"Holocaust Denial and Academic Freedom," an examination of the outrage and issues, will be delivered by Stanley Fish, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, at noon April 17 at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

Fish says "most writing about Holocaust denial is strongly polemic and often infused with outrage and anger. I am interested in joining the fray, but in analyzing it, and in particular I want to analyze the strategies deployed by Holocaust affirmers and to suggest that they are bad ones because they are principled," he adds.

Fish joined the UIC staff in 1998. He now also serves as a distinguished visiting professor at The John Marshall Law School. Before coming to the Midwest, Fish was professor of English and professor of law at Duke University, and was executive director of the Duke University Press. He also has taught at the University of California at Berkeley, and at Johns Hopkins University where he was the Kenan Professor of English and Humanities.

He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. He has written numerous books, including The Trouble With Principle and There's No Such Thing as Free Speech, and It's a Good Thing, Too. Later this year his book How Milton Works will be published by Harvard University Press.

The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Support Center presented its spring fair housing/fair lending conference sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation on April 6 and 7. The topic was "Predatory Lending: How To Find It, How To Remedy It." In excess of 300 persons, including attorneys, persons from the lending industry, government employees, and fair housing advocates, attended the conference, making it the most successful ever, in terms of numbers. The next John Marshall conference sponsored by the Fannie Mae Foundation, Protected Classes: A Fresh Perspective, will be held on September 14-15, 2001.

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas R. Fitzgerald will be honored by The John Marshall Law School Alumni Association as its 2001 "Freedom Award" recipient in recognition of his years of service as an attorney, law professor and judge.

Fitzgerald will be presented with the award at a noon luncheon Friday, May 18, at the Palmer House-Hilton, Chicago, hosted by the alumni association.

Also honored at the annual luncheon will be Distinguished Service Award recipients Judge Frederic S. Carr Jr., Judge Michael J. Murphy, Mary McDonald-Pascale, Rudolf G. Schade Jr., John Marshall Adjunct Professor Lewis W. Powell III and John Marshall Professor Michael Polelle.

After a stint in the U.S. Navy, Fitzgerald entered The John Marshall Law School. He helped to reestablish the school's Law Review and served as associate editor. He graduated with honors in 1968 and started a career with the Cook County State's Attorney's Office prosecuting cases in Juvenile Court, Traffic Court and Jury Court. In 1970, he became a Felony Trial Assistant, and in 1974, he was appointed supervisor of the Felony Trial Division.

Fitzgerald followed in his father's footsteps and ran for a Cook County Circuit Court Judgeship winning a six-year term in 1976. He was the youngest person elected to a Cook County judgeship. He won re-election in 1982, 1988 and 1994. He earned a reputation as a "judge's judge."

In 1989, Fitzgerald was named presiding judge of the Cook County Criminal Courts, and was also appointed to serve as the presiding judge of Illinois' first statewide Grand Jury. He served as a Cook County jurist until his election to the Illinois Supreme Court from the First District in November 2000.

Fitzgerald received the Outstanding Judicial Performance Award from the Chicago Crime Commission, and was honored as Celtic Man of the Year by the Celtic Legal Society. He has taught at both The John Marshall Law School and Chicago-Kent College of Law, and at the Einstein Institute for Science, Health and the Courts.

He is a past president of the Illinois Judges Association, past chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Special Committee on Capital Cases; and past chair of several Illinois Judicial Conference and Chicago Bar Association committee on constitutional law and long-range planning.

He is serving on the Illinois Supreme Court's Planning and Oversight Committee for Judicial Performance Review and Cook County's Judicial Advisory Council.

Wednesday, April 18^th

Student Bar Association general meeting 5:00 p.m.

Thursday, April 19^th

SBA Elections voting will take place in the school lobby.

The Annual Library Spring Book Sale will be held in the student lounge from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Friday, April 20^th

The Board of Visitors is a school advisory group made up of distinguished practitioners, judges, academicians and businesspersons. They will be present in the student lounge at 1:00 p.m. and would like to speak to students. Refreshments will be served.

