Professor Milena Sterio was cited in two media articles about the threat of U.S. sanctions against the International Criminal Court by the new Trump Administration.  First, Professor Sterio was cited in an article entitled “Can the ICC Survive the U.S. Sanctions? (Part I)” (available here: https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/140459-can-the-icc-survive-the-u-s-sanctions-part-1.html). This article discusses the fact that the Trump Administration is most likely going to impose sanctions against the ICC, because of the Court’s investigation and issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.  Professor Sterio was quoted in this article twice.  First, she was quoted explaining the attitude of various U.S. presidential administrations vis-a-vis the Court: 

“I think it’s more of a yo-yo,” says Milena Sterio, professor of Law at Cleveland State University. “When you look at the U.S. relationship with the Court starting back in 1998, things have gone back and forth with different presidential administrations, with basically the Democrat administrations being a lot more supportive of the Court,” she says, adding : “We’ve seen that under the Biden administration, which was willing to support the court on the Ukraine investigation, for example. The Obama administration similarly was supportive of the court in limited ways. And then, we’ve seen, for example, the Bush administration very hostile to the court, negotiating these bilateral agreements with other countries left and right to make sure that they wouldn’t extradite anybody to the court. And then the peak of the hostility obviously is with the Trump administration.”

Second, Professor Sterio was quoted extensively about her role as co-plaintiff in a lawsuit which had challenged the first Trump Administration’s imposition of sanctions against the ICC back in 2020 (Professor Sterio and her co-plaintiffs were successful in their lawsuit as they won a preliminary injunction against the first Trump Administration in early 2021; the first Trump Administration’s sanctions were revoked by the Biden Administration in 2021 and the lawsuit was dismissed).  Here is one of Professor Sterio’s quotes:

“Sterio is one of a small group who challenged the order in 2020 through a federal court. ‘All of us generally believed that imposing sanctions against the ICC is not just ridiculous, but threatens this entire world of international criminal justice, because it inhibits the Court’s ability to function freely,” she says. “It improperly tries to influence the Court into dropping certain investigations. And instead of the United States positioning itself as a leader in international criminal justice, it actually puts the U.S. at the opposite end of the spectrum, where we’re really doing everything to inhibit the court.’”

Second, Professor Sterio was quoted in a subsequent article entitled “Can the ICC Survive the U.S. Sanctions? (Part II)” (available here: https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/140499-can-the-icc-survive-the-u-s-sanctions-part-2.html). 

Professor Karin Mika was selected as an editor for the ABA’s annual “Year in Review” newsletter that reviews legislation around the world. Prof. Mika edited the article “Food, Agriculture, and Cannabis” Law. The article focuses primarily on changes in cannabis law around the world, including making medicinal cannabis easier to acquire in countries outside the U.S., while also focusing on a potential amendment in the U.S. Farm Bill Law that could decimate the hemp industry.

Prof. Mika also published “Using AI to Enhance Document Drafting” in the fall/winter newsletter of AALS Section on Legal Writing and describes incorporating AI into her upper-level Drafting class and “From Peripheral to Pivotal: The Role of Legal Writing in the Modern Law School Mission,” in Vol. 5 of Proceedings, which is sponsored by the University of Oregon Law School. The article provides a brief history of Legal Writing as it was integrated into the law school curriculum. It also discusses status issues as they relate to skills professionals in law schools.

Prof. Mika was interviewed as part of the 30th Anniversary celebration for the Association of Legal Writing Directors and served on the Legal Writing Blackwell Awards Committee, which is one of the most prestigious honors given by the profession of Legal Writing and is named after Tom Blackwell who was shot and killed by a distraught student at Appalachia Law School. The Award is given yearly to those whose commitment to others goes above and beyond. The Awards reception is held annually at the AALS.

Professor Milena Sterio was quoted in a Nov. 27, 2024  Guardian article entitled “France says Netanyahu is immune from ICC warrant as Israel is not member of court” (written by  Julian Borger) which is available here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/27/france-says-netanyahu-is-immune-from-icc-warrant-as-israel-is-not-member-of-cour

This article reports on the French government’s recent statement that it would not execute the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, because the French government believes that the latter enjoys immunity.  Professor Sterio was quoted as follows: “The French government’s legal position now with respect to Netanyahu is inconsistent as compared to its position just a few months ago with respect to Putin,” Milena Sterio, a professor at the Cleveland State University College of Law, said. “It is possible that the French government is softening its view vis-a-vis Israel/Netanyahu in order to maintain working ties with the Israeli government, and in order to be in a position to continue to mediate between Israel and Lebanese-based Hezbollah.”

