position paper on Scholars Strategy Network. The Paper, entitled The Need for Principled Balancing When Constitutional Values Collide, deals with the aftermath of Masterpiece Cakeshop, where the Supreme Court seems unwilling (or unable) to resolve the tension between two constitutional values – religious freedom, and equality. The paper argues, briefly, that the Court should adopt principled balancing formulas, much like other constitutional courts around the world, rather than attempt to resolve these collisions on a case-by-case basis.

Professor Reggie Oh published an article on the Loyal Opposition website.  In this article, Professor Oh argues that Democrats should seek to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court from nine to ten.  The article is available here.