Phi Delta Phi certificates are available in Miss Criss's office, room 212.

The proof sheets from the Barrister's Ball are available for viewing in Miss Criss's office, room 212.

Jack Valenti, chairman and chief executive officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, and Richard Roeper, syndicated columnist and co-host of "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies," will discuss media violence and its effects on today's society during, "Fatal Attractions: Media Violence and American Culture."

The program is presented as The John Marshall Law School's 12^th Annual Belle R. and Joseph H. Braun Memorial Distinguished Lecture, and will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., Friday, April 27, at the law school, 315 South Plymouth Ct., Chicago. Guests will hear Valenti and Roeper discuss the presentation of violence in movies, the assessments of violence for motion picture ratings, and the real or perceived effects of violence on society. A question and answer period will follow.

Valenti has been chairman and chief executive officer of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) since 1966. MPAA represents not only the world of theatrical film, but also serves as leader and advocate for major producers and distributors of entertainment programming. Valenti's projects for MPAA included designing the movie rating system in 1969. His work on behalf of the industry has earned him a star on Hollywood's renowned "Walk of Fame" and the French Legion of Honor. Valenti's essays have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post and Atlantic Monthly.

He has written four books, including "Speak Up With Confidence."

Roeper has been co-host of "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies" since July 2000, after a national search to find a replacement for Roger Eberts's partner, the late Gene Siskel. The weekly discussion program on current movies airs on CBS stations across the country. Roeper has been watching movies for years, and is the co-author of "He Rents, She Rents: the Ultimate Film Guide to the Best Women's Films and Guy Movies." His weekly column in the Chicago Sun-Times is distributed nationally by The New York Times syndicate. His writings have earned him the National Headliner Award as top columnist in the country.

The program is free and open to the public. For more information contact the John Marshall Department of Event Management at (312) 987-1420 or e-mail events@jmls.edu. Pre-registration is preferred.

Professor Michael L. Closen

Publications

Two of his articles on law review ethics [75 Marquette Law Review 509 (1992), co-authored with Professor Robert Jarvis; and 63 Notre Dame Law Review 55 (1988)] have been cited in 50 Journal of Legal Education at 442, 443 (2000). Professor Closen's new (3d) edition of his casebook Agency, Partnership And Limited Liability Companies (2000) [co-authored with Professor Gary Rosin] has been adopted for classroom use at Drake University School of Law.

Professor Closen's article "Caution About Notarizing After Commissions Expire" has been published in the National Notary Association's newspaper Notary Bulletin, April 2001, at page 1.

Professor Michael Closen's 32d law review article "Family Ties That Bind, And Disqualify: Toward Elimination of Family-Based Conflicts of Interest in the Provision of Notarial Services" [co-authored with Orsinger] has been accepted for publication in 33 Texas Tech Law Review (2001).

Professor Susan Connor

Activities

She addressed the 87^th Annual Conference of the Illinois Municipal League on the subject of "Recent Developments in Land Use Law" in connection with the recent publication of the chapter she wrote for IICLE's newly released Municipal Law.

She has been invited to address the Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance at its April meeting to speak on housing discrimination based on national origin.

She also participated in the north suburban area meeting of Human Relations Commissions that met to address the subject of the resurgence of white supremacist activity among teens.

Adjunct Professor Damian Ortiz

Honors

The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic has nominated Clinical Professor Damian Ortiz for this year's Illinois State Bar Association's Young Lawyer of the Year Award. The nomination reads as follows:

"On behalf of The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic, we are happy to nominate Damian Ortiz for this year's Young Lawyer of the Year Award. Mr. Ortiz is under 37 years of age and is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association. He received his J.D. in 1997, and since that date, he has worked for The John Marshall Law School Fair Housing Legal Clinic, where he supervises approximately sixteen law student interns in handling fair housing cases each semester. These cases involve all classes of persons protected under the Federal Fair Housing Act, as well as under the State of Illinois Human Rights Act and the City of Chicago and the County of Cook Human Rights Ordinances and include administrative complaints as well as actions filed in the state and federal courts. This summer he will be teaching a course on fair housing law and enforcement to law students at The John Marshall Law School. Mr. Ortiz was a student intern in the Clinic when he was a student at The John Marshall Law School.

