On June 26, Professor Kalir was interviewed by Bloomberg News TV about the recent Dobbs Opinion. Kalir was very critical of the opinion, and noted specifically that Justice Thomas’s concurrence may serve as a blueprint for overruling many other rights, including the right to same-sex marriage. 

On June 22, Professor Kalir was interviewed by the Cleveland Jewish News regarding the announcement of a new round of Elections in Israel. 

Finally, on June 29, Professor Kalir published an op-ed in the Cleveland’s Plain Dealer pertaining to the Jan. 6 Committee Hearings. In the piece, Kalir argued that while the Hearings were nothing less than shocking to any Democracy-concerned citizen, they also clearly showed how public servants in the previous President’s immediate vicinity placed the nation’s liberty interest over their own political ambitions, thus revealing their true patriotic nature. In that, Kalir argued, we may still find some how that “We the People” can still stand as one. 

Legal Educator in Residence Howard E. Katz made a presentation on teaching methods and facilitated two group discussions at the annual AALS Workshop for New Law Teachers held June 2-4 in Washington, D.C. Howard has made presentations on teaching to new professors at this conference the last five time it was held. The book Strategies and Techniques of Law School Teaching, which he co-authored with Professor Kevin F. O’Neill, was given to attendees, as were copies of books from the Strategies and Techniques series (edited by Professor Katz) that provide subject-specific teaching advice.

Professor Milena Sterio moderated a panel discussion on June 10, on the topic of “Women’s Inclusion in Transitional Justice Processes.” The panel was organized by the Public International Law and Policy Group.

The event link and a recording is available here.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the International Criminal Court Scholars’ Forum on June 10. Professor Sterio presented the article “The Ukraine Conflict and Its Impact on ICC’s Legitimacy,” which she is co-authoring with Professor Yvonne Dutton, of the Indiana University McKinney School of Law.

Professor Milena Sterio was quoted in an NPR story titled, “Russia has achieved at least 1 of its war goals: return Ukraine’s water to Crimea.” The story discusses how one of Russia’s first acts of war in its invasion of Ukraine was to blow up a dam that had been blocking water from flowing into Russian-occupied Crimea.

Professor Sterio discussed the international law aspects of Russia’s legal claims over this water supply. She noted that one of the complexities to this dispute is the fact that most of the world still views Crimea as belonging to Ukraine. “So if you consider the territory [Crimea] to be a part of Ukraine but occupied by Russia, then the law of occupation, the so-called Fourth Geneva Convention, clearly says that it’s the occupier that has the responsibility to ensure the welfare of the people living in that occupied territory,” Professor Sterio explained. She also discussed other aspects of this water dispute, noting that international law is not entirely clear on the subject of water rights.

The story is available here.

On June 8, Professor Milena Sterio testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, at a hearing titled “The Path Forward On U.S.-Syria Policy: Strategy And Accountability.”

The hearings focused on U.S.-Syria relations, and Professor Sterio’s testimony focused on mechanisms for accountability for atrocities committed by the Syrian government and non-state actors in the ongoing Syrian conflict. She explained that the “atrocities in Syria are among the worst in history,” and include “mass executions, widespread rapes, systematic torture, intentionally targeting hospitals, and repeated use of chemical weapons against civilians.” She described to the Committee various accountability measures that could be pursued, including “prosecutions in the courts of Syria and prosecutions in the national courts of various countries under the principle of universal jurisdiction, to the establishment of a hybrid tribunal for Syria, and prosecutions in the International Criminal Court at The Hague.”

The hearing also featured gripping testimony from a Syrian gravedigger, who appeared at the hearing anonymously in a full body and face covering due to the risk to his life. He testified that he was “witness to mass graves in Syria from 2011 to 2018 where men and women, children and elderly, were tortured, executed, gassed, and bombed by the Assad regime, Iran, and Russia and then callously thrown into trenches, their fate unknown to loved ones.” He described the horrors that he personally witnessed: “Every week, twice a week, three trailer trucks arrived, packed with 300 to 600 bodies of victims of torture, bombardment, and slaughter.”

The hearings were live-streamed, and a recording can be viewed here.

Professor Laura Hoffman has published an article, titled “Reconnecting the Patient: Why Telehealth Policy Solutions Must Consider the Deepening Digital Divide,” in the Indiana Health Law Review, Volume 19, No. 2.  The article explains the digital divide and its impact in access to telehealth for various populations including 1) race/minority populations, 2) aging adults, 3) individuals with disabilities, 4) non-English speakers, 5) individuals living in rural areas, 6) socioeconomic class, and 7) children.  Further, the article argues policy solutions involving telehealth must adequately address the various issues involved in the digital divide in order to prevent the furthering of existing healthcare disparities as well as ensure the success of telehealth for these populations.  The article is available here:  https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/ihlr/pdf/vol19p351.pdf 

Dr. Hoffman is Visiting Professor of Law and Acting Director of the Center for Health Law and Policy.

Professor Milena Sterio has been invited to testify at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. The hearing, titled “The Path Forward On U.S.-Syria Policy: Strategy And Accountability,” will be held at 10 a.m. on June 8, 2022. The hearing can be viewed live at this link.

Other speakers at the hearing include Dana Stroul, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, and Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. In addition, the hearing will feature testimony of a Syrian gravedigger who witnessed mass graves in Syria.

Professor Milena Sterio has been advising the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on building international support and advocacy for the need for accountability for Russian leaders, as well as on different accountability options and venues where such Russian leaders could be prosecuted.  

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the Global Initiative for Justice, Truth & Reconciliation’s workshop on “Victim-Centered Approaches to Transitional Justice” on May 25.  Professor Sterio’s remarks focused on the topic of “Victim participation in investigations, prosecution, and trial of international crimes: domestic courts and international tribunals.”