For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS, AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, PLANNING, INTERNATIONAL, BUSINESS, POLITICAL, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO–March 1, 2007–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.
March is Women's History Month. The Honorable Ilana Diamond Rovner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable Anne M. Burke of the Illinois Supreme Court's First District are among notable Chicago-Kent alumnae.
Chicago-Kent has legal scholars available to discuss landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions related to women's issues, including:
Loving v. Virginia -- In 1967, the court ruled that state laws prohibiting interracial marriages are unconstitutional.
Roe v. Wade -- In 1973, the court held that a woman's right to abortion is part of the constitutional right to privacy.
Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. LaFleur -- In 1974, the justices found that mandatory maternity leave rules established by the Ohio Public Schools for pregnant teachers violate constitutional guarantees of due process.
Johnson v. Transportation Agency -- In 1987, the justices said a California county transportation agency appropriately took into account an employee's sex as one factor in determining whether she should be promoted and that by doing so did not prevent the promotion of men by creating a quota system.
Oncale v. Sundowner Offshore Serv. Inc. -- In 1987, the court held that those who make sex discrimination claims do not have to be members of the opposite sex and that same-sex sexual harassment may form the basis for a valid claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools -- In 1992, the justices ruled that monetary damages were permissible in a case brought under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and involving sexual harassment and abuse by a Georgia teacher.
Burlington Industries Inc. v. Ellerth -- In 1998, the court decided that an employee who refused unwelcome and threatening sexual advances of a supervisor, but suffered no real job consequences, may recover against the employer without showing that the employer was at fault for the supervisor's actions.
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton -- In 1998, the justices said an employer may be liable for sexual discrimination caused by a supervisor, but liability depends on the reasonableness of the employer's conduct, as well as the reasonableness of the claimant's conduct.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Congressman Marty Meehan (D-MA), chair of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, has re-introduced legislation to repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on lesbian, gay and bisexual military personnel. The new measure has the support of the 110 original co-sponsors. The "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was initiated as a result of a campaign promise made by presidential candidate Bill Clinton, who pledged to lift the ban on homosexuals serving in the military. The policy, drafted by Colin Powell, then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is a compromise that was enacted into law in 1993. Professor Michael I. Spak, an expert on military law, served on active duty with the U.S. Army from 1963 to 1969 and has remained in the U.S. Army Reserves. As Colonel Spak, he is currently liaison officer of the Judge Advocate General's School in Charlottesville, Virginia, which covers a seven-state area. Professor Spak is the author of the law review article Don't Ask (and) Don't Tell Don't Work: Now What?.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade shareholders will vote April 4 on the proposed merger between the two exchanges. The Justice Department is investigating the $8.7 billion deal that would involve approximately 90 percent of U.S. futures market transactions for antitrust implications. In addition to regulatory approval, shareholders and CBOT members must give their approval. Professor Michael Gorham, director of IIT's Stuart School of Business Center for Financial Markets, is available for interviews. Professor Gorham served as the first director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's new Division of Market Oversight, a division of 100 economists, lawyers, futures trading specialists and others dedicated to the oversight of the nation's 12 futures exchanges.
Downtown Campus Events:
March 7: "Muslim-Jewish Dialogue and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" is the topic of a lecture by Judea Pearl, computer science professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and the father of the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. The younger Pearl was abducted and murdered in Pakistan early in 2002 while investigating links between Al Qaeda and Pakista's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency. Following his death, Daniel Pearl's family and friends established the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which seeks to "promote cross-cultural understanding through journalism, music, and innovative communications." Professor Pearl, who serves as president of the foundation, travels and lectures extensively throughout the world to promote dialogue about conflict in the Middle East. This program, which will be held at 3 p.m. in the Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium, is free and open to the public. Following his remarks, Professor Pearl will sign copies of I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl. Edited by Professor Pearl and his wife, Ruth, the book is a compilation of expressions by 147 people on what being Jewish means to them. This program is sponsored by the Chicago-Kent/UIC Muslim-Jewish Initiative. Established in 2005, the initiative seeks to foster understanding by increasing intellectual interaction among Jewish and Muslim students at both schools. For more information, call (312) 906-5006.
March 21: "Pleading for the Future," a theatrical stage production based on the 1924 trial Illinois v. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, will be performed in the Governor Richard B. Ogilvie Auditorium. Famed attorney Clarence Darrow defended Leopold and Loeb, two wealthy Chicago teenagers tried for the murder of 11-year-old Bobby Franks. Darrow's closing argument is among the most famous in legal history. The script was adapted by Chicago-Kent adjunct professors Todd S. Parkhurst and William M. Hannay and alumnus Scott Petersen from actual court proceedings. The production is augmented by actual crime scene photos and music of the era. Parkhurst will deliver a condensed, 25-minute version of Darrow's closing argument and summation. The program, which begins at 5 p.m., is free and open to the public. For more information, contact call (312) 906-5005.
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