Associate Dean Brian Ray and Adjunct Professor Spence Witten represented the CSU Law Center for Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection at the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s (GCP) annual Best of Tech Event. The Center is one of GCP’s Tech Network Leaders and participated in the inaugural Tech Network Showcase. The event also featured CSU Law Alumnus Steve Potash, President and CEO of Overdrive in the Tech Unicorn Conversation.

On September 17, the Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture at Cornell Law School invited Prof. Steven Chien to give a talk on Taiwan’s citizen judges. Prof. Chien discusses the role of Taiwanese prosecutors working within trial units, filling a gap in current literature by illuminating the dramatic changes in Taiwan’s criminal trials, specifically the fundamental reshaping of the prosecutor’s role and institutional culture. The talk explores the significant transformation within Taiwan’s criminal legal sphere with the implementation of the Citizen Judge Act in January 2023. Drawing on his ethnographic research, Prof. Chien introduces a new theoretical framework that examines the “silent influence” of American criminal justice on Taiwan’s legal profession, demonstrating how foreign law can shape legal practices in nuanced ways. Prof. Valerie Hans (Charles F. Rechlin Professor of Law) served as the discussant. Prof. Yun-chien Chang (Jack G. Clarke Professor of Law) moderated.

Event Link:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vW5PWRyfXSweHCjz/

Professor Milena Sterio delivered an online lecture for Salem State University on the topic of “The International Criminal Court and the Application for Arrest Warrants Against Named Hamas and Israeli Leaders” on September 23.  Professor Sterio’s lecture was hosted by Salem State University’s Center on Holocaust and Genocide studies.  

On Sept. 23, Professor Doron Kalir was invited to speak at Kent State University about the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The presentation – invited by KSU Jewish Faculty, Staff, and Friends Association, KSU Hillel, and KSU Students Supporting Israel (SSI) – discussed the law of war, the Geneva Convention and its application to the conflict, and the recent decisions by the ICJ. It also presented several viewpoints – both supporting and opposing several claims made by Israel and the Palestinians in international forums.  

Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson spoke as part of the luncheon plenary program at the Ohio Public Interest Environmental Law Conference at The Ohio State University in Columbus on September 19, 2025.  The conference was co-hosted by the Ohio Environmental Council and the Environmental Professionals Network.  The plenary program was entitled “The Role of Judges in Environmental Law and the Procedure of Standing.”  Other participants in the plenary program were Trent Dougherty, a partner at HubayDougherty, Miranda Leppa, Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at Case, and Chris Tavenor, General Council at the Ohio Environmental Council.

Robertson is the Steven W. Percy Professor of Law at CSU|Law and Professor of Environmental Studies at the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education.

Professor Milena Sterio participated as an expert and presenter at the International Humanitarian Law Roundtable in Chautauqua, New York, from August 25-27. Professor Sterio delivered introductory remarks to the Katherine B. Fite lecture (this year’s lecturer was Professor and Judge Meg deGuzman, Temple Law School and the International Residual Mechanism for Yugoslavia and Rwanda). In addition, Professor Sterio moderated a discussion group on the topic of “Crimes Against Children.” The International Humanitarian Law Roundtable is a prestigious conference which has been taking place every year since 2007 in Chautauqua, New York; the conference assembles academics in International Criminal Law as well as prosecutors from various international criminal tribunals. This year, notable prosecutors present included Andrew Cayley and Brenda Hollis from the International Criminal Court; they work on the Ukraine and Palestine investigations respectively.

Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson testified at an Ohio Power Siting Board hearing pertaining to the proposed Frasier Solar energy development project. The hearing concerned whether the OPSB should grant Frasier a Certificate of Public Necessity and Convenience, a necessary precursor to obtaining a permit to construct the facility. Frasier Solar has proposed an industrial scale 120-megawatt solar energy project in Knox County, Ohio. Knox Smart Development, among others, opposes the project. To prepare Robertson for testimony, Environmental Law Fellow Mark Bank, a second-year law student, worked through all of the citizen testimony from three separate public hearings on this matter. Bank and Robertson sorted all of the citizen comments made in opposition to the project into four categories – those that were contrary to fact, those for which the concerns were mitigated through permit conditions or applicant concessions, those that were statements of opinion, and those for which the record neither supported nor disproved the statement. The purpose was to determine whether the citizen concerns amounted to “prominent, one-sided, and compelling opposition to the project – the OPSB’s stated standard for denying the requested certificate. Robertson and Bank found that although comments in opposition outnumber comments in support of the project by more than a 2 to 1 margin, only a few of the comments were not factually incorrect, mitigated, or statements of opinion. Robertson and Bank conducted this research in cooperation with the Ohio Environmental Council and Robertson’s testimony supported the OEC’s efforts to assist Frasier Solar’s effort to increase Ohio’s solar energy production capacity.

Prof. Robertson is the Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor of Law (CSU|Law) and Professor of Environmental Studies (Levin College).

Visiting Professor Debbie Hoffman created and has taught for several years on online course on blockchain technologies at Albany Law School, which recognized her as an outstanding graduate adjunct faculty member. The award noted:
“𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘮𝘢𝘯…𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 [Albany] 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵-𝘶𝘱𝘴. 𝘈𝘥𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘱𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦.”

Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich has appeared in local media discussing issues related to bail and pretrial release.  On August 12, Professor Witmer-Rich spoke with WKYC Channel 3 news about the case of Bobby George, a local restaurant order charged with attempted murder and rape, who was released on a $200,000 bond.  Professor Witmer-Rich explained the considerations that go into the bond amount.  On August 21, Professor Witmer-Rich was interviewed as part of a Cleveland Heights Public Library public education program.  He discussed the 2018 Cuyahoga County Bail Task Force Report, of which he was the principal author.  Professor Witmer-Rich discussed the recommendations in that report, including the current state of bail reform in Cuyahoga County and in the state of Ohio.  

Legal Educator-in-Residence Howard E. Katz made two presentations at the Southeast Association of Law Schools (SEALS) Annual Conference in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl, held from July 20 through July 27. He spoke about Designing an Effective Core Law School Course, as part of the Newer Law Professors Workshop, and gave advice to newer professors on a panel entitled Designing Your Course Package.