Plenary, Assembly of States Parties, International Criminal Court

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio attended the 17th annual Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands, from December 10-12.  The Assembly of States Parties is the ICC’s management oversight and legislative body, which consists of representatives of ICC member states.  Attendance at the Assembly is limited to member states’ representatives, as well as to delegates of accredited NGOs.  Professor Sterio attended the Assembly as a delegate of the Public International Law and Policy Group, a Washington, D.C.-based NGO which provides free legal assistance to parties involved in peace negotiations, drafts post-conflict constitutions, and works on transitional justice and war crimes prosecution issues.  Professor Sterio currently serves as one of three Directors of the PILPG Board of Directors.  Professor Sterio has also published a blog post on Intlawgrrls, describing her experience at this year’s ASP; the blog post, entitled “Three Themes from the 17th Assembly of States Parties of the ICC: New Prosecutor, Victims’ Role, and Cooperation,” is available here.

Briefing of the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda

World Forum, site of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court

The updated 2019 edition of Professor Deborah Geier’s free e-textbook for the first course in Federal Income Taxation is now posted on CALI’s eLangdell’s website. The ePub format (for iPads) and the Mobi format (for Kindles) should be posted by December 20.

The 2019 edition incorporates all inflation-adjusted numbers (tax tables, standard deduction, payroll tax ceiling, etc.), updates some tables and graphs on economic data, and corrects mistakes that were inevitably made when Professor Geier had to incorporate all of the many changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in two frantic weeks last December so that professors who used the textbook in the spring semester had a fully updated version.

Here’s the link to the 2019 textbook: https://www.cali.org/books/us-federal-income-taxation-individuals

Professor Deborah Geier was a guest on the “Sound of Ideas” program on WCPN 90.3 on Wednesday, November 28, to discuss the possible impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted last December on charitable giving. To listen to the program, go to minute 39 here:

http://www.ideastream.org/programs/sound-of-ideas/cuyahoga-county-jail-conditions-how-tax-reform-affects-charity-donations

Prof. Mark Sundahl was appointed last week by NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine to the NASA Advisory Council Regulatory and Policy Committee. The Committee will provide advice to the Administrator regarding the policy and regulatory changes that are needed to assist NASA in its mission to increase mankind’s understanding and use of outer space. In its first meeting at NASA Headquarters, the Committee issued recommendations to, among other things, increase the commercial use of the International Space Station through reform of the regulations regarding intellectual property rights and the access of commercial partners to privately-owned hardware installed on the ISS.  The Committee will continue to assist NASA in leveraging the strengths of the private sector in the development of human activity in Earth orbit, on the Moon, and eventually on Mars and other celestial bodies.

Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, recently published “Antitrust Law as a Problem in Economics” in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Economics and Finance. The Encyclopedias are a series of free online resources of the Oxford University Press, featuring contributions by leading experts and used by researchers around the world.

Clinical Professor of Law Doron Kalir recently served as an attorney for Relator Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association in disciplinary proceedings before the Ohio Supreme Court. In this role, Professor Kalir, who taught Legal Profession at the Law School, reviewed the voluminous investigation materials, authored a complaint, attended several hearings, and learned a great deal from Heather Zirke, CMBA’s Bar Counsel. Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court issued an order “accepting the Respondent’s application for resignation from the practice of law,” and closing the case.

Clinical Professor of Law Doron Kalir published a position paper on Scholars Strategy Network. The Paper, entitled The Need for Principled Balancing When Constitutional Values Collide, deals with the aftermath of Masterpiece Cakeshop, where the Supreme Court seems unwilling (or unable) to resolve the tension between two constitutional values – religious freedom, and equality. The paper argues, briefly, that the Court should adopt principled balancing formulas, much like other constitutional courts around the world, rather than attempt to resolve these collisions on a case-by-case basis.

Professor Reggie Oh published an article on the Loyal Opposition website.  In this article, Professor Oh argues that Democrats should seek to increase the number of justices on the Supreme Court from nine to ten.  The article is available here.

John Plecnik

Professor John Plecnik was awarded a bilateral grant from the Public Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia in partnership with Professor Matej Avbelj and Professor Jernej Letnar Černič of the Graduate School of Government and European Studies in Ljubljana, Slovenia.  The grant will support an international faculty and research exchange between Cleveland State University and the Graduate School of Government and European Studies to discuss “the rule of law in the constitutional systems of Slovenia and the United States of America.”

Professor Plecnik’s research focuses on the intersection of taxation and public policy, and his work on constitutional law has been cited by the Supreme Court of the United States.  Professor Avbelj’s research focuses on democracy and the rule of law with an emphasis on European Union law.  Professor Černič’s research focuses on political systems as well as constitutional law, international law, human rights law and administrative law.

To fulfill their grant project, Professor Plecnik and his Slovenian colleagues will visit each other’s schools over the next two years.  They will give a series of presentations and guest lectures on their latest research to faculty and students.

Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio published a blog post on Intlawgrrls, entitled “International Law on Statehood and Recognition: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and the South Caucasus.”  In this blog post, Professor Sterio discusses her recent conference remarks at statehood and recognition conferences at Hebrew University, in Jerusalem, Israel (where she discussed these issues in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), and at the Center for Eurasian Studies in Ankara, Turkey (where she discussed these issues in the context of the South Caucasus).