Das Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht und der Lehrstuhl für US-amerikanisches Recht durften am 16. Juni 2025 Prof. Dr. Caroline Bettinger-López in der Gesprächsreihe Internationales Strafrecht im Cologne International Forum willkommen heißen. In ihrem Vortrag sprach sie zum Thema "Law Clinics, Universities and Liberal Thought: Finding Clarity in a Time of Chaos and Cacophony".
Am 17. Juni 2025 konnten das Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht und die Feminist Law Clinic Prof. Dr. Bettinger-López erneut in der Gesprächsreihe Internationales Strafrecht begrüßen. Diesmal berichtete die Vortragende über das Thema "Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Violation – A View from the United States and Beyond" und gewährte ein weiteres Mal spannende Einblicke in ihre Arbeit.
Ausführliche englischsprachige Berichte zu beiden Vorträgen finden Sie im Anschluss:
- Law Clinics, Universities and Liberal Thought: Finding Clarity in a Time of Chaos and Cacophony | 16. Juni 2025
It takes a particular type of mental energy to blend out the discrepancy between the practical circumstances in which the ICCL’s most recent guest lecture by University of Miami School of Law Professor Bettinger-López came together on a sunny Monday evening (June 16th) at the Cologne International Forum – the University’s International House had kindly agreed to cooperate with us and the Chair for US Law, the talk was advertised through all major University communication channels, critical voices were welcomed during the discussion and this report will most likely be published uncensured on the University website – and the actual content of the talk: “Law Clinics, Universities and Liberal Thought: Finding Clarity in a Time of Chaos and Cacophony.”.
The space that we at the University of Cologne still take for granted – to hear from speakers from other countries, to compare and exchange ideas, to agree and disagree – is shrinking for Professor Bettinger-López and her colleagues at US-American universities and law schools. To be sure: Law clinics such as the Human Rights Law Clinic which Professor Bettinger-López leads at her university – like all organizations that speak truth to power – have met with persistent irritation from politicians and big business before. Even the law faculties themselves have sometimes made it more difficult, for example, by withholding status and tenure for clinicians. However, the most recent Trump Administration’s attacks on universities all over the country have heightened the stakes for critical engagement to an unprecedented level: In a country where both private and public universities depend – despite support from private donors – largely on federal government funding, withdrawing several hundred million dollars from a university (as has happened to Columbia University) – leaves an impact. So do new systems of post-tenure review (so far, for public universities only): Where lifetime employment as a university professor is no longer a guarantee and nationalist sentiments become mainstream, fearmongering and polarization in the faculties is the consequence. In a climate like this, publishing a simple student report – such as this one – might still be possible – but – university administrations and communications departments are increasingly scrutinizing the work of law clinics, balancing academic freedom and law clinic confidentiality with what words and concepts could land the university on a “blacklist” with the federal or state government. On the one hand, accepting a university’s new communications guideline might turn out to constitute just the right amount of flexibility to keep the peace (and government funding) while saving energy for more important political battles which may very well lie ahead. On the other hand, Professor Bettinger-López described the unease with which university professors in the country of free speech direct their students to be careful what they say and write.
Many law clinics are working to alleviate the most drastic consequences of the first few months under Trump II: Immigration Law Clinics have been working to support migrants facing deportation with rapid response teams (such as at Cornell); another clinic at Northwestern supports protesters with legal advice. Still, the two US-Americans in the room, Professor Bettinger-López and Prof. Kirk W. Junker from the University of Cologne’s Chair for US Law agreed that Trump II and its project 2025 took American universities and law clinics by surprise. The networks and strategies to protest and persevere are building, but slowly. Law Clinics and Universities as protective spaces for liberal thought? – for Professor Bettinger-López and her colleagues, this idea has suddenly turned from a liberal democracy standard to an institution that depends on every individual’s willingness to fight for it.
Bericht: Laura Midey, Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht
- Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Violation – A View from the United States and Beyond | 17. Juni 2025
On June 17th, 2025, the Institute for Comparative Criminal Law, in cooperation with the Feminist Law Clinic had the pleasure of welcoming Professor Dr. Bettinger-López for her lecture titled "Domestic Violence as a Human Rights Violation – A View from the United States and Beyond."
Professor Bettinger-López began by recounting a case that has been a recurring focus of her work for over two decades: the case of Jessica Lenahan. The failure of the police to enforce a restraining order against Lenahan’s ex-husband ultimately led to the deaths of their three daughters. Although the order, and Colorado state law, included the language “shall arrest” in case of a violation, and a law was in effect requiring officers to make an arrest whenever a domestic violence restraining order was violated, the U.S. Supreme Court held that police officers retained discretion in enforcement under the U.S. Constitution.
Refusing to accept the Supreme Court’s ruling, Lenahan approached the American Civil Liberties Union, stating: “Everybody has a boss. The Supreme Court needs a boss.” With the support of the ACLU and Professor Bettinger-López, the case was taken to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In a landmark decision, the Commission found that U.S. police and courts had violated Articles I, II, VII, and XVIII of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. From these violations, it derived a state duty to protect women and children from domestic violence. Drawing on this ruling, Professor Bettinger-López illustrated how gender-based violence constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights, such as the right to a dignified life, to equality, and security of the person. The conclusion of this first part of the lecture already gave rise to a lively discussion.
In the second part, Professor Bettinger-López discussed her efforts to integrate human rights principles into U.S. law. In the face of the fact that the Commission’s decision in the Lenahan case placed no binding obligations on U.S. lawmakers, her policy work came to focus on both collaboration with municipalities and advocacy at the federal level. For instance, she contributed to the development of a gender-sensitive guidance for police officers responding to domestic violence cases.
Professor Bettinger-López also offered a critique of U.S. exceptionalism by taking a global approach: while the United States has developed policies and programs aimed at eliminating gender inequality abroad, it has long lacked a comparable domestic framework. In 2023, Professor Bettinger-López served as a Senior Advisor in the Biden-Harris Administration and co-led the development of such a framework: the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. Drawing inspiration from models adopted by other countries, the Plan particularly stresses prevention and includes mechanisms for monitoring its implementation.
Following a lively round of applause, the lecture concluded with audience members raising nuanced questions about gender-based violence in the U.S.
Bericht: Salka Suhr, Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht