For more information,
please contact:
Gwen Osborne,
director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS AND ASSIGNMENT,
LEGAL, PLANNING, BUSINESS, AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO-- February 17, 2003--Chicago-Kent
College of Law, the Stuart Graduate School of Business
and the Center for Law and Financial Markets have
experts available to discuss current issues. To reach
any of our experts, call Gwen
Osborne, director of public affairs, at (312)
906-5251. Copies of press releases and earlier advisories
are available on our Web site: http://www.kentlaw.edu/news/
E2 nightclub tragedy. A Cook County judge Tuesday
said the city must present more evidence to justify
bringing criminal charges against the operator of
E2, a local nightclub where 21 people died and nearly
60 others were injured. Chaos erupted early Monday
morning after someone allegedly dispersed pepper spray
to break up a fight in the crowded club. City officials
contend that the nightclub, which is located on the
second floor of Epitome Restaurant, was open despite
a court order to close and several building code violations.
One of the violations was for failure to provide enough
exits in the establishment where scores of patrons
were trampled trying to leave. Chicago-Kent professor
Mark Rosen,
who teaches state and local government law, is available
for interviews.
Lawmakers have introduced a measure that would toughen
the state's sexual assault law by expanding the
definition of rape. Under the proposal, Senate Bill
406, a person who consents to sexual intercourse can
withdraw that consent at any time. The proposal, which
is sponsored by State Sen. Dan Rutherford (R-53),
is gender neutral. It is prompted by a recent California
Supreme Court decision which considered the issue
of consent. Current Illinois law does not include
provisions for cases in which consent has been granted
and then withdrawn during the act. Chicago-Kent professor
Katharine Baker
is available for interviews.
You Don't Know Auctions!: Each year, Internet
auction fraud costs American consumers approximately
$5 million. The most prevalent complaints involve
identity theft, misrepresented merchandise or undelivered
goods. How can consumers protect themselves? Honors
scholars of Chicago-Kent College of Law have collaborated
with the City of Chicago Department of Consumer Services
and AT&T to create "You Don't Know Auctions!",
an interactive Internet game to educate the public
about online auctions and to caution them about the
dangers of auction fraud. The Web address for the
game is www.youdontknowauctions.com.
Dean Harold J.
Krent, who served as faculty supervisor for
the project, and honors scholars are available for
interviews.
"Baseball as America," a new exhibit
at the Field Museum, chronicles the nation's love
affair with the sport. Adjunct professor and sports
attorney Eldon L. Ham is available for interviews.
In addition to current baseball issues, he can talk
about the first regular season radio broadcast, WGN's
opening day coverage of the Cubs-Pirates' game on
April 14, 1925; the Chicago headquarters of commissioner
Kennesaw Mountain Landis; and the Black Sox scandal.
President Bush has proposed eliminating the tax
rate on investors' dividend earnings. Professor
Keith Black of IIT's Center for Law and
Financial Markets says, "While this move will
cause a large decline in federal revenue, and will
likely be opposed by Democrats as a ‘gift to
the rich,' it may cause a change in many companies'
dividend policies." Professor Black says that
in the U.S. corporate income is taxed twice -- once
at the corporate level and again when investors pay
taxes on dividend distributions. While many investors
are asking large corporations for increased dividend
payments, a weak profit picture may preclude companies
from safely offering higher dividends to their stockholders.
What does this bode for the valuation levels of the
U.S. markets? Professor Black is available for interviews.
Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 drama, A
Raisin in the Sun, has been selected as the
next book in the city's "One Book, One Chicago"
program. There will be citywide readings, video presentations
and discussions of the book and the issue of race
and housing in Chicago. Events in Hansberry's award-winning
play were inspired by her father's legal challenge
to restrictive covenants in Chicago real estate sales
that prevented African-Americans from living in certain
neighborhoods. The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case,
Hansberry v. Lee, in 1940. Chicago-Kent professor
A. Dan Tarlock
teaches courses in property law. Professor Tarlock
is available to talk about the Supreme Court decision
and about racially restrictive covenants in Chicago
prior to 1948.
Robert S. Abbott graduated in 1898 from what is
now Chicago-Kent College of Law. Abbott was best
known for founding the Chicago
Defender in 1905 and expanding it into the
country's most influential African-American publication.
He is credited with focusing the nation's attention
on lynching, Jim Crow laws and racial discrimination.
The Defender, which
was outlawed in several states, encouraged African
Americans to leave the rural South for the urban North
in the early 20th century, giving rise to what was
called "The Great Migration." Chicago-Kent
has rededicated a scholarship to honor Abbott. The
scholarship provides funding for law students from
underrepresented minority groups. Richard Van Hees,
assistant dean for institutional advancement, is available
for interviews about the program.
On the Downtown Campus:
March 5: "NAFTA in a WTO World: The Future
of Regional Agreements in a Multilateral Trading Environment"
is the topic of a program cosponsored by the Global
Law and Policy Initiative at Chicago-Kent College
of Law, the Canadian Consulate, the Mexican Consulate,
the United Nations Association, the Better World Campaign,
Global Chicago and the Chicago Council on Foreign
Relations. The event is free and open to the public,
but reservations are required. To RSVP or for more
information, please contact Nina Heard at (312) 906-5134
or nheard@kentlaw.edu.
March 11: "Hospitality Begins with a Quality
Union Contract: The Union's Role in Reviving the Industry"
is the topic of the fifth annual Distinguished Labor
Leader Lecture delivered by John W. Wilhelm,
president, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees
International Union, AFL-CIO. The program, which is
free and open to the public, will be held in the Gov.
Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium. The Distinguished Labor
Leader Lecture series presents addresses by leading
labor leaders on critical issues in the workplace.
The program is co-sponsored by the Chicago Federation
of Labor, AFL-CIO and Chicago-Kent's Institute for
Law and the Workplace. For more information, call
(312) 906-5090 or visit www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle
on the Web.
March 27-28: 20th annual conference on Section 1983
Civil Rights Litigation. This two-day seminar
provides a comprehensive update, presented by leading
practitioners and legal scholars, on liability arising
out of Section 1983 and other civil rights statutes.
Police misconduct litigation, sexual harassment, municipal
liability, land use regulation, the Americans with
Disabilities Act, and recent cases before the U.S.
Supreme Court are among the topics to be explored.
For more information, call (312) 906-5090 or visit
www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle/
on the Web.
--DTC--
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