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May 29 - June 4, 2005 |
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"`Freedom,' it has been said, `is
always unfinished business,'" Justice Anne Burke of the Illinois Appellate
Court reminded guests after she received the 2005 Freedom Award from The John
Marshall Law School Alumni Association at its annual luncheon May 13.
In her presentation, Burke reminded
attorneys that their work is not only a defense of freedom, but a challenge to
defend liberty as well.
Burke said today we are "continuously
revived" by the special sense of American freedom that our earliest
Constitutionalists, including John Marshall, bestowed on this nation.
"I believe that when we are
safeguarding the freedom of others, we most deepen it in our own lives. When we
are most watchful of freedom's defense, it means that we are usually engaged in
an enterprise that brings life and meaning to others," she said.
Burke reminded the audience that the
protection of liberty requires "eternal vigilance."
"I hope that in my own life, I have
been able to demonstrate that vigilance, both as a professional and as an
American…Liberty's defense, I believe, begins early. It is the open heart,
as well as the open mind; the open purse, as much as the open door. It is most
resplendent in our efforts to expand civility in everyday life, and mutual
respect in our professional lives.
"We deepen the chance for liberty to
thrive," she continued, "when we make time for others and have welcome for
them. This is critical, especially for those of us in the legal profession, who
might presume freedom's best defense takes place in our office, or only in our
courtrooms."
Burke suggested the guests from the
Chicago legal community should be vigilant in the defense of liberty, "for we
cherish the bright breath that freedom bestows. So too, do we reverence the
responsibility it levies."
The alumni association also honored
four outstanding alumni with Distinguished Service Awards. Recipients this year
were Cory Aronovitz (J.D. '93) of Casino Law Group; Celia Guzaldo Gamrath (J.D.
'94) of Schiller DuCanto and Fleck; Regina Scannicchio (J.D. '88) of
Scannicchio & Associates; and Cook County Circuit Court Judge Jane Stuart
(J.D. '85). 
Honorees at the 2005 Freedom Award
Luncheon hosted by The John Marshall Law School Alumni Association are (from
left) Cory Aronovitz, Regina Scannicchio, Justice Anne Burke, Celia Gamrath,
and Judge Jane Stuart.
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The John Marshall Law School's Center
for International Business and Trade Law has established a fellowship program
to support advanced study in the field of international business and trade law.
First offered in 2001-2002, the Melamed Fellowship in International Business
and Trade Law has been made possible through a gift of $100,000 from Leo
Melamed. Mr. Melamed, a 1955 graduate of The John Marshall Law School, is
chairman emeritus and senior policy advisor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The Melamed Fellowship is currently being awarded every other year.
The Melamed Fellowship in International
Business and Trade Law will be awarded to one full-time student in John
Marshall's LL.M. Program in International Business and Trade Law for the
2005-2006 academic year. The Melamed Fellow will be chosen on the basis of
academic merit and the potential for excellence in the field of international
business and trade law.
The Fellow will receive one-half
tuition, a paid research assistantship in the Center for International Business
and Trade Law, and a $10,000 stipend. The Fellow is expected to complete the
degree program in one calendar year
Applicants who are applying to the
LL.M. Program in International Business and Trade Law, are U.S. citizens or
permanent residents, and have graduated from an ABA-approved law school, are
eligible to apply for the Melamed Fellowship.
Qualifications: U.S. citizen or
permanent resident; Graduation from an ABA-approved law school; 3.0 minimum law
school GPA; and excellent research and writing skills. Preferred:
Licensed U.S. attorney; two or more years of professional experience; second
language fluency; and overseas work experience.
The application deadline is Friday,
June 24, 2005. A Fellowship form will be included with all application packets
for the LL.M. Program in International Business and Trade Law.
For further information, please
contact: The Center for International Business and Trade Law, The John Marshall
Law School, 315 South Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL 60604, e-mail:
7aruldos@jmls.edu.
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Anna McWillie
Academic Services Assistant
She graduated from Roosevelt University on May 13th
with a Bachelor of General Studies degree.
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The civil rights of the disabled
could be in jeopardy if an Oregon assisted suicide law is allowed to stand,
argues Professor Walter J. Kendall III of The John Marshall Law School in an
amicus brief he co-wrote with attorneys from Access Living.
