Professor Milena Sterio traveled to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, to collaborate with a group of Rohingya refugees in documenting human rights violations against the Rohingya community in Myanmar during 2016-17. These refugees reside in large camps in Bangladesh, enduring extremely challenging conditions. This was Professor Sterio’s third field mission to Bangladesh and the Rohingya refugee camps.

As part of the same trip, Professor Sterio also attended a transitional justice summit held in Bangkok, Thailand, where she discussed some of her findings from the Rohingya documentation project. The event, organized by the U.S. State Department, assembled several prominent NGOs and experts focused on similar transitional justice issues in Southeast Asia.

In a recent New York Times article, Professor Kevin O’Neill was quoted discussing a novel First Amendment theory that is currently gaining prominence in voting rights litigation. These legal actions allege that certain state governors when reinstating voting rights for convicted felons, make their decisions based on the inmate’s political beliefs. What’s novel about these lawsuits is their attempt to extend a line of legal precedent traditionally limited to cases involving speech licensing into the realm of voting rights.

To read the full article, click the link below: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/us/voting-rights-felons.html

Professor Christa Laser, recently shared her insights on the Ipse Dixit podcast about her paper, “Legal Issues in Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and NFTs” which is set to be published in Nebraska Law Review. This article argues against the necessity of creating a distinct “Law of Blockchain” and instead emphasizes that existing legal frameworks can effectively address the complex legal issues arising in the blockchain and Web 3.0 space. It highlights the growing importance of applying established laws, such as securities regulations and intellectual property rights, to address the evolving challenges posed by emerging technologies like blockchain.

Listen to her podcast episode here:
https://shows.acast.com/ipse-dixit/episodes/christa-laser-of-the-law-of-the-blockchain

This paper is available for comment here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4591858

This week, Professor Mark Sundahl joined a panel discussion at the Ohio Aerospace Institute which was hosting the  2023 Great Lakes Aviation and Space Technology Symposium, held in partnership with AeroMontreal. Professor Sundahl outlined the contributions of the CSU Global Space Law Center, emphasizing its impact on the development of space law, spanning topics like commercial regulation and the prevention of orbital pollution and weaponization.
Professor Sundahl underscored the significance of professional and academic international collaboration, particularly in situations where formal cooperation between nations may face challenges — pointing to his recent positive experience working with an official at the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Professor Milena Sterio participated as a panelist at the CWRU Law School Cox Center conference on September 29. The conference centered around the theme of “Climate Change and the Intersection with International Law.” Additionally, Professor Sterio is contributing a conference-related article, to be published in the Case Journal of International Law, on the topic of “The Crime of Ecocide under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Professor Sterio had dedicated several years to working on accountability and transitional Justice issues in Sudan. Most recently, Professor Milena Sterio participated in a training organized for Sudanese civilians on the topic of peace negotiations. The training took place on September 21, and it was organized by the Public International Law and Policy Group.

Professor Milena Sterio recently delivered a speech at the Syria Accountability Working Group launch event on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, on September 28. Professor Sterio has been a key advisor to the SAWG, contributing to the development of an accountability roadmap. Her research assistant, Matthew Hosler, a 2L student, provided valuable support in drafting the roadmap and also participated remotely in the September 28 launch event.

Professor Doron Kalir’s paper, on the rise of White Christian Nationalism and the threat it poses to the Jewish community in America, was recently accepted by the editors of the third annual “Law vs. Antisemitism” symposium. Next year’s symposium will be held in February at Florida International University School of Law in Miami. In the paper, Kalir explores the First Amendment doctrines relevant to such rise, in particular freedom of speech and the Free Exercise Clause. Relying in large part on the Supreme Court’s recent Counterman v. Colorado, 143 S.Ct. 2106 (2023), Kalir argues that many of the actions and rhetoric used by WCN may rise to the level of “true threats of violence,” and therefore may not merit First Amendment protection.

Professor Mark Sundahl, in collaboration with first-year student Caylan Fazio, recently published an article on the Australian Outlook website. The article, titled “How Private Companies and NASA’s Artemis Accords Will Shape Space Law,” offers a comprehensive exploration of the evolving landscape of space law. Hosted on the online portal of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, the piece has already gained attention and recognition, with Lunapolitics featuring it prominently. The full article can be found here: How Private Companies and NASA’s Artemis Accords Will Shape Space Law

Leon M. and Gloria Plevin Professor of Law Brian Ray joined the NPR program LAist’s AirTalk to discuss recent U.S. Senate hearings on artificial intelligence (AI) with Sarah Myers West, managing director of AI Now Institute. Here’s the show description:

Some of the biggest names in tech have been flooding Capitol Hill this week as several Congressional meetings are taking place to outline comprehensive AI regulation and policy. The main event, held Wednesday, was a closed-door meeting between all 100 senators and tech giants including Elon Musk, CEO of Twitter (now rebranded as X), Mark Zuckerburg, co-founder of facebook, Bill Gates, co-founder Microsoft, and Sam Altman, CEO of the ChatGPT company OpenAI. The forum is part of an effort by a bipartisan group of senators, led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, to create AI legislation. However, the forum has received criticism from others in the tech and media space for not being open to the public and seemingly prioritizing the opinions of tech companies over researchers, employees and activists. Among the CEOs invited to speak were also civil society members such as AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights President and CEO Maya Wiley. Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Josh Hawley of Missouri also recently introduced a framework for the US AI Act calling for more transparency in training data and registration requirements for AI companies. So, what exactly is Congress hoping to get out of these discussions? And what kind of AI regulation can we expect in the near future?