Professor David Forte’s essay, “A Speaker Must Be a Member of the House,” has been published on the Federalist Society’s blog.  The essay, available here, argues that the Speaker of the House must be a member of the body that chooses him or her for this leadership role.

Professor Deborah Geier published a short piece entitled “Business Interest Deduction and 100 Percent Expensing” at 148 Tax Notes 1555 (Sept. 28, 2015). Several recent tax reform proposals, including that of candidate Jeb Bush, recommend eliminating the interest deduction but allowing the cost of long-lived property to be deducted entirely in the purchase year (rather than depreciated over time). Professor Geier here criticizes the tendency of some commentators (particularly in the popular press) to assume that these proposals have separate justifications and are packaged together simply to make the elimination of interest deductions more palatable. She explains that the point of these reform proposals is not to tweak the income tax but to shift from an income tax base to a cash-flow consumption tax at the business level, where denial of interest deductions is necessary to prevent inefficient (and costly) rent-seeking behavior under 100 percent expensing.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio published a blog post on Intlawgrrls discussing the recently-filed ACLU lawsuit against two psychologists who, as C.I.A. contractors, devised and implemented a harsh interrogation plan used against detainees at secret agency prisons.

“According to the lawsuit, defendants Mitchell and Jessen committed  torture, human experimentation, and war crimes because of their roles in the secret interrogation program.  The torturous interrogation techniques devised by Mitchell and Jessen included waterboarding, sleep deprivation, isolation and stress positions. These techniques  inflicted severe physical and mental pain on detainees to induce a state of  “learned helplessness,” where detainees become passive and fully compliant with all of their interrogators’ demands.  According to the complaint, these techniques amounted to torture and cruel, degrading and  inhuman treatment as well as war crimes.  In addition,  the complaint alleges that Mitchell and Jessen kept detailed logs of interrogation sessions in order to analyze detainees’ reactions to torture, calibrate the methods used, and provide the Bush administration with false assurances that such practices were “safe” and “effective.”  According to the complaint, collecting such information without informed consent constitutes unlawful research and experimentation.”

Professor Sterio’s post is available here.

Professor and Associate Dean  Milena Sterio published a blog post on Intlawgrrls entitled “Strike at Kunduz: Did the United States Violate International Humanitarian Law?”  The post, which is available here, analyzes whether the recent United States’ military strike against a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, violated international humanitarian law, and whether those responsible for the attacks committed war crimes.  Professor Sterio argues in this post that an independent investigation into the attack is crucial toward finding out what truly happened.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio is the featured Cleveland State University Researcher for the month of October 2015.  Professor Sterio’s Researcher video is available here.

Other Cleveland-Marshall College of Law faculty previously featured as CSU researchers of the month have included Professor Brian Ray and Professor and Associate Dean Mark Sundhal.  Their respective researcher videos are available here and here.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio presented on a panel entitled “Administration and Management of Ad Hoc International Criminal Tribunals” at the Bar Association of New York City on October 5.  The event was co-sponsored by the American Society of International Law’s International Criminal Law, International Courts and Tribunals, and Transitional Justice and Rule of Law Interest Groups, the New York City Bar Association, and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice.  In addition to Professor Sterio, other panelists included:

• Adama Dieng, U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide
• Daryl Mundis, Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, The Hague
• Giles Norman, Legal Advisor, Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations
• Tamara Shockley, American Society of International Law International Courts & Tribunals Interest Group co-chair (moderator)

Clinical Professor Pamela Daiker-Middaugh led an innovative workshop at the 30th Annual Midwest Clinical Conference at Case Western Reserve University School of Law on Saturday, October 3rd. Her workshop was entitled “Is There a Better Way to Respond to Your Client? Teaching Compassionate Lawyering Skills to Students Who Rarely Look Up From Their Smart Phones.” Assisting Clinical Professor Daiker-Middaugh with the workshop were two of her Community Advocacy Law Clinic students, Cassandra McDonald and Joseph Trecaseo.

Professor Karin Mika has been appointed Co-editor for Social Media for the Journal of Legal Communication and Rhetoric, the Scholarly Publication of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD).  The goal of the publication is to publish scholarly research on writing, research, and persuasion that is also useful to the practicing bar.  Professor Mika’s job as a social media editor will be to enhance the social media presence of the Journal, and promote the publication among judges and practitioners.  The most current issue of the Journal is available here.

Chris Sagers, James A. Thomas Distinguished Professor of Law, has been selected as a speaker for the 2016 AALS Annual Meeting in New York City.  Professor Sagers will present on a panel entitled “Perspectives on Anti-Trust Law” on January 9, 2016, from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

On September 9th, Professor Pamela Daiker-Middaugh served as the Moderator for a lively CLE Discussion on the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges U.S. Supreme Court case which struck down the ban on same sex marriage. The CLE took place at the Cleveland City Club and was sponsored by the William K. Thomas American Inn of Court.