For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS, AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, BUSINESS, POLITICAL, INTERNATIONAL, PLANNING, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO–January 13, 2009–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, (312) 906-5251. Press releases and earlier advisories are available on our Web site: www.kentlaw.edu/news/advisory.
Blagojevich-appointee Roland W. Burris will occupy the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama despite weeks of controversy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) issued a joint statement saying they expect Burris to be sworn in and seated this week and "accorded all the rights and privileges of a senator-elect." Burris was appointed to the vacancy December 30 by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who weeks earlier was accused by federal authorities of attempting to "sell" the Senate seat. Testifying before an Illinois House committee last week considering impeaching the governor, Burris denied there was any "quid pro quo" surrounding his appointment. Burris was refused entry to the Senate on January 5 after the secretary of the Senate said Burris lacked the proper credentials to be seated since Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White refused to certify his appointment. The Illinois Supreme Court later ruled that White's certification was not necessary and Senate leaders relented. Chicago-Kent Dean Harold J. Krent and Professor Mark D. Rosen are available for interviews.
The Illinois House voted overwhelmingly last week to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The 114-1 vote was more than the 60 needed and makes Blagojevich the first governor in the state's history to be impeached. The upcoming trial in the Illinois Senate is the latest in a series of legal problems facing Blagojevich. The governor and his former chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested December 9 on federal corruption charges. Federal allegations include conspiring to "sell" the U.S. Senate appointment for the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama, "engaging in 'pay-to-play' schemes," and threatening to withhold state assistance to the Tribune Company for Wrigley Field unless certain Chicago Tribune editorial writers were fired. Chicago-Kent experts are available for interviews.
The governor has retained the services of a high-profile defense attorney to help him fight the federal criminal charges against him. Chicago-Kent experts can discuss potential defense and prosecution strategies. Professors and criminal defense attorneys Richard S. Kling and Daniel T. Coyne can discuss the constitutional tension between First Amendment freedom of the press guarantees and a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and a fair trial. Also available are Professor Douglas Wm. Godfrey, a former prosecutor with the Kings County (New York) District Attorney's Office, and David A. Erickson, a former prosecutor in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. Currently a senior lecturer and director of Chicago-Kent's Program in Criminal Litigation, David Erickson has also served as a felony trial court judge, a supervising judge in the criminal courts and an Illinois Appellate Court judge.
Confirmation hearings have begun this week for President-elect Barack Obama's nominees for Cabinet-level positions. Chicago-Kent Dean Harold J. Krent is a constitutional scholar and the author of Presidential Powers (New York University Press 2005). He is available for interviews about Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the president power to appoint his Cabinet with the "advice and consent of the Senate," and about the separation of powers.
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