At Just Security, Professor Mark Nevitt discusses the historical, legal, and implementation factors involved in establishing a No-Fly Zone over Ukrainian airspace.
Nevitt explains, “While I sympathize with the no-fly zone’s animating idea—to protect human lives—a NATO no-fly zone simply presents an unacceptable, escalatory risk to the United States and its allies – indeed, perhaps to the whole planet. It opens a Pandora’s box of anticipated and unintended consequences. Even if the no-fly zone is narrowly tailored with the express purpose of protecting humanitarian corridors—as signatories to a recent open letter suggested—it would fundamentally turn on U.S. and NATO military engagement with Russia, a nuclear power with an enormous nuclear arsenal. Its leaders have already hinted at potentially using them in exactly this context.”
The Wharlest and Exerlena Jackson Legacy Project and the Cold Case Justice Initiative (CCJI) at Syracuse University College of Law are hosting the second annual Program on April 1 and 2, 2022 in honor of the memory of Wharlest and Exerlena Jackson for their major contributions and sacrifices to the cause of racial justice, civil rights, voting rights, and full civic engagement
This year’s Program Theme is: Honor Their Memories. Continue Their Legacy. The second annual program of the Wharlest and Exerlena Jackson Project is designed to recognize the sacrifices of the Jacksons for civil rights, to provide information and resources for students to achieve their aspirations and goals, and to continue the Jacksons’ legacy for racial and social justice. Participation is open to junior and senior high school students in Natchez, MS, Syracuse, NY., and communities in other areas. There are sessions for parents, guardians, teachers, and administrators to help students plan for post-high school life. The program takes place Friday evening, April 1, and throughout Saturday, April 2, 2022. The event will be held online on Zoom. The program is FREE and all are welcome to attend.
The program features a keynote presentation by Brad Lichtenstein and Yoruba Richen, directors of the PBS Frontline documentary, “American Reckoning,” about the lives of Wharlest and Exerlena Jackson, and the Black community’s resistance to racial injustice. There will be remarks by Jackson family members, including Denise Jackson Ford and Wharlest Jackson, Jr., CCJI Director Professor Paula C. Johnson, and law students in the Cold Case Justice Initiative, among other presenters.
There will be concurrent panels for students interested in college, vocational fields, creative arts, STEM, financial literacy, and civic participation. There also are sessions for parents, teachers, and administrators to discuss ways and resources to support high school students before and after graduation.
The registration deadline is Thursday, March 31, 2022, at 5:00 pm Central. For more information or questions, please contact jacksonlegacy@syr.edu.
During the Civil Rights Movement, Wharlest and Exerlena were active in Natchez, Adams County, Mississippi to assist people of color to register to vote, have a voice in their community, and to increase educational and employment opportunities. Wharlest became the Treasurer of the local NAACP Chapter, in Natchez. Exerlena was also active in the movement for voter registration and civil rights.
Wharlest had the qualifications that earned him a promotion within Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company for a job that previously had been held only by Whites. The Ku Klux Klan was very active in the area, and Wharlest was constantly threatened for his activism and his employment position. He was murdered on February 27, 1967, when a bomb was detonated under his truck when he left work.
No one has been held accountable for Wharlest Jackson’s death. However, Wharlest and Exerlena’s work was not in vain. They were courageous and their actions galvanized the community to insist on the equal rights and civic participation that they fought for. The Jackson Legacy Project will carry on their legacy by providing the annual two-day program to inspire others to continue to fight for voting rights, education, and employment opportunities for all people.
About the Cold Case Justice Initiative: The Cold Case Justice Initiative (CCJI) at Syracuse University College of Law was co-founded by Professor Paula C. Johnson and Professor Janis L. McDonald (emerita). Professor Johnson continues to direct the Initiative. CCJI investigates unsolved racially motivated homicides and disappearances, such as the Wharlest Jackson case, which occurred during the Civil Rights Era and contemporary times. CCJI works to hold responsible parties accountable and conducts relevant research, academic education, professional training, public awareness, and memorial legacies of victims of racial crimes who fought for the rights and freedoms of present and future generations. For more information, visit http://law.syracuse.edu/academics/clinical-experiential/experiential-courses/cold-case- justice-initiative/.
