For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS, AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, BUSINESS, POLITICAL, SPORTS, INTERNATIONAL, PLANNING, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO–November 24, 2008–Chicago-Kent College of Law and Stuart School of Business have experts available to discuss current issues. To reach experts on IIT’s Downtown Campus, please call Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, at (312) 906-5251. The office will be closed November 27 and 28 for the Thanksgiving holiday. Press releases and earlier advisories are available on our Web site: www.kentlaw.edu/news/advisory.
An application from media mogul Conrad Black is among the more than 2,300 requests the Bush administration has received for pardons and commutations. Black, former chairman of Hollister International Inc. (now Sun-Times Media Group), was convicted of mail and wire fraud and obstruction of justice in July 2007 and sentenced to 78 months in a federal prison. Black was not among the 14 pardons and two commutations granted by President Bush on Monday. There is a backlog in the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney due to the high volume of applications received and the transfer in February 2008 of pardon attorney Roger Adams after complaints of mismanagement, racism and retaliation. However, the president has the authority to grant pardons without an application on file. Chicago-Kent Dean Harold J. Krent is a constitutional scholar and the author of Presidential Powers (New York University Press 2005). Dean Krent is available for interviews about presidential pardons.
Pirates have hijacked 30 ships off the coast of Somalia this year. On November 15, Somali pirates hijacked the Sirius Star, a Saudi Arabian tanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil and more than two dozen crew members. Last week the pirates demanded a $25 million ransom from the Sirius Star’s owners for return of the ship and its cargo and crew. Human rights expert and professor Bartram S. Brown is co-director of Chicago-Kent’s Program in International and Comparative Law. Professor Brown is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the board of directors of Amnesty International USA. He participated in the 1998 Rome Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court as legal adviser to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and in 1999 and 2000. Professor Brown was a public member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Professor Brown is available for interviews about international piracy.
In a cost-cutting measure, General Motors has cancelled its endorsement deal with Tiger Woods one year before the contract was due to end. Since 2000 Woods has been the celebrity endorser for Buick, which lost nearly 25 percent in sales during the first 10 months of this year. GM announced the end of the relationship between the cash-strapped automaker and the ailing golfer due to the need for "budget efficiencies during a difficult economy." General Motors will continue its interest in golf through its sponsorship of the Buick Open and Buick Invitational golf tournaments. Stuart School of Business professor Joel Goldhar, an expert on branding issues, is available for interviews. Also available is sports attorney and Chicago-Kent adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham.
As first lady, Michelle Obama has expressed an interest in working on issues related to military spouses whose loved ones have been deployed and how women balance work and family issues. Military law expert and Chicago-Kent professor Michael I. Spak is a co-author of Servicemember's Legal Guide: Everything You and Your Family Need to Know about the Law. He is available for interviews. Professor Martin H. Malin, director of Chicago-Kent’s Institute for Law and the Workplace, is also available for interviews.
A federal judge in San Francisco has dismissed five of 14 counts against Barry Bonds. The former San Francisco Giants outfielder was indicted last year by a federal grand jury for perjury and obstruction of justice. Bonds, who surpassed Hank Aaron’s home run record in August of 2007 to become professional baseball’s home run record holder, was accused of lying to a grand jury in the BALCO steroids case in 2003. U.S. District Court judge Susan Illston ruled that four perjury charges were redundant, vague or couldn’t lead to a conviction. The fifth count may be recharged due to a typo in the indictment. Bonds is scheduled to go on trial in March 2009. Sports attorney and adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham, the author of Larceny & Old Leather: The Mischievous Legacy of Major League Baseball, is available for interviews. Also available is professor David S. Rudstein, a die-hard baseball fan who teaches and writes in the fields of criminal law and criminal procedure.
November is Native American Heritage Month. Chicago-Kent has experts available to discuss a number of legal issues related to the Native American experience. They include:
- Professor Mark D. Rosen, who is available to discuss tribal courts and the Indian Civil Rights Act;
- Professor Sarah K. Harding, who is available to discuss the repatriation of Native American artifacts by cultural institutions and others; and
- Professor A. Dan Tarlock, who is available to discuss U.S. v. Navajo Nation, a case that currently is before the U.S. Supreme Court. The case involves a dispute over how the U.S. government has handled its fiduciary responsibilities to the Navajo Nation as related to royalties on coal leases.
Downtown Campus Events:
December 11: 2008 Chicago-Kent Alumni Awards and Recognition Luncheon. Sportscaster and alumnus Bruce Wolf ’81 will serve as master of ceremonies as Chicago-Kent College of Law honors six law school alumni for their professional service and achievement. Dina Merrell ’95, associate director of the Chicago Bar Foundation, and Mary Anne Smith ’77, vice president and general counsel of Illinois Institute of Technology, will receive Distinguished Service Awards. Bruce Kohen ’79, managing partner at Anesi Ozmon Rodin Novak & Kohen Ltd., and Michael Marick ’82, partner at Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson LLP, will receive Professional Achievement Awards. Mark Cumba ’98, associate at Wilson Petty Kosmo & Turner LLP, and Margaret Firnstein ’99, associate at SmithAmundsen LLC, will receive Young Alumni Awards. The law firm of Franczek Radelet & Rose PC will receive the first Chicago-Kent College of Law Institutional Partner Award for its significant impact on the law school and the lives of alumni and students by furthering the growth and development of Chicago-Kent. Dozens of volunteers who have given their time to support law school endeavors during the past two years will also be recognized at the event. The event will be held at the Standard Club, 320 South Plymouth Court, in Chicago. The reception will begin at 11:30 a.m.; the luncheon will begin at noon. To register or for more information, please call (312) 906-5245 or visit www.kentlaw.edu/depts/alums/lunch/ on the Web.
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