The brief for the case against the
Oregon Death with Dignity Act was filed on behalf of 11 national organizations
and a university-affiliated center that work with and for the rights of people
with disabilities. The brief was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court the week of
May 9. The case will be heard during the court's October 2005 term. 
John Marshall student Adrienne Detanico
assisted Kendall with his work on the brief.
"For the past three decades,
disability rights groups have struggled to get the public to recognize that a
disabling condition does not make one's life less worth living," he said.
Yet assisted suicide takes the opposite
approach. It is argued in the brief that the Oregon law gives official
sanction to the idea that life with a disabling condition is not worth living.
"Assisted suicide laws deny people with
disabilities the benefit of programs and laws that prevent suicide and are the
ultimate legal judgment that the life of a person with a disability is not as
worthwhile as that of a non-disabled person," Kendall says.
The federal government is arguing that
the Death with Dignity Act, approved in an Oregon voter referendum in 1994,
goes beyond "legitimate medical practice" by allowing medical practitioners to
legally prescribe certain lethal substances to assist persons with a disability
to commit suicide.
"In almost every state, helping someone
commit suicide is a crime," Kendall said. "In Oregon, intentionally
causing or aiding another person to commit suicide is second-degree
manslaughter. Yet under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act such behavior is
permitted if the victim is a person with a disability."
It is important for the court to be
aware of the lived experience of persons with disabilities, he noted. For far
too long and by far too many people it has been believed that living with a
disability made one "unworthy of life."
"It was not uncommon, even in the
United States, for people with disabilities to be sterilized," Kendall said.
"Some ethicists in the United States would allow the euthanizing of severely
disabled newborns!"
The Oregon legislation calling for a
diagnosis of "terminal condition" also continues the debate about terminal
illness and the role of the medical profession in end-of-life decisions.
"Assisted suicide assumes that a
disability or medical condition inherently makes life unworthy of
continuation," he said. "Its availability causes medical practitioners to
ignore other measures, services and modifications that might cause someone to
reconsider their desire to die."
Kendall believes the emphasis should be
on treatment, supportive care and pain management, rather than guessing when
and how the person will die. For instance, it is not uncommon for persons with
severe depression, including the terminally ill and disabled persons with
conditions that may be terminal, to say they want to commit suicide, when
supportive care and treatment could help them through their depression and
their decision to end their lives.
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May 30
- Memorial Day Holiday - Building Closed
June 1
- Christian Legal Society Meeting, Room 402, 12:00
p.m.
- CARPLES Training Session, Room 1102, 12:00 p.m.
June 3
- JMLS Sluggers 1st Softball Game, Grant Park -
Field 7, 5:00 p.m.
June 6
- Summer Term Classes Convene
- Deans Meeting, Courtroom, 9:30 a.m.
- CTA Summer U-Pass Pick/Up, Student Lounge, 10:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
June 7
- Illinois Coalition of Immigration Services
Training, Room 1200, 9:00 a.m.
- CTA Summer U-Pass Pick/Up, Student Lounge, 10:00
a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Tax Law Info Session, Room 1101, 5:30 p.m.
June 8
- CARPLES Training Session, Room 1102, 12:00 p.m.
- IP Adjunct Faculty Luncheon, Room 1200, 12:00
p.m.
- Board of Trustees Meeting, Courtroom, 1:00 p.m.
June 9
- BAR/BRI Program, Rooms 1200, 200, 300 and 1102,
8:00 a.m.
- Young Real Estate Professionals Lunch Program,
Room 503, 12:00 p.m.
- Alumni & Development Staff Meeting, Room 403,
2:00 p.m.
June 11
- Admissions Open House, Room 200, 9:00 a.m.
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In the
Loop is published by The John Marshall Law School, Chicago,
Copyright 2005
Editor: Assistant Dean John M. McNamara; Contributors:
Marilyn Thomas, Director, Public Relations and Advertising; Andrea Koklys,
Assistant Director, Public Relations and Advertising
All information to be included in In the Loop must be placed in the INTHELOOP folder
on the H drive of the law school's computer network by 12 p.m. each Wednesday.
When the volume of submissions exceeds the available space in the printed
version of In the Loop, additonal material
will appear only in the online version of the Newsletter, which can be found on
the law school's website at www.jmls.edu.
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