Judge James E. Baker, director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law, recently spoke with the ABA Law Student Podcast on the many international law issues raised by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Judge Baker examines Russia’s actions to date and offers insights on how the U.S. and other international players can and/or should respond as they follow the rule of law. They also discuss new uses of AI in war, historical examples that compare to Ukraine’s struggle against its aggressor, and why law matters even if a wartime opponent refuses to adhere to it.
In the Washington Post article, Professor Banks says, “A ruse like that one is perfidy and violates [international humanitarian law] and customary international law, Perfidy in lay terms is treachery.”
Professor Beth Kubala was recently elected as an advisor to the West Point Association of Graduates (WPAOG), the Alumni Association for the United States Military Academy (USMA). Kubala will serve as a member of the Advisory Council, a relatively large body responsible for advising the WPAOG Board of Directors on matters pertaining to the Association’s affairs. The WPAOG serves West Point and its graduates to further the ideals and promote the welfare of USMA.
Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Beth Kubala is a West Point graduate of the class of ’93 and is a teaching Professor and Executive Director of the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic. LTC (retired) Kubala served in the United States Army for 22 years and had multiple leadership positions in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, including Military Judge at Fort Drum, New York.
In November 2021, the West Point Association of Graduates held an annual meeting to elect members of the Board of Directors and the Advisory Council. LTC (retired) Kubala was elected as an advisor-at-large and will serve her three-year term from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2024.
“I’m honored to have been elected to this position by my fellow graduates and I look forward to giving back to West Point,” LTC (retired) Kubala said.
In addition to her role as advisor, she will be joining the WPAOG Development Committee. The Development Committee advises the Board of Directors on the Association’s fundraising program and helps foster philanthropic support for cadet activities, programs, scholarships, and facilities.
Professor David Driesen discussed with E&E News how the Supreme Court is considering reducing EPA regulations related to combatting climate change. Driesen said the West Virginia v. EPA case raises the major questions doctrine, which relates to an agency’s decisions on significant issues requiring approval from Congress.
“It’s a very scary move because it lends itself to ideological decision-making. If you’re anti-regulatory, you’re going to imagine that the agency will be unreasonable in the future,” he said. “But this court is so anti-regulatory that it’s moving away from that framework.”
Vice Dean Keith Bybee discusses in this Law360 article the efforts to enact an ethics code for the Supreme Court and the many issues it would raise.
Bybee concludes, “We have a highly political system by which we select justices for the Supreme Court,” he said. “How we could get an ethics code that is enforceable is really just a smaller part of a much larger conundrum, which is, what [to] do with justices that are simultaneously proclaiming themselves to be impartial and yet are predictably delivering results that look to be political.”
Professor Paula Johnson was interviewed by Spectrum News about the groundbreaking nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court. Johnson says, “What makes this unprecedented is that we have not had a Black woman on the court before but that certainly doesn’t mean that there have not been Black women who have been suited to sit on the highest court of the United States.”
Professor Roy Gutterman L’00 contributed commentary to several media outlets on Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. He shared his insights on the judge’s decision to dismiss the case with the Daily Beast, The Washington Post, Axios, and the New York Daily News. He also had a half-hour appearance on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal to discuss the case. Gutterman, an expert on First Amendment law, is the director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and a professor at the College of Law and the Newhouse School of Public Communications.
“The press needs room to function and publish and have the flexibility to make some mistakes, without fearing that it can face civil judgments for simple, honest mistakes,” Gutterman told The Washington Post.
An opinion article by Distinguished Visiting Lecturer David Cay Johnston, “Donald’s Time in the Dock”, ran in the February 20, 2022 New York Daily News. The article focuses on recent legal developments surrounding former President Trump’s businesses and taxes.
In the article, Johnston says about the consequences of a possible New York State civil lawsuit, “People have a right to life, but corporations don’t. They exist by the grace of government and may be extinguished for misconduct, as I teach my Syracuse University law students. That penalty is exceedingly rare, but it’s happened to Trump twice already.”
