For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, PLANNING, BUSINESS, POLITICAL, BOOK, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO–April 25, 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.
Helping people with criminal records overcome legal barriers to gainful employment is the focus of a two-day conference sponsored by the American Bar Association. (See below.) Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, Memphis mayor Willie Herenton, former Illinois Governor Jim Thompson, policymakers, experts in the labor market and criminal justice system, and others will convene at Chicago-Kent to explore how imprisonment affects employment prospects for people with criminal records and how the challenge of finding work after incarceration affects recidivism. Although the conference is sponsored by the ABA’s Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions, Chicago-Kent experts are available for background interviews on several issues that will be covered. Dean Harold J. Krent, an expert on privacy issues, can discuss issues related to the public release of criminal records. Professor Richard Gonzalez of Chicago-Kent’s Center for Law and the Workplace is a former administrative law judge for the State of Illinois Human Rights Commission, can discuss employment discrimination issues.
Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform this week held hearings about misleading information circulated by the military following the death of Army Ranger Specialist Pat Tillman in Afghanistan in 2004, and after the capture and rescue of Army Private Jessica Lynch in Iraq in 2003. Early reports indicated Tillman, who left a lucrative professional football career to join the Army’s Special Forces, died in combat with enemy forces and saving his men. He was later awarded the Silver Star which is awarded “for gallantry in action against an enemy.” It was later learned that Tillman was killed by friendly fire. A ranger who served with Tillman testified that he was ordered not to reveal the circumstances of Tillman’s death to his family. Army PFC Jessica Lynch was a member of the 507th Maintenance Company when her supply convoy made a wrong turn into an ambush in Iraq. Eleven were killed and Lynch was among five soldiers taken prisoner. Lynch was rescued and stories portrayed her as a heroine who fought capture. Lynch testified that she never fired her weapon and was knocked unconscious during the crash of her vehicle. Military law expert and Chicago-Kent professor Michael I. Spak 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.
Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher was fined $100,000 by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for wearing a baseball cap with the logo of a company that is not an official league corporate partner during a press conference before the Super Bowl. The fine, which was levied last week, is the latest in a series of disciplinary actions handed down by the commissioner. Adam “Pacman” Jones of the Tennessee Titans was suspended for the entire 2007 season and Cincinnati Bengals’ player Chris Henry received an eight-game suspension for repeated violations of the league’s personal conduct policy. The commissioner also warned officials of all 32 teams against leaking confidential information about current and prospective players. Sports attorney and adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham is available for interviews about the NFL’s crackdown on players’ behavior and disciplinary issues within professional sports.
Google is the world’s most powerful brand, according to a recent survey released by consultants Millward Brown Optimor in conjunction with Financial Times. The report values the search engine firm’s brand value at $66.4 billion. Other brands in the top ten include General Electric, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, China Mobile, Marlboro, Wal-Mart, Citi, IBM and Toyota. What makes a brand powerful? Stuart School of Business professor Joel D. Goldhar is an expert in branding issues.
Downtown Campus Events:
April 26-27: 24th 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.
April 30-May 1: Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley will deliver the keynote address at 8:45 a.m. on the second day of “Overcoming Legal Barriers to Reentry,” the spring conference of the ABA Commission on Effective Criminal Sanctions. Participants will discuss the impact of laws and policies that limit employment prospects of persons with criminal records. Panel discussions will examine the employer’s and employee’s perspectives, the balance between the public’s right to information and policy interests that encourage successful reentry, and the risks and rewards of encouraging elected officials to support reentry initiatives. Former Illinois Governor James R. Thompson and George Washington University law professor Stephen A. Saltzburg co-chair the ABA commission. Attendance is free, but advance registration is required. Details of the program and a complete list of conference participants are available at http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/calendar/cecsspringconference.pdf. This program is co-sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Chicago Metropolis 2020, the Safer Foundation and the ABA Criminal Justice Section. News media representatives are welcome to attend the conference, but ABA press credentials are required. To register as media, please contact Nancy Cowger Slonim, (312) 988-6132 or slonimn@staff.abanet.org.
May 3-4: 26th annual Federal Tax Institute. Hon. Eric Solomon, assistant secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, will be the luncheon speaker on the second day of the institute to discuss current developments at the Treasury Department. This two-day program brings together nationally recognized tax advisors to provide a comprehensive update on recent developments and their impact on tax planning, compliance and controversy techniques. For more information, call (312) 906-5090.
May 20: Chicago-Kent Commencement. Illinois Supreme Court and Chicago-Kent alumna Anne M. Burke will deliver the commencement address at Chicago-Kent College of Law’s 2007 ceremonies. Commencement ceremonies begin at 2 p.m. and will be held in the Arie Crown Theatre at McCormick Place’s Lakeside Center, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive, in Chicago. Approximately 385 students are expected to receive Juris Doctor degrees, and 45 Master of Laws degrees will be conferred.
May 21: Who Owns Your Body?: Legal and Social Issues in Michael Crichton’s Next. Best-selling author Michael Crichton and a panel of experts from the legal, judiciary, medical, bioethics and social science communities will convene at Chicago-Kent to explore a variety of thought-provoking questions raised in Crichton’s latest techno-thriller Next. The novel presents a genetics industry that Crichton says is “fast, furious and out of control.” In Next, the author imagines a world in which blondes are threatened by extinction and it is possible to design one’s pets. And, while tissue donors and their families are not yet being pursued by bounty hunters intent upon harvesting genes for biotech companies, there are battles currently being waged in the courts and the U.S. Congress that will determine who owns an individual’s genes and other body parts. Mr. Crichton will speak from 4 to 5 p.m.
The program is free and open to the public, but registration is required. However, for Illinois lawyers seeking mandatory continuing legal education credit (4.0 hours), a $20 fee applies. To register and for more information, please visit www.whoownsyourbody.org.
–DTC–
|
