Entries in "Politics and Public Policy"
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January 25, 2007
Was Saddam trial fair? Yes, says legal expert
Cleveland Jewish News, January 25, 2007
Captured on cell-phone video, the execution of Saddam Hussein was a horrifying coda to a war-crimes trial rife with courtroom outbursts, boycotts, judges resigning, and the murder of three-defense counsel. Such a disastrous spectacle makes it hard to find any positive precedents amidst the mayhem. But Michael Scharf, an expert in international law who helped train judges and prosecutors for the Iraqi High Tribunal, says there is much to learn from the experience of the Saddam trial. "How do you prosecute someone like Saddam?" asked the Case Western Reserve University law professor in a speech last week to the City Club Forum. Read article. Listen to the podcast.
Who really cares about black teens?
The Plain Dealer, January 25, 2007 (column)
Study after study, the evidence is clear: Black youths are overrepresented in every stage of the juvenile justice system. In fact, as more and more black children are taken from their homes and locked up in kiddie prisons, the problem grows worse—not better. The public becomes increasingly frightened by highly publicized and politicized images of black kids—especially black boys. The statistics bear evidence to support this misdirected view. For example, a 2002 study by the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change at Case Western Reserve University found that black youths in Cuyahoga County are more than twice as likely to be charged with a felony drug offense than are white youths (70 percent versus 32 percent). Read article.
January 24, 2007
Will gender matter? Hillary Clinton's run for the White House
WKYC-TV, Channel 3, January 23, 2007
Joseph White, professor of political science at Case Western Reserve University, was interviewed by reporter Jennifer Murphy on WKYC-TV 3 for a segment regarding New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's announcement of her bid for the presidency. View the video. Read the story.
Military judge orders modest bail for Damra
The Plain Dealer, January 24, 2007
Fawaz Damra, the former spiritual leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, was ordered released from an Israeli prison on modest bail Tuesday. However, Israeli authorities exercised a right to delay the release to give them 72 hours to decide whether to appeal the judge's decision. Damra remained in prison in northern Israel, but maybe not for long. "These things are decided pretty quickly, particularly in light of the fact he's been ordered released," said Amos Guiora, a Case Western Reserve University law professor and once a judge on Israel's military court. Read article.
December 20, 2006
A moral test for fighting terror
Baltimore Sun, December 19, 2006
Op-ed by Amos Guiora, director of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Last week, the Israel Supreme Court rendered one of its most anticipated and important judicial rulings with respect to counterterrorism fighting terrorism. The case concerns Israel's policy of preventive strikes against known terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Starting in February 2000, with the beginning of the second intifada, Israel's policy of "targeted killings" resulted in the deaths of close to 300 known terrorists through the end of 2005. However, more than 30 attempts failed during that time, and approximately 150 civilians were killed. Hundreds of other civilians were wounded. Read article.
December 19, 2006
Lawmakers grapple with will of the people
Canton Repository, December 18, 2006
Last week, the hot-button topic at the Statehouse was not minimum wage or gun control. It was the people's will. Gov. Bob Taft issued the most significant veto of his tenure in an effort to protect local gun laws, and a university poll showed 56 percent of voters were on his side. Then the Legislature overrode his veto. Joseph White of Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University said voters should not be surprised, however, when lawmakers defy majority opinion—or even the majority opinion within their own party. Read article.
Latest editions
BBC World Service, December 14, 2006
A radio link features Amos Guiora, law professor and director of the Institute for Global Security Law and Policy at Case Western Reserve Univesity. Guiora, a retired lieutenant colonel in the Israeli defense forces, spoke with the BBC about the recent Supreme Court ruling on so-called "targeted killings." Read article.
