For more information, please contact:
Gwen Osborne, director of public affairs, (312) 906-5251
ADVISORY TO PRODUCERS, COLUMNISTS, AND ASSIGNMENT, LEGAL, BUSINESS, POLITICAL, PLANNING, CITY DESK, FEATURES AND DAYBOOK EDITORS
CHICAGO--October 5, 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, 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.
The U.S. Supreme Court reconvenes for its 2009-10 term this week. Constitutional scholar and Distinguished Professor Sheldon H. Nahmod is available for interviews about the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court term. He can also discuss the Roberts court, highlights of the 2008-09 term and important issues facing the justices.
During its first week, the U.S. Supreme Court docket includes oral arguments on cases related to animal cruelty, religious symbols on public property and the settlement of copyright disputes. Chicago-Kent experts are available for comment.
There are two Illinois cases on the U.S. Supreme Court docket.
- McDonald v. City of Chicago is an attempt to overturn the city's handgun ban. The justices will consider whether the Second Amendment protection of the right "to keep and bear arms" extends to municipal and state laws. Professor Steven J. Heyman is available to discuss this case and the court's 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, which struck down a ban on handguns and automatic weapons in Washington, D.C., and opened the door for the challenges to Chicago's handgun law. Professor Heyman is available for interviews.
- Lewis v. City of Chicago. In 2005, a federal trial court ruled that the city violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by using a firefighter hiring exam that illegally discriminated against a class of more than 6,000 African Americans who applied for firefighter positions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the court on a technicality, stating that the plaintiffs filed their EEOC claims too late. The discrimination aspects of the case are not at issue before the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices are examining the Seventh Circuit's interpretation of EEOC filing requirements and must decide whether plaintiffs must file EEOC charges within 300 days after the announcement of the practice or within 300 days after the employer's use of the discriminatory practice. Professor Carolyn Shapiro is available for interviews.
Are professional sports leagues exempt from antitrust regulations? Should the NFL be considered a single entity or 32 disparate entities? The court is asked to consider these questions in American Needle v. National Football League. Sports attorney and adjunct professor Eldon L. Ham is available to discuss this case.
In Jones v. Harris Associates, the court will address the ability of investors to challenge mutual fund fees as excessive under the federal Investment Company Act. "This is a tremendously important case involving the way in which more than 50 million American households invest almost $10 trillion in investment funds," says Chicago-Kent Professor William A. Birdthistle, who wrote two amicus briefs in the case. "At the lower level, Judges Easterbrook and Posner of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit vociferously disagreed about the competitiveness of the mutual fund industry, a question which the Supreme Court will now have to resolve," adds Professor Birdthistle. He is available for interviews about the case.
Late-night talk show host David Letterman's televised revelation last week that he had affairs with his female staffers has fueled debate about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace. Professor Mary Rose Strubbe, assistant director of Chicago-Kent's Institute for Law and the Workplace, can discuss inappropriate behavior and what constitutes sexual harassment. Professor Strubbe is principal author and editor-in-chief of the 1999 supplement to Sexual Harassment in Employment Law.
At Chicago-Kent:
Professor Martin H. Malin, director of Chicago-Kent's Institute for Law and the Workplace, has been appointed by President Barack Obama as a member of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP). The Federal Service Impasses Panel is the agency that intervenes when an agency of the federal government and a union representing that agency's employees are unable to reach agreement on the terms of their new collective bargaining agreement under the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and the Federal Employees Flexible and Compressed Work Schedules Act. If bargaining between the parties, followed by mediation assistance, is unsuccessful, the FSIP has the authority to recommend procedures and to take whatever action it deems necessary to resolve the impasse. The seven FSIP members are presidential appointees who serve on a part-time basis. A member of the Chicago-Kent faculty since 1980, Professor Malin teaches courses in labor law, collective bargaining, arbitration, public sector labor law, employment law, contracts and jurisprudence. He has published five books, including Public Sector Employment: Cases and Materials (West 2004), the leading law school casebook on public sector labor law. Professor Malin has also written more than 60 articles on labor law and dispute resolution. http://www.kentlaw.edu/news/releases/malin_fsip2009.html
Downtown Campus Events:
October 7: Hispanic-Latino Law Students Association's 5th annual Judge's Night. The Honorable Ruben Castillo, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, will be honored for his dedication to public service and to the Hispanic-Latino community. Judge Castillo has served as a federal district court judge since 1994. From 1991 to 1994, he was a partner in the Chicago office of Kirkland & Ellis. He also served as regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund from 1988 to 1991. Judge Castillo served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois between 1984 and 1988, and was previously with the firm of Jenner & Block. He is an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Northwestern University School of Law, where he has taught since 1988. Judge Castillo received a B.A. degree from Loyola University of Chicago, and a J.D. degree from Northwestern University School of Law, where he served on the editorial board of the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Judge Castillo has been involved in the criminal justice system since 1978, when he was appointed as a deputy clerk for the local criminal courts, a position he maintained throughout college and law school. In 1999, Judge Castillo was appointed to serve as the vice chair of the United States Sentencing Commission, an independent seven-person commission that sets sentencing policy for all federal crimes. To R.S.V.P. or for more information, please contact Crystal Correa, ccorrea@kentlaw.edu.
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