New York Times, Judge Bars Trump Administration From Punishing 2 Law Professors for I.C.C. Work:
A federal judge on Wednesday permanently barred the Trump administration from imposing penalties on two law professors over their involvement with the International Criminal Court, finding that the threat violated their First Amendment rights.
In a 22-page opinion, Judge Jesse M. Furman of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York concluded that the president had used the threat of legal penalties to force Gabor Rona [Cardozo] and Lisa Davis [CUNY], both law professors in New York, to abandon their association with the international court in The Hague, which prosecutes cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The judge definitively barred the government from taking any action to follow through on the threat.
Mr. Rona and Ms. Davis had each advised the I.C.C.’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, or supported his office’s work through its investigations and prosecutions, and have written and spoken extensively about international law.
The United States is not among the 125 countries that are party to the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal Court, but has supported a number of its investigations, including in cases involving Ukraine, Sudan and Myanmar.
Under an executive order President Trump signed in February, the professors faced the possibility of criminal and civil penalties because of their association with the court. The I.C.C. has investigated the United States and Israel, and last year issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former defense minister related to their handling of the war in Gaza.
Mr. Trump’s order carried the possibility of jail terms of up to 20 years for anyone supporting the International Criminal Court in its work.
Bloomberg Law, Two Law Professors Blocking Trump Executive Order Imposing Sanctions on “Certain Persons” Affiliated With International Criminal Court
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