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--March 27, 2006--Chicago-Kent College of Law, the Stuart Graduate School
of Business and the Center for 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/advisory.
Immigration reform: The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a bill that may lead to U.S. citizenship for approximately 11 million of the nation’s illegal immigrants. Persons who were in the country prior to 2004 would be allowed to get temporary work visas, if they clear criminal background checks and pay a $1,000 fine. After six years, they would be eligible for permanent legal residence, if they learn English and pay back taxes and another $1,000 fine. H.R. 4437, the House’s controversial immigration reform bill passed last December, has set off a wave of protests throughout the country. That measure would make it a felony to be illegally in the U.S. and would erect fences along one-third of the U.S.-Mexican border. In addition, new penalties would be imposed on companies that hire illegal immigrants and on agencies or groups that provide services to illegals. Professor Matthew I. Bernstein oversees Chicago-Kent’s Immigration Law Clinic. (See below)
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer has unseated two jurors deliberating in the case against former Illinois governor George Ryan and co-defendant Larry Warner and replaced them with alternates. Judge Pallmeyer will re-instruct the entire jury and it will begin deliberations anew. Chicago-Kent professor Nancy S. Marder, who teaches a course on juries, judges and trials, has written extensively about the American jury system. Professor Marder, the author of The Jury Process, is available for interviews. Chicago-Kent professors Douglas W. Godfrey and Richard S. Kling are also available for interviews. Professor Godfrey is a former prosecutor; Professor Kling is a criminal defense attorney.
The Chicago White Sox will begin defense of its World Series championship April 2 against the Cleveland Indians as the 2006 Major League Baseball season starts. On the following day, President Bush will throw out the first pitch as the Chicago Cubs open their season against the Cincinnati Reds. Adjunct professor and sports attorney Eldon L. Ham, the author of Larceny & Old Leather: The Mischievous Legacy Of Major League Baseball, is available for interviews about the 2006 season and about the continuing steroid controversy.
The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum opens on Michigan Avenue April 11. The 10,000 square-foot museum was built to commemorate the McCormick Tribune Foundation’s 50th anniversary. Its aim is "to help visitors recognize the many facets of our democratic process, while promoting a sense of civic responsibility and championing our unalienable rights as guaranteed by the First Amendment." A recent survey conducted by the Foundation revealed that more Americans can name the members of the animated Simpson family than can name the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. Constitutional scholars are available for interviews about First Amendment issues.
The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) insurgency provides useful insight on the Iraqi insurgency, says Professor Henry H. Perritt, Jr., the author of the forthcoming book, Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency. Professor Perritt, who analyzed the KLA insurgency and its impact against the backdrop of the theoretical literature about insurgencies, says "The KLA was one of the most successful, but also one of the shortest, insurgencies in the 20th century. There are lessons to be learned."
Second-year Chicago-Kent students Joel Roberson and Susan Clark spent their spring break working as volunteers with the Mississippi Center for Justice, where they focused on housing issues for Gulf Coast residents impacted by Hurricane Katrina. Joel and Susan are back from Mississippi and are available for interviews.
Chicago-Kent’s Immigration Law Clinic is seeking those who need legal assistance with immigration, asylum and nationality matters. The clinic is supervised by Professor Matthew I. Bernstein, whose practice includes advising corporations, nonprofit organizations and individuals in all areas of immigration law, including professionals; aliens of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts and business; individuals seeking immigration benefits for family members; and individuals threatened with removal from the United States by the government. Professor Bernstein is available for interviews about the Immigration Law Clinic. He is also available to speak with organizations about immigration issues.
Chicago-Kent's Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic is seeking taxpayers who have disputes with the IRS. Those who meet certain income criteria may qualify for free assistance with their tax disputes. Students work under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Decatorsmith. More information about the program is available on the Web site. Professor Decatorsmith is available for interviews about the program, but is unable to answer media queries for current tax filing stories.
Downtown Campus Events
March 30: "The Third Reich and the Legal Profession" is the topic of a lecture by historian William Meinecke of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). Meinecke will discuss the response of the German legal community to the end of democracy and the Nazi rise to power in 1933 and the integration of non-Nazi legal professionals into the Nazi system of law. The program, which is free and open to the public, is part of a series of symposia co-sponsored by the Chicago Bar Association, Chicago Public Library and USHMM to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg war crimes trials and "to examine the Trials’ lasting effects on justice and how we can utilize that vision in today’s world." It will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium. For more information visit: www.chicagobar.org/nurembergevent.
April 4: The 17th annual Henry Morris Lecture in International and Comparative Law. Mitsuo Matsushita, professor emeritus of law at Tokyo University and of counsel to Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu, will address the topic "Decision-Making in the WTO." The lecture series is funded by the Henry Morris Endowment, established in memory of Henry Crittendon Morris, who graduated from Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1889. Mr. Morris enjoyed a distinguished career as an international lawyer and diplomat. The program, which is free and open to the public, begins at noon. For more information, call (312) 906-5090.
April 6: "From Tel Aviv to Ramallah: A Beatbox Journey" is an hour-long hip-hop play about the lives of young people affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict written by Professor Rachel Havrelock of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). As part of the new UIC/Chicago-Kent Muslim Jewish Initiative, JAMS (Jewish Arab Muslim Students) was formed to create an atmosphere of dialogue and to produce campus events focused on the Middle East and Muslim, Arab and Jewish identities. JAMS is presenting this performance of Havrelock’s award-winning play starring Yuri Lane and Sharif Ezzat, a Jewish-Arab performance team. The program is free and open to the public. It will begin at 7 p.m. in room L285 of the Education, Performing Arts and Social Work Building, 1040 W. Harrison Street on the UIC Campus. For additional information about the play visit www.yurilane.com. For more information about the performance, call (312) 413-9464.
April 7: "From Ancient Persia to Abu Ghraib: Comparative Observations on Empire, Religion, and Torture" is the topic of a lecture by Bruce Lincoln, the Caroline E. Haskell Professor of the History of Religions at the University of Chicago. Professor Lincoln is the author of Holy Terrors: Thinking about Religion after September 11. Sponsored by Chicago-Kent’s Institute for Law and the Humanities, this program is the last in its "Law, Fundamentalism and Democracy" series. The program, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 2 p.m. in the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Courtroom. For more information, contact Professor Sarah Harding, (312) 906-5227.
April 20-21: George K. Yin, Howard W. Smith Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law, will deliver the luncheon keynote address on the first day of Chicago-Kent’s 25th annual Federal Tax Institute. He will address the topic "Prospects for Budget Control and Tax Reform." Professor Yin, who headed the staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation from 2003 to 2005, will share his insights regarding the likelihood of budget control and tax reform legislation in view of the current state of the law and legislative process. The two-day program also will review recent developments in tax law, and participants will discuss tax planning for multinational corporations, corporate taxation and executive compensation issues. For more information, call (312) 906-5090.
April 27-28: 23rd 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, sexual harassment, municipal liability, individual immunities and procedural defenses, and recent and forthcoming cases before the U.S. Supreme Court are among the topics to be explored. For more information, call (312) 906-5090.
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