For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS, AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, PLANNING, BOOK, INTERNATIONAL, SPORTS, BUSINESS, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO–January 28, 2008–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.
Illinois voters will go to the polls February 5. More and more candidates are using the Internet to get their messages to potential voters and donors. How can online visitors protect their privacy and verify that the sites are legitimate? Chicago-Kent professor Richard Warner is available for interviews.
Text messages sent between Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff Christine Beatty have disclosed the nature of their long-term affair as well as the fact the two may have perjured themselves in sworn testimony given during a whistle-blowing suit filed by two former Detroit police officers. Kilpatrick and Beatty sent more than 14,000 text messages via specialized messaging devices provided to large corporations and governmental units. What are an individual’s reasonable expectations that their text message transmissions will remain private? Chicago-Kent Dean Harold J. Krent, an expert in personal privacy issues, says "Personal communication is so vital that most of us ignore the dangers of the media in which it takes place. The general rule is that employers can access phone records, e-mail and text messages as long as they have provided the means of communication."
Whole Foods will discontinue the use of disposable plastic grocery bags effective April 22. The grocery store chain last week announced it would stop distributing the bags on Earth Day 2008 to protect the environment, encourage shoppers to adopt "the reusable bag mindset," and conserve resources. Professor George P. Nassos, director of the Stuart School of Business’ Center for Sustainable Enterprise and an expert on environmental management, is available for interviews.
Age discrimination in employment. The U.S. Supreme Court next month will hear oral arguments in a case that will determine whether the federal government is immune from liability for retaliating against employees who file claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA). Chicago-Kent professor Howard C. Eglit is a nationally known expert in elder law issues. Professor Eglit is the author of a three-volume treatise titled Age Discrimination and a book, Elders on Trial: Age and Ageism in the American Legal System.
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.
Downtown Campus Events:
January 28: Inaugural Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize Lecture. Constitutional scholars and co-authors David D. Cole and Jules L. Lobel will discuss their award-winning book, Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror. Their book is a critical analysis of the civil liberties and geopolitical implications of the Bush administration’s "war on terror."
Georgetown University law professor Cole represents immigrants and U.S. citizens in cases involving claims of national security and terrorism and has litigated several major First Amendment cases. University of Pittsburgh law professor Lobel is an expert in emergency powers and the laws governing wars and has litigated major cases involving the application of international law in American courts, executive abuse of power, and infringement of civil liberties. Professors Cole and Lobel will speak in the Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Courtroom from 2 to 3 p.m. A reception and book signing will be held immediately following the lecture.
The Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize was established in 2007 by Chicago-Kent alumnus Roy C. Palmer ’62 and his wife, Susan, to honor an exemplary work of scholarship exploring the tension between civil liberties and national security in contemporary American society. For more information, contact Tasha Kincade, (312) 906-5006.
January 30: Defending the Damned: An Inside Look at the Cook County Public Defender’s Murder Task Force by author-journalist Kevin Davis is the topic of a panel discussion featuring Davis and assistant Cook County public defenders Woodward Jordan, Ruth McBeth, Marijane Placek, and Robert Strunck ’79. Davis’ true-crime book focuses on the 2001 shooting of undercover Chicago police officer Eric Lee and its aftermath. The book also tells the stories of Aloysius Oliver, who was accused of the murder, and of the attorneys in the Murder Task Force who are assigned to represent defendants accused of capital crimes. The program, which is sponsored by the Chicago-Kent Chapter of the American Constitution Society, will begin at 4 p.m. in the 10th floor event room. A book signing and reception will follow the panel discussion. For more information, contact Professor Daniel Hamilton at (312) 906-5192.
February 13: Paul Finkelman, the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy and senior fellow in the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, will address the topic "Regulating the African Slave Trade" in the 10th floor event room at 3 p.m. For more information, contact Professor Daniel Hamilton at (312) 906-5192.
February 27: "Chicago Lawyers in Chicago History" is the topic of a lecture by Chicago History Museum president and attorney Gary T. Johnson. Johnson spent more than 28 years as a lawyer and partner in the Chicago offices of two global law firms, Mayer Brown LLP and Jones Day. He has also served as co-chair of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and continues to serve on its executive committee. The program, which is sponsored by Chicago-Kent’s Institute for Law and the Humanities, will begin at 3 p.m. For more information, contact Professor Daniel Hamilton, (312) 906-5192.
February 29: "Navigating the ILSVP Process." This one-day continuing legal education program for judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys will focus on Illinois’ Sexually Violent Persons Act. Sessions will include information on the Illinois Department of Corrections’ evaluation criteria for potential SVP (sexually violent persons) respondents; Illinois Department of Human Services’ evaluation criteria and treatment standards; and treatment and detention facility policies and procedures. Speakers include Cook County Criminal Division presiding judge Paul P. Biebel Jr., Joelle Marasco, chief of the Illinois Attorney General’s Sexually Violent Persons Bureau, Illinois Department of Human Services associate director Dr. Guy C. Groot; Chicago-Kent professor Daniel Coyne; and Alyssa Williams, Illinois Department of Corrections’ coordinator for sex offender services. For more information, call (312) 906-5090 or visit www.kentlaw.edu/depts/cle/.
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