Professor Milena Sterio participated in the 2024 American Society of International Law (ASIL) Midyear Meeting held at the University of Chicago on November 15-16.  Professor Sterio presented her paper, “Parallel Proceeding to Protect the Environment at International Courts” on November 15; on November 16, she moderated a panel on the topic of genocide.

Professor Sterio also participated as a panelist in an episode of the Talking Foreign Policy radio show, on the topic of Taiwan and whether Taiwan is at risk in light of recent Chinese activities in the South China Sea and elsewhere. This episode was broadcast of WCPN/89.7 on December 2, and it is also available on demand here: https://case.edu/law/centers-institutes/cox-international-law-center/talking-foreign-policy

Professor Milena Sterio presented at two different side events at the 2024 International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties in The Hague, Netherlands.  First, Professor Sterio presented on December 2 at a side event entitled “The Flame of Justice: Legacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.”  This side event was sponsored by the governments of Canada and Sierra Leone, and the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone; Professor Sterio’s remarks focused on the most significant legacies of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.  Second, Professor Sterio moderated a side event on December 4 entitled “The Veto.”  This event was sponsored by the governments of Guatemala, The Netherlands, Switzerland, as well as the Public International Law and Policy Group, the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and the Open Society Justice Initiative.  This side event focused on discussing possible legal limits that may exist on the United Nations Security Council’s permanent members’ ability to exercise the veto in the face of atrocity crimes.  Finally, Professor Sterio attended a briefing by the outgoing U.S. Ambassador for Global Criminal Justice, Beth Van Schaack, on December 7, which focused predominantly on the risk of U.S. sanctions against the ICC.  

Dean Lee Fisher published Custodians of Civility, Defenders of Democracy, Guardians of Justice, 73 Clev. St. L. Rev. 2 (2024). The article reiterates conversations by panelists at the Cleveland State Law Review’s symposium discussing the use of law to become Guardians of Justice, the relationship between education and democracy, and the Ohio Constitution as a tool for recapturing the state’s democratic values.

Professor Milena Sterio presented at the Centre for the Study of United Nations O.P. Jindal Global University’s (India) Second Int’l Roundtable on Advancing Global Justice.  The theme of the Roundtable was Strengthening Legal Frameworks In Response to Conflicts, and Professor Sterio presented on a panel on Global Governance Reform: Proposals for Strengthening International Law.  Professor Sterio discussed the ongoing Rohingya crisis and the relative lack of accountability for Myanmar leaders, as well as the International Criminal Court’s inability to prosecute the crime of aggression in Ukraine, as examples of limits of international institutions.  

Professor Brian Ray discussed how a growing number of state laws require organizations to demonstrate that they have developed a cybersecurity governance framework that adopts “reasonable” security measures but critically leave the specifics of that standard undedefined. A smaller number of states, led by Ohio, have identified industry frameworks like NIST, CIS and others as a relevant source of those specifics. Similarly, federal and state regulators have recommended and, in some instances, required organizations to map to those frameworks. This trend overlaps with the increase in more specific cybersecurity requirements in other contexts including federal contractor requirements and federal regulatory agencies.

Professor Milena Sterio moderated a webinar on the topic of “Gender Parity on the International Court of Justice Bench” on October 14. The webinar was sponsored by the American Branch of the International Law Association and co-sponsored by the Women in International Law Interest Group at the American Society of International Law.  Panelists included Judge Kimberly Prost, International Criminal Court, Professor Jose Alvarez, NYU Law School, Patricia Galvao Teles, International Law Commission, and Priya Pillay, Asia Justice Coalition Director.  The webinar focused on the lack of gender parity among judges at the International Court of Justice, as well as on ideas as to how to achieve more gender parity at the court in the future.  The webinar recording is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khTN94N-ZHk

On October 10, 2024, the CSU College of Law, in partnership with Freedom to Learn Advocates (FTLA), hosted an all-day conference entitled “Banned Books and Libraries Under Attack: The Fight for Intellectual Freedom in Our Communities.”  The event was generously sponsored by CSU Law Alumnus, and CEO of Overdrive, Steve Potash.

The day’s second panel was about “Legal Advocates Resisting Books Bans: The Courts and Legislation.” The panel featured Mr. Skip Dye, a Senior Vice President from Penguin Random House; Professor Katie Schwartzman, who directs the First Amendment Clinic at Tulane Law School; Ms. Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of the American Library Association (ALA)’s Office of Intellectual Freedom; and Rep. Dana Jones of Maryland, who sponsored the first “Freedom to Read Act” in our nation. 

Professor Kalir moderated the panel, which was extremely well attended.