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–September 12, 2006–Chicago-Kent College of Law and Stuart School of Business have experts available to discuss current issues. To reach any of our experts, call Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, at (312) 906-5251. Press releases and earlier advisories are available on our Web site: www.kentlaw.edu/news/advisory.
"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." A new report by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network on the federal law regarding gays in the armed services indicates an increase in the number of personnel discharged for violating the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy. For example, Illinois’ Great Lakes Naval Training Center and its hospital accounted for 22 of the Navy’s 177 dismissals last year for violating the policy. That compares with 17 discharges in 2004 for violating the policy. The report also says that although women make up only 15 percent of service personnel, they account for 30 percent of the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" related discharges. Last month, three Northwestern University student-activists tried to enlist in the Army Reserve to challenge the policy. The students were turned away by recruiters who cited Army rule 4-24, which prohibits applicants who reveal they are gay. Professor Michael I. Spak, an expert on military law, is available for interviews. Professor Spak served on active duty with the U.S. Army in the Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1963 to 1969 and has remained in the U.S. Army Reserve. As Colonel Spak, he is currently liaison officer of the Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia. Professor Spak is the author of law review articles The U.S. Military Should Give Up Its Excuses and Change Its Policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" to a Policy of Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Don't Ask (and) Don't Tell Don't Work: Now What?.
September 23-30 is Banned Books Week. Established in 1982, Banned Books Week calls attention to freedom of expression issues related to banned and challenged books in America. A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials. Banned Books Week is observed the last week in September and is co-sponsored by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the National Association of College Stores. Chicago-Kent experts are available to discuss censorship issues.
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; asylees; 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.
Downtown Campus Events
September 13: Chicago-Kent’s 2006 Centennial Lecture. Professor Hendrik Hartog, Class of 1921 Bicentennial Professor in the History of American Law and Liberty, professor of history and director of the Program in American Studies at Princeton University, will address the topic "Planning for Old Age: The Work of Promises Before Social Security." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 3 p.m. in the Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium. For more information, contact Tasha Kincade at (312) 906-5006.
September 13: An Evening with Dr. Deborah E. Lipstadt, director of the Rabbi Donald A. Tam Institute for Jewish Studies and Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Dr. Lipstadt, a historian and leading authority on Holocaust denial, will discuss her six-year legal battle with Holocaust denier David Irving that resulted in a landmark libel case in England. She will sign copies of her book, History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving. This program is sponsored by the Holocaust Remembrance Board, the young leadership group of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. The lecture will begin at 7 p.m., with a book signing immediately following. There is a $20 fee to attend the lecture and reservations are required. For more information, contact Julie Avchen at javachen@hmfi.org or call (847) 491-0905.
September 15: The Future of Judicial Selection in Illinois. Should the judicial selection system in Illinois be reformed? If so, how can reform be accomplished and what form should it take? These are among the questions a panel of experts will consider in a discussion sponsored by the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Chicago Law Chapter of the American Constitution Society. Panelists include: Hon. Benjamin Miller, former chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court; Cook County Board Commissioner Larry Suffredin; Lonny Ogus and Zeophus Williams, Chicago attorneys and co-chairs of the Alliance of Bar Associations for Judicial Screening; Shira Goodman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts; Deborah Goldberg of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law; and Rachel Caufield of the American Judicature Society, Drake University. The program, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the 10th floor event room. RSVPs are required no later than September 13 to Chicago@acslaw.org.
September 21: "Shifting Strategies in Labor Relations" is the theme of Chicago-Kent College of Law's 24th annual Federal Sector Labor Relations and Labor Law Program. The keynote panel will discuss the impact of the new Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense personnel systems, which have been the subject of recent litigation. Martin H. Malin, Chicago-Kent professor and director of the Institute for Law and the Workplace, will moderate a discussion on the status of these regulations and their implications for labor relations in a time of legal uncertainty. Panelists include George Nesterczuk, former senior advisor, U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and Robert M. Tobias, director of public sector executive programs and director of the Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation at American University. Merit Systems Protection Board vice chair Mary M. Rose will reflect on her agency’s priorities and trends in her luncheon address. Sponsored by Chicago-Kent's Institute for Law and the Workplace, the program is the longest running conference on federal sector and postal labor relations and labor law held outside of Washington, D.C. For more information, call (312) 906-5090.
September 29: "The War on Terror, the Press and the Constitution." Panelists Hon. Abner J. Mikva, Frank Mankiewicz and Peter Slevin will discuss First Amendment issues related to media reporting on the "War on Terror." Judge Mikva currently is Schwartz lecturer and senior director of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic of the University of Chicago Law School. He has served as a member of Congress, as chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and as White House Counsel to President Clinton. Frank Mankiewicz has served as president of National Public Radio, vice-chairman of Hill & Knowlton, campaign manager for 1972 Presidential nominee George McGovern, and press secretary to the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Peter Slevin is a Chicago correspondent for the Washington Post. The program, which will begin at 2 p.m., is free and open to the public. A reception will follow at 3:15 p.m. The program is sponsored by the Chicago-Kent Chapter of the American Constitution Society. For more information, call (312) 906-5192.
–DTC–
|