December 06, 2006
Alternatives to coal for alternative energy
Crain's Cleveland Business (Letters to the Editor), December 4, 2006
Written by Stephen Lamoreaux, economics major, Class of 2008
Allowing the city of Cleveland to invest in a coal-burning power plant, as noted in your November 13 story, "Cleveland Public Power eyes stakes in Ohio plant," seems hypocritical in light of recent statements made by Ohio's senator-elect, Sherrod Brown, no matter how clean proponents claim it can be. If Ohio is going to become the "Silicon Valley of alternative energy," it is necessary to consider alternatives and their potential economic and environmental impacts. Ohio should look to concepts like distributed energy, the use of photovoltaic modules, and fuel cells assembled in a noncentralized method. Read article. (Subscription Required)
December 05, 2006
Cities see death knell ringing on 'home rule'
The Plain Dealer, December 4, 2006
This year alone, the legislature has passed at least three bills that vaporized local laws in Cleveland and elsewhere. Another such bill is pending in the Senate. The way the legislature sees it, the so-called "home rule" provision of the Ohio Constitution—which lets cities pass local laws—is barely worth the paper on which it is printed. In passing bills encroaching on home rule, the legislature deems these items to be of statewide concern, which is reason enough to bypass the local power rule, said Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Entin. Read article.
November 30, 2006
Who's in charge? What it takes to manage diversity
The Scientist, magazine of the life sciences, November 2006 issue
Ten years ago, a chief diversity officer or vice president of diversity was almost unheard of, but today about one in five Fortune 1000 companies have diversity managers, according to DiversityInc cofounder Luke Visconti. There are no hard or fast qualifications for the job, diversity managers and consultants agree. Most have a background in human resources, says AstraZeneca senior director of diversity Orlando Ceaser. However, Ceaser's own training lies in sales and marketing, Wyeth vice president of diversity Daphne Mobley is a veterinarian and scientist by training, and Case Western Reserve University faculty diversity officer Beth McGee is an associate professor of theater and dance. Read article.
It's not up to the EPA
USA Today, November 29, 2006 (Op-Ed)
By Jonathan Adler
(Jonathan Adler teaches environmental and constitutional law at Case Western Reserve University School of Law)
Several states and environmentalist groups are asking the Supreme Court to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to impose nationwide regulations on greenhouse gases, the most ubiquitous byproducts of modern industrial society. The EPA only has the authority it has been delegated by Congress, and—as of yet—Congress has never given the EPA regulatory authority over greenhouse gases. Read article.
November 28, 2006
Natural evangelism
The Toronto Star, November 25, 2006
Somewhere along the way, a forum this month at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., which might have been one more polite dialogue between science and religion, began to resemble the founding convention for a political party built on a single plank: In a world dangerously charged with ideology, science needs to take on an evangelical role, vying with religion as teller of the greatest story ever told. Lawrence Krauss, a physicist at Case Western Reserve University known for his staunch opposition to teaching creationism, found himself in the unfamiliar role of playing the moderate. "I think we need to respect people's philosophical notions unless those notions are wrong," he said. Read article.
November 20, 2006
East Toledo in running for wind power lab
Toledo Blade, November 20, 2006
America's first laboratory for testing offshore wind turbine blades would be built in East Toledo and begin operating along the Maumee River shoreline by mid-2009 if a contingent of northern Ohio academic, business, and government officials gets its way. The Ohio site is one of six nationally in the running for the $11.5 million U.S. Department of Energy project, which could create dozens of spin-off jobs by attracting manufacturers and parts suppliers for the booming wind power industry. Besides the principal sponsors of northwest Ohio's application mentioned above, numerous other parties are involved in the effort to make the project a reality here. They include: Midwest Terminals of Toledo International, the Ohio Department of Development, Bowling Green State University, Case Western Reserve University... Read article.
University Circle open to suggestions
The Plain Dealer, November 20, 2006
University Circle, the arts-and-medicine district criticized for its closed-door planning, is ready for public scrutiny of its fast-growth future. The Cleveland Planning Commission recommended Friday that the city create a design-review body to oversee building in the one-square-mile neighborhood. Institutions, including Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals, are ready for the change as hundreds of millions of dollars in projects roll off the drawing board, said Chris Ronayne, executive director of University Circle, Inc., a nonprofit that handles parking, policing and planning. Read article.
