Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich was quoted extensively in an article on Law360 titled “Attorneys Take Kitchen Sink Approach in Fighting Jan. 6 Charges.” The article discusses pretrial release and detention of January 6 defendants, as well as several defenses that defendants have attempted to raise.

Professor Witmer-Rich commented on various defenses raised by January 6 defendants, such as the claim that they did not know the Capital grounds were “restricted” at the time of the riots. He observed, “Sometimes you raise things when you’re not sure how the facts are going to develop. Or it’s a novel situation, so you make any argument you can make.” But on the question of whether the grounds were restricted at the time of the protests, he noted that “having seen the videos, it seems kind of obvious that they were. There were officers who were trying to prevent people from entering.”

Professor Witmer-Rich also discussed the litigation over whether specific defendants should be detained due to their dangerousness. He noted that the question of “dangerousness” is an “amorphous standard” and that it’s “not unusual to see the parties really disagreeing about that and disagreeing about what kind of evidence really indicates dangerousness.”

Several January 6 defendants have challenged their detention orders on appeal, and at least one defendant has been released as a result. Professor Witmer-Rich noted that this is relatively unusual: “we have a lot of indigent defendants who sit in pretrial detention, often for very long periods of time. Rarely are there cases being appealed to a court of appeals to determine whether that detention order was really valid or not.”

Professor Milena Sterio participated as a panelist in a Symposium entitled “The New U.S. Recognition Policy” on December 16th.  The Symposium was hosted by the Antonin Scalia School of Law at George Mason University, and Professor Sterio discussed the U.S. recognition policy vis-a-vis the Golan Heights and Western Sahara.  Professor Sterio will contribute a paper to the George Mason International Law Journal on the same topic in early 2022.  The Symposium webpage is avaiable here: https://www.gmuilj.org/symposium-the-new-u-s-recognition-policy/

Professor Sterio also participated as a speaker in an event organized by the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association on the topic of Human Rigths Documentation on December 16th.  Professor Sterio discussed best practices in human rights documentation, and she also focused on the recent human rights documentation efforts in Bangladesh, involving the Rohyngia refugees.  

Professor Sterio moderated a panel discussion on December 17th, on the topic of The International Criminal Court: 20th Session of the Assembly of States Parties – Key Takeways from the PILPG Team.  The panel discussion was hosted by the Public International Law and Policy Group.  A recording of the panel discussion is available here: https://www.publicinternationallawandpolicygroup.org/asp-20-roundtable

Professor Milena Sterio served as peer reviewer for the Leiden Journal of International Law, one of the most highly-ranked international law journals based out of the University of Leiden in The Netherlands.  Professor Sterio reviewed an article in the field of International Criminal Law.  

Professor Heidi Gorovitz Robertson has published a book chapter, titled “Local Jurisdictions and Variations in State Law in the Marcellus Shale Region” in When Fracking Comes to Town: Governance, Planning and Economic Impacts of the US Shale Boom (Sabina Eva Dietrick and Ilia Murtazashvili, eds., Cornell University Press 2021). The book is available here.

Professor Robertson is the Steven W. Percy Distinguished Professor at the CSU Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the International Penal Law Association’s (“Association Internationale de Droit Penal” or “AIDP”) meetings, held at the Siracusa Institute for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in Siracusa, Italy.  Professor Sterio currently serves as US Chapter President at the AIDP, and at the meetings she updated AIDP leadership regarding US Chapter activities. In addition, she presented on the topic of “The Use of Autonomous Weapons and International Humanitarian Law.”  

Professor Sterio is compiling a General Report on the same topic, which will be finished by the end of 2022. In this capacity (as General Rapporteur), Professor Sterio is working with various national jurisdictions in order to inform her Report regarding comparative state practice.  

Professor Milena Sterio served as peer reviewer for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies (a forthcoming publication by Oxford University Press).  Professor Sterio reviewed an entry on “Secession.”

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, was quoted in a story in the New York Times today about Amazon’s influence in book distribution.

Professor Milena Sterio presented as a panelist on 11/19 at an event entitled “Future of Peace in Eurasia.”  This event was part of World Trade Organization’s Trade for Peace Week, and it was co-sponsored by the WTO and the Public International Law and Policy Group.  Professor Sterio’s remarks focused on the role of trade and the role of the WTO in resolving the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed area between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Professor Sterio also participated as a panelist in a 11/18 event organized by the Atrocity Prevention Study Group and the Stimson Center at George Mason University, on the topic of “Looking at the Bosnian Municipalities Cases Through the Mladic Prosecution.”  In her remarks, Professor Sterio discussed the lack of the genocide conviction for General Mladic regarding crimes committed in Bosnian municipalities, as compared to his genocide conviction for crimes committed in Srebrenica. 

Professor Christa Laser was featured extensively in a live segment on Cleveland’s Channel 19 News, discussing the recent settlement by the Cleveland Guardians baseball team and the Cleveland Guardians roller derby team over their trademark dispute to the “Guardians” name. Professor Laser, an IP expert, discussed the possible terms of the settlement and how trademark disputes are commonly resolved.

The segment can be viewed here.

Professor Jonathan Witmer-Rich has published Reforming the High-Stakes Gamble of Covert Government Seizures, 69 Drake L. Rev. 401 (2021). The article discusses the dangers created by covert government seizures, and suggests reforms to the practice.