DePaul Law News

Students learn about public interest work in the field of disability law

A room full of students listened to Professor Mark Weber speak about his rich and varied experience with the field of disability law. The discussion was part of the monthly panel series organized by the Center for Public Interest Law (CPIL). Professor Weber is one of the national experts on disability law and has written the only textbook on the subject. He began his work in the field through a clinical program in law school that allowed him to represent patients in a mental hospital. He then worked as a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, where he represented parents of children with disabilities. 

Students learned about the many issues affecting those with disabilities, particularly the watering down of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Professor Weber described how people with disabilities face discrimination from landlords and other building owners who fail to provide reasonable accommodations, as the ADA requires. Students provided a lively discussion during the question-and-answer period, asking about various issues, such as special needs students being violently restrained in the classroom by teachers. In some cases, special needs students have died from being restrained so aggressively. Professor Weber mentioned that H.R. 4247 "Keep All Students Safe Act" would address this issue and hopefully provide a working solution.

Finally, Professor Weber spoke about the various public interest job positions within disability law. Most practitioners start, as he did, within an organization like the Legal Assistance Foundation or the Public Guardian's Office. Other public interest organizations include Equip for Equality, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Attorney General's Office within their Disabilities Rights Division. Many students at the event showed interest in the field. Hopefully, the economy will recover enough so that more jobs will be available to them when they graduate.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Theis to speak with DePaul students

What happens behind the scenes of the Supreme Court? What important details make or break a brief?

On Wednesday, November 2, the DePaul Criminal Appeals Clinic's special guest speaker Justice Mary Jane Theis of the Illinois Supreme Court, will address these questions and answer any others students may have about appellate advocacy, including oral argument. The talk will take place in the Supreme Court’s courtroom on the 18th floor of the Appellate Court building at 160 N. LaSalle. 

Justic Theis has extensive experience with appellate litigation. In addition to currently serving on the Supreme Court, she brings 17 years' experience working on the Appellate Court, where she served as Presiding Judge.

Current DePaul Law students are invited to attend the hour-long event. Space is limited to 40 people; please email Scott Main at Scott.Main@osad.state.il.us by 3:00 p.m. on October 31 to reserve a spot.

Center for Public Interest Law publishes fall issue of newsletter

The Center for Public Interest Law recently published the fall 2011 issue of its newsletter, The Advocate. Read about our new Dean's commitment to public interest law, human rights revolutionaries in Chiapas, students' public interest work over the summer, an interview with a new clinical professor, and more.  Download CPIL Advocate Newsletter Fall 2011.

2012 Law Alumni Award Honorees Announced

The College of Law is pleased to announce the 2012 Law Alumni Award recipients:

 

• Distinguished Alumnus Award
    Philip H. Corboy, Jr. (’77), Partner, Corboy & Demetrio

• Outstanding Service to the Profession
    Sallie G. Smylie (’89), Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

• Outstanding Service to DePaul University
    Richard C. Dunsay (’64), Owner, Law Offices of Richard C. Dunsay
    William E. Ryan (’75), Partner, Ryan & Ryan

• Outstanding Young Alumna Award
    Paula S. Kim (’05), Associate, Polsinelli Shughart

 

The 2012 Law Alumni Awards Dinner will take place downtown on Thursday, March 1, 2011, at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the law school’s Center for Public Interest Law. Invitations will be mailed to all Chicago-area law alumni in January and multiple sponsorship and print recognition opportunities will be available. For more information, please contact James Redmond, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, at (312) 362-6065 or jredmon4@depaul.edu.

Justices speak from experience at Judicial Independence Symposium on special interest-helmed politics

Examining the influence of special interest groups on judicial elections, Thursday's daylong Judicial Independence Symposium featured two justices recently challenged by outside campaigns. The symposium was held at the College of Law and hosted by the DePaul University College of Law Journal for Social Justice and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Additional guest speakers included noted justices and law professors from American, DePaul, and Harvard universities, as well as the University of Texas at Austin.

Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, targeted by pro-business and insurance interests for his ruling against limits on medical malpractice claims, discussed the details of his retention campaign in "When the Law and Business Interests Disagree." Relying on unsubstantiated claims and often cartoonish methods in an attempt to vilify the retention-seeking justice, Kilbride's attackers launched an extensive broadcast and Internet campaign last fall, which aimed to depict Kilbride as soft on crime.

For a hesitantly amused audience, Kilbride replayed several of the special interest-funded TV spots that aired in an attempt to attack his character. The ads featured hyperbolic depictions of criminals, with voiceover artists reading off crimes for which, they claimed, Kilbride had "let them off." The actors' monologues included absurdly violent and detailed depictions.

Justice Kilbride also presented pamphlets that had been stashed in hospital waiting rooms throughout Illinois, informing patients that the Illinois Supreme Court, under Kilbride, had voted against access to health care. In response to these allegations, Kilbride was forced to launch a several million dollar campaign in his defense.

Kilbride warned that biased campaigning “dampens and damages voter participation," and cited a public radio listener who phoned in to complain that she was too fed up to go to the polls. He concluded with an open call to introduce legislature protecting the due process rights of voters. 

Later in the day, former Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Baker continued the discusion, covering the 2010 one-issue campaign that oustered him, with his speech “When Special Interests Win.” When the Iowa Supreme Court voted unanimously to support gay marriage last year, gay marriage opponents spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a campaign attacking Baker and two other justices facing retention. Ultimately, all three were forced from the bench.

Baker, who, twice, mused aloud to audience members, "What happened in Iowa?" was clearly still troubled by the vitriol of the interest campaign. This degree of candor was a recurrent theme of the fascinating, specialized symposium.  

IP LL.M. Student Ian McClure publishes an article titled "The Value of IP as a Commodity"

IP LL.M. student Ian McClure recently published an article titled "The Value of IP as a Commodity." It was first published in Intellectual Asset Management Magazine Issue 47 (May/June 2011). To read a copy of the article, please click here.

Bassiouni discusses forthcoming Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report for WBEZ's Worldview

President Emeritus of the DePaul College of Law’s International Human Rights Law Institute and Chairman of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) Cherif Bassiouni opened up to WBEZ in an interview that aired last week on the topic of BICI's highly-anticipated report, due later this month. Professor Bassiouni said report findings will produce “bitter pills to swallow” for the Bahraini government, particularly as the commission exposes the mistakes made along the way.

For the past three months, Professor Bassiouni and BICI commissioners have been leading an investigation into the crackdown on the Shiite opposition in Bahrain, following the mass demonstrations in February and March of this year. The ensuing trials have been closely watched by human rights groups, who've questioned Bahrain’s prosecution of civilians at the special security court—a court that includes military prosecutors and both civilian and military judges. Bahraini courts sentenced 60 individuals to prison for their involvement in the protest and last week news reports announced that physicians who treated protestors in Bahrain received prison terms ranging from 5-15 years. 

The premise of the commission is a pioneering one. Established on June 29 by Royal Decree by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, BICI is comprised of carefully selected, internationally recognized commissioners, tasked solely with investigating the events surrounding the demonstration. Or, as Professor Bassiouni put it, “pursuing the truth wherever that may lead us.” Recalling the “enormous” amount of work done over the two-month period of time, Bassiouni told WBEZ the commission has reviewed over 5,200 complaints and interviewed over 2,400 persons in an attempt to take into account every allegation of torture.

Addressing the skepticism and press spins from all angles, Bassiouni said he takes them as a good sign of his neutrality. As for the perplexing move of the U.S. to resume arms sales to Bahrain without waiting for the commission's report (and three months after including Bahrain on a list of human rights offenders requiring U.N. attention), he expressed frustration, wondering aloud, “Who decided, 'this is the right time to do it'?"

Though he conceded the many gray areas involved, Professor Bassiouni said there is "no doubt in my mind that the sentences were extraordinarily high . . . The process was botched."