"Mr. Ortiz also supervises The John Marshall Fair Housing Legal Clinic's outreach program that sends law students to different community groups and civil rights organizations to discuss what actions violate the fair housing laws and what remedial steps are available for victims of housing discrimination. He has been especially effective in presenting these programs to the Latino community. The Latino community is often the target of housing discrimination, especially in the areas of discrimination against families with children and predatory lending practices, but rarely files complaints alleging discriminatory housing practices.

"Mr. Ortiz lectures nationally on fair housing law. During the last three years, he has participated in the training of investigators for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in how to conduct fair housing investigations and how effectively to conciliate fair housing complaints. He has spoken at a number of local fair housing trainings throughout the United States and has participated in the national conferences held semi-annually at The John Marshall Law School.

"He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association, the Northern District of Illinois Federal Bar Association, and the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois and the Hispanic National Bar Association.

"He has acted as a volunteer for the Chicago chamber of Commerce Youth Motivation Program, Minority Legal Education Recourses, Inc., Cook County Hospital Volunteer Program First Defense Legal Aid Program, Coordinated Advise & Referral Program for Legal Services, the Spanish Coalition for Better Housing, the Latin United Community Housing Association.

"Mr. Ortiz received his undergraduate degree from Loyola University. During law school, he worked as an investigator for the Federal Defender Program and as a judicial intern for the Honorable Ronald A. Guzman, Northern District of Illinois."

April 16

Roscoe Pound Seminar - ATLA Program, Room 1200, 12:00 p.m.

Faculty Assembly, Room 409, 12:00 p.m.

April 17

Department of Justice Training Program, Room 1200A, 8:00 a.m.

Distinguished Visitor, Stanley Fish - "Holocaust Denial and Academic Freedom, Room 200, 12:00 p.m.

Golf Open Committee Meeting, Room 1203, 12:00 p.m.

Career Services - Lunch & Conversations with Alumni, Room 1200B, 12:45 p.m.

IP Paralegal Course, Room 201, 6:00 p.m.

April 18

The International Trade Club of Chicago's Export Training Series 2001, Room 1200A, 9:00 a.m.

Alumni Annual Meeting Planning Committee, Room 1203, 12:30 p.m.

Career Services - "Get a Piece of the Pie-Learn How to Negotiate Your Benefits", Room 1200B, 12:45 p.m.

April 19

Annual Library Book Sale, Student Lounge, 8:00 a.m.

Alumni Reunion Committee Meeting, Room 1203, 12:00 p.m.

Employee Benefits Meeting, Room 1200B, 12:00 p.m.

Center Directors Meeting, Room 1200A, 12:30 p.m.

Dean Fred F. Herzog Moot Court Competition, Room 3East, 3:00 p.m.

Faculty Works-In-Progress, Room 217, 3:00 p.m.

April 20

ISBA Meeting, Room 1102, 8:00 a.m.

Board of Visitors, Room 1200A, 9:00 a.m.

April 21

Center for International Business and Trade Law, Room 1200B, 8:00 a.m.

Board of Visitors, Room 1200A, 9:00 a.m.

April 23

Practice Before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Seminar, Room 1200, 9:00 a.m.

April 24

Foundation Center's Proposal Writing Seminar, Room 1200, 8:00 a.m.

JMLS Federalist Society Panel Discussion - "Bush v. Gore: Politics as Usual? Room 3East, 5:15 p.m.

IP Paralegal Program, Room 201, 6:00 p.m.

April 25

Faculty Works in Progress, Room 217, 3:00 p.m.

Czech Study Members Program, Room 3East, 4:00 p.m.

April 27

12^th Annual Braun Lecture - "Fatal Attractions: Media Violence & American Culture, Room 1200, 2:00 p.m.