Board of Directors

David M. Crane was the founding chief prosecutor of the international war crimes tribunal in West Africa called the Special Court for Sierra Leone. It successfully prosecuted those who bore the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the first sitting African head of state in history, President Charles Taylor. He recently published a book on his experience there called Every Living Thing, the first time a prosecutor has written about his daily experiences seeking justice for victims of atrocity. Crane served thirty years in the US federal government prior to his selection by Kofi Annan to be the Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court. A member of the Senior Executive Service of the United States, he retired from federal service as the Director of the Office of Intelligence Review in the Department of Defense. Since leaving West Africa, Crane has been a leading force in seeking justice for the people of Syria through the Syrian Accountability Project and assisting in creating the International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism for the Republic of Syria. The Syrian Accountability Project is part of the Global Accountability Network (which he founded) that also houses the Yemeni Accountability Project and the newly created Venezuelan Accountability Project, as well as the Uyghur and Ukrainian Accountability Projects.  He recently retired as a professor at Syracuse University College of Law in Syracuse New York, USA, where he founded Impunity Watch. Crane is currently a distinguished scholar in residence at Syracuse University and an adjunct professor with the Washington College of Law of American University in Washington DC, USA, where he teaches international criminal practice.

Steven L. Herman is the Chief National Correspondent for the Voice of America, based in Washington DC, USA. From 2017 to 2021, Steve was senior VOA White House correspondent and subsequently VOA’s White House bureau chief. Steve is a former president of both the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan and the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club and a former vice president of the DC chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. Steve was also previously on the board of governors of the Overseas Press Club of America. He served for eight consecutive years on the board of governors of the American Foreign Service Association. Steve is the author of Behind the White House Curtain: A Senior Journalist’s Story of Covering the President — and Why It Matters, a 2024 release from Kent State University Press. Steve was a VOA correspondent and bureau chief in India, South Korea and Thailand. He has also been VOA’s senior diplomatic correspondent, based at the State Department. In addition to being an adjunct associate professor at Shenandoah University and an adjunct lecturer in the journalism department at the University of Richmond, Steve is a 2024-2025 Council on Foreign Relations Higher Education Ambassador. He has also been a JURIST Journalist in Residence (2022-23) and a Kiplinger Fellow at Ohio University. In addition to years of reporting for AP, including as the wire service’s state broadcast editor in West Virginia, Steve’s career has also included stints as a media executive in Asia, launching Discovery Channel and Animal Planet in Japan. Steve earned a B.A. at Thomas Edison State University and an M.A. in Public Diplomacy from Mountain State University. Steve began his media career in Las Vegas before moving to Asia. He was inducted into the Nevada Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2023.

Professor Bernard J. Hibbitts is the Board’s Chairman and a Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, he studied law at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, at Dalhousie University, at the University of Toronto, and at Harvard Law School. He clerked for Justice Gerald Le Dain of the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Hibbitts founded JURIST as a personal project in 1996.

Professor Toni R. Locy is a Professor of Journalism at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, USA. For 25 years, she reported for many of the nation’s largest news outlets. She covered the US Supreme Court for AP, federal courts in Washington, DC, for the Washington Post and the Massachusetts State House for the Boston Globe. She also worked on an investigative team at US News & World Report. While earning an MSL degree at Pitt Law, she served as a student editor for JURIST. She is the author of Covering America’s Courts: A Clash of Rights, a journalism textbook on covering the courts and the law. Professor Locy previously served as the Donald W. Reynolds Professor of Legal Reporting at Washington & Lee from 2008 to 2013, and the Shott Chair of Journalism at the West Virginia University School of Journalism from 2007 to 2008.

Arjun Mishra is a Staff Attorney at KidsVoice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, where he advocates in court for abused and neglected children. He received a BA in History and Political Science and a BS in Psychology from Syracuse University in 2012 and a JD from the University of Pittsburgh in 2015. During law school, Mishra served as JURIST’s Editorial Coordinator.

Peter Oh is the W. Edward Sell Fellow and Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Professor Oh received his BA in Philosophy and Ethics, Politics & Economics from Yale University and his JD from The University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the Law Review. He currently serves as the faculty advisor for the University of Pittsburgh Law Review as well as the JD/MBA programs with the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business and Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business. He is also a two-time recipient of the Law School’s Robert T. Harper Excellence in Teaching Award.

D. Wes Rist is an Atrocity Prevention Policy Advisor at the US Department of State in Washington DC, USA. He previously served as the Deputy Executive Director at the American Society of International Law (ASIL). Rist is a member of the Prevention and Protection Working Group, a collection of civil society organizations that coordinate on genocide and mass atrocity prevention activities. In that capacity, he works with international, regional, and domestic government officials on atrocity prevention efforts through legislative compliance, education, and engagement. Previously, he served as Assistant Director of the Center for International Legal Education and Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He holds a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and an LLM (with distinction) from UWE Bristol Faculty of Law in the United Kingdom.

Julia Selman-Ayetey is the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Cape Coast in Cape Coast, Ghana. She is a Solicitor & Barrister of the Supreme Court of Ghana and was called to the Bar in England and Wales (Middle Temple). Julia received her M.Phil from the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Air & Space Law, McGill University, Canada. Julia has a longstanding interest in law and governance as applied to science and technology and has been an advisor to the UK government as a former member of the National DNA Database Ethics Group.

Tim Stanley is the CEO of Justia Inc., which provides free legal information for the online community. Based in San Francisco, California, USA, Justia is involved in online public interest projects, legal aid, civil rights, free legal and consumer information, and educational projects. Mr. Stanley was the founder of FindLaw and has also served on the Board of Directors for Nolo. He received his BA and MS from Stanford University prior to attending the University of Michigan Law School and Harvard Law School.

Dr. Justine N. Stefanelli is the Deputy Executive Director and Director of Publications and Research at the American Society of International Law in Washington, DC, USA. Dr. Stefanelli obtained her PhD at Queen Mary University of London, where she examined the role that judicial review plays in safeguarding the liberty of individuals in long-term immigration detention in the EU, UK and US. She received her LLM in European law at Queen Mary University of London, and her JD from the University of Pittsburgh.

Alexa van Sickle is associate editor for the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), a nonprofit that strengthens investigative journalism worldwide, with special attention to those operating in repressive regimes. With 251 members in 95 countries, GIJN serves as the international hub for the world’s investigative journalists. Previously, she was senior editor and podcast producer for the award-winning foreign correspondence magazine Roads & Kingdoms, and for its sister site Explore Parts Unknown, the online companion for the CNN travel show Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown. Further previous roles include assistant editor for the global security think tank, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), and publications editor for the British Institute of International Comparative Law (BIICL), both in London. Alexa holds an M.S. (Magazine Journalism) from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and an M.S. (International and European Politics) from the University of Edinburgh. She is currently based in Vienna, Austria.

Zachary V. Zagger is Senior Marketing Counsel at the law firm Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, PC in New York City, New York, USA. He serves as a lead writer for the firm’s Insights blog and produces relevant content for the firm’s webinars, publications, podcasts, and other media. He was previously a Senior Reporter for the online legal news service Law360, covering legal issues in the sports and regulated gambling industries. He earned a JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and holds a BA in newspaper journalism, history and political science from Syracuse University. While a student at Pitt Law, he served as JURIST Chief of Staff and as a Senior Editor.