November 15, 2006
Think tank will promote thinking: advocates want science, not faith, at core of public policy
The Washington Post.com, November 15, 2006
A group of prominent scientists and advocates of strict church-state separation yesterday announced formation of a Washington think tank designed to promote "rationalism" as the basis of public policy. The small public policy office will lobby and sometimes litigate on behalf of science-based decision making and against religion in government affairs. Lawrence M. Krauss, an author and theoretical physicist at Case Western Reserve University, said the scientific community has done a "poor job" of explaining its logic and benefits to the public. Read article.
November 14, 2006
Income gap between races persists, census says
The Plain Dealer, November 14, 2006
Washington—Decades after the civil rights movement, racial disparities in income, education and home ownership persist and, by some measurements, are growing. And for Northeast Ohio, those gaps are even more pronounced than the national figures. The report showed two bright spots. Compared with the national averages, Hispanics in Northeast Ohio were more likely to own a home and earn a bachelor's or graduate degree. The area's high rate of racial segregation likely plays a key role in economic and educational disparities, said Claudia Coulton, codirector of the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change at Case Western Reserve University. "When there's more segregation, it usually cuts down on opportunities," she said. Read article.
November 10, 2006
Gender was a crucial factor in women's election gains
The Plain Dealer, November 10, 2006
Column written by Karen Beckwith, Case Western Reserve University political science professor
The 2006 midterm elections have resulted in a record number of women being elected to the U.S. House and to the Senate. Because two-thirds of female congressional candidates were Democrats, women contributed mightily to the Democratic victory in the House. Women will constitute at least 16 percent of the 110th Congress, and the House of Representatives stands to select Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat of California, as the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history. Gender was crucial in the 2006 midterm elections in Ohio, but not in ways that might have advanced specific women's policy issues, such as equal pay, women's rights or reproductive issues. Read article.
November 09, 2006
What now?
The Plain Dealer, November 9, 2006
Democrats control the U.S. House—and may take the Senate as well. They bring with them an agenda that affects executives and managers, consumers and workers. Foreign trade: Not-so-fast track: We may say bye-bye to the "fast track" authority for the president's trade agreements. The authority, up for renewal next year, requires Congress to vote on trade treaties without making amendments. John Soper, economics professor at John Carroll University, worries that ending fast track will make each treaty subject to endless rounds of renegotiation. But Susan Helper, economics professor at Case Western Reserve University, says it would encourage a fuller debate. Read article.
November 08, 2006
Sawyer easily defeats Fink
Akron Beacon Journal, November 8, 2006
Former Congressman and Akron Mayor Tom Sawyer handily defeated incumbent Deborah Owens Fink in the District 7 state school board race Tuesday. Sawyer was drafted to run by Help Ohio Public Education, formed by scientists critical of Fink's attempts to change the state science curriculum. The group's founders, Case Western Reserve University professors Patricia Princehouse and Lawrence Krauss, have contended that the changes were an effort to insert religion into the science curriculum. Read article.
Analysis: elections hold sway for health
United Press International, November 7, 2006
This Election Day voters are taking health to the ballot box through several state initiatives and their views on medical research, experts say. A series of midterm ballot initiatives on tobacco, reproduction and social determinants such as housing throughout the country may dramatically sway the direction of public health, said Dr. Georges Benjamin, director of the American Public Health Association. Yet some experts predict a troubled outlook for funding health initiatives, regardless of what party takes over. The "big clash" will come in trying to save money in the federal budget while also funding federal agencies such as NIH, said J.B. Silvers, a professor of health systems management at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Read article.
November 07, 2006
The campaign that never happened
Amherst Times, November 5, 2006 (column)
Autumn arrived: the leaves began to fall and the political signs sprouted up in people's yards. For a week or so there was excitement about the "tight" Senate race—a virtual tie according to some polls taken in September—but then abruptly Sherrod Brown, the Democratic challenger, seemed to leap into the lead, ahead by double digits in late October. I have to admit, I was a bit puzzled. Was it Ohio's economy and the war in Iraq? It certainly has begun to seem that our election system is in trouble. A 230-page report commissioned by Cuyahoga County on its May 2 primary fiasco was made public in late October, and revealed widespread concerns about the reliability of the AccuVote electronic voting machines. Similarly, Vicki Lovegren, a mathematics lecturer at Case Western Reserve University who has become a local advocate for election integrity, said, "If you're a computer scientist, you're nervous," adding: "When you have electronic voting machines, it doesn't take a conspiracy of many people. One person can affect the outcome without anyone knowing." Read article.
November 06, 2006
Attorney claims illegal Medina County jury selection
The Plain Dealer, November 4, 2006
A defense attorney claims Medina County court officials have not followed state laws that dictate how jurors should be selected. Defense attorney Robert Schultz alleges "wholesale violations of the Ohio jury code" that he says warrant a dismissal of every criminal indictment this year as well as any civil or criminal jury verdicts. That kind of sanction could leave the county vulnerable to hundreds of lawsuits and reopen countless court cases. Two Case Western Reserve University law professors don't think the allegations call for such drastic measures, but they say that, if Schultz's claims are true, court authorities might have a little housekeeping to do. Case law professor Robert Lawry had a similar opinion. His colleague, professor Lewis Katz, agrees. Read article.
Free birds
Inside Higher Ed, November 6, 2006
Just as campuses once banned non-union grapes or stocked Nicaraguan coffee, colleges are increasingly choosing cage-free eggs, responding to student activists' appeals for socially conscious consumer choices and endorsing what they call a sustainable farming practice that gives chickens more room to roam. Among the colleges that have made the switch are Dartmouth and Oberlin Colleges; Case Western Reserve University... Dining service managers cited a variety of reasons for deciding to purchase the cage-free eggs, which are often significantly more expensive -- at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Delmar Crim, the culinary director, said the eggs cost an extra 40 percent. Among the reasons identified include the efforts of student activists, stated institutional concerns about animal welfare and environmental issues, and a desire to provide higher-quality, better-tasting products. Read article.
No time limit on Hussein appeal
CNN.com, November 5, 2006
The death sentences handed down Sunday against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and two of his co-defendants triggers an automatic appeal to the Iraqi Criminal Tribunal. There is no time limit for the appeals court to make its decision, but a court official told The Associated Press that the process would likely take three or four weeks after formal paperwork is submitted. Michael Scharf, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and the co-author of "Saddam on Trial," told CNN that it could take even longer because of the complicated issues involved. "Ultimately this case was not a factual case. The facts were not in dispute because of all the documents that came into evidence. Even Saddam Hussein admitted the basic facts," Scharf said. Read article.
Hussein trial was flawed but reasonably fair, and verdict was justified, legal experts say
New York Times, November 6, 2006
The yearlong trial that ended yesterday with a sentence of death by hanging for Saddam Hussein had serious legal flaws that left doubts about whether he was allowed to present a full defense, international legal experts said. But even critics of the trial said the five Iraqi judges who heard the case had made a reasonable effort to conduct a fair trial in the face of sustained pressure from Iraqi political leaders for a swift death sentence. However, several American criminal lawyers said the prosecution marshaled surprisingly convincing documents, including those showing Mr. Hussein's signature on orders of execution. "Saddam was convicted on the strength of his own documents," said Michael Scharf, a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law who advised the Iraqi tribunal during the trial. Read article.
November 03, 2006
Under 30 set makes voting a priority
Cleveland Jewish News.com, November 2, 2006
The CJN recently contacted several college students and 20-somethings to find out if they were voting in the November 7 election and how they prepared for making their choices. A self-described "political junkie," David Levine, a student at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, already voted via absentee ballot. For Allison Weiss, a student at Case, voting in this election means helping out her political party.Read article.