The commission is expected to report its findings by Oct. 30th. The 25-minute WBEZ interview is available for streaming here.

Chaplain Thomas Judge profiled in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin

Chaplain Thomas A. Judge was recently the subject of a Chicago Daily Law Bulletin feature entitled, "Chaplain connects with students." With anecdotes and insight from Associate Dean and Director of DePaul Law Admission Michael Burns, among other colleagues and students, the piece offers a uniquely personal look at the multifacted Chaplain. 

Drawn to the legal profession for its noble ideals and abundance of national heroes, Judge, an Iowa-native, attended the University of Iowa College of Law before ultimately pursuing divinity school at the University of Chicago. While his public service inclinations led him through a variety of career incarnations, including a year assisting low-income residents in the Appalachia region, he settled with the DePaul University Ministries in 2004. A year later, he became chaplain of the College of Law, where his personable nature and professional experience make him a natural mentor to DePaul Law students and a friend to colleagues.

As Judge says, "If you have meaning in life, you have a lot. It's very meaningful and very enjoyable to work with the law school community."

Read the full Chicago Daily Law Bulletin feature here.

Alumnus starts nonprofit to financially assist students and teachers

Jennifer Cassell (’08) uses her legal training to help students and teachers in an underserved area. She serves as Secretary of the Executive Board of Common Roots Initiative, an independently-run nonprofit that gives financial support to high school educators and college-bound students in the west suburban Cook County area.

The organization assists deserving high school graduates in pursuit of higher education through scholarships and acknowledges hardworking teachers through classroom funding. Beginning in 2012, at least one graduating senior and one teacher from the west suburban Cook County area will each receive a $1,000 scholarship. Common Roots Initiative wants to make an impact on “both sides of the desk,” and they believe this two-pronged approach provides the best opportunity for students from this underserved area to succeed.

Common Roots Initiative is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization founded by a group of alumni from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. More information about the organization can be found at www.common-roots.org.

CPIL hosts discussion on the only juvenile serving a federal life sentence in the US

On September 29, a packed classroom of students listened to the story of Reynolds Wintersmith, the only juvenile, first-time offender in the US who is serving a mandatory federal life sentence for a non-violent drug offense. Wintersmith received a federal sentence of life without parole for a drug offense committed when he was 17. He remains in federal prison notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Graham v. Florida, which found it unconstitutional for juveniles to be sentenced to life without parole sentences. 

Member of Wintersmith's family and his federal defender, MiAngel Cody, spoke to the students about the case. Family members described Wintersmith's struggle to support his family from a young age, how it led to his subsequent imprisonment, and the ways in which the legal system frustrated any possibilities of regaining his freedom. Several students remarked on the importance of Wintersmith's case for improving the legal system and fighting for social justice. "Wintersmith's story is an example of the damaging and discriminatory effects that the War on Drugs has had in this country on poor communities of color, the disappointment of the Obama administration, and the failures of our legal system, especially in the area of criminal justice," said Katie Kalhoun ('13). "I hope many students were inspired enough to continue helping Wintersmith's struggle."

"The large student turnout and strength of Wintersmith's friends and family to fight on, made for an inspiring lunch hour," said Sami Silverstein ('13). "Wintersmith and his family have suffered a grave injustice, but they remain hopeful that community activism can reverse his fate. As students we have the opportunity to be a part of this community movement, and catalysts for justice by working towards Wintersmith's release."

"The event really highlighted the fact that, for a lot of problems, the law can only do so much," remarked David Porter ('12). "As law students, we're trained to see the world in terms of legal problems and legal solutions.  But often the solution to the problem can just as easily be found in the political process by appealing to the public's sense of morality and justice."   

More information on Wintersmith's case and how you can get involved with the movement for his release, visit Justice for Wintersmith. The event was co-sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild, Black Law Student Association, the Center for Public Interest Law, and the American Constitution Society.