2006 Articles

2006 Gertz Award winner By Richard L. Hutchison November 2006 The Elmer Gertz award this year goes to Professor Michael P. Seng of the John Marshall Law School.

Advising a client that a plea for supervision is not a conviction? Think again!!! By Thomas A. Bruno September 2006 When Lou Grant interviewed Mary Richards for a job at WJM-TV, he asked her about her religion. Said Mary: “You’re not allowed to ask that when someone’s applying for a job.

Chief update By Kenneth Dobbs June 2006 The Native American Bar Association et al., appealed the circuit court’s order dismissing their Complaint seeking Declaratory and Injunctive Relief against the University of Illinois’ Board of Trustees for their use of Native American imagery in the form of Chief Illiniwek as a sports mascot in violation of Illinois’ Civil Rights Act, 740 ILCS 23/5 (2003).

Dawn Clark Netsch receives Gertz Award By Kenneth Dobbs April 2006 Elmer Gertz is the namesake of the Human Rights Section Council’s annual award to an Illinois Attorney that has distinguished themselves through the practice of Human Rights Law.

Editor’s notes By Patrick J. Hughes December 2006 Professor Kendall has advised that on December 13, 2006, the UN Plenary of the General Assembly voted to adopt the world’s first convention on the rights of people with disabilities.

From the Chair By Kathryn E. Eisenhart December 2006 If President Bush thought he had a mandate from the people when he was elected, or was it reelected(?) two years ago, certainly the mandate is gone.

From the Chair By Kathryn E. Eisenhart November 2006 “May you live in interesting times” is a paraphrase of an old Chinese curse. For those of us interested in human rights, this is a very interesting time indeed.

From the Chair By Kathryn E. Eisenhart September 2006 I have been given the difficult task of following the leadership provided by Sheila Murphy this past year.

From the Chair By Sheila M. Murphy June 2006 Thank you for the privilege of serving as Chair this year.

From the Chair By Sheila M. Murphy April 2006 I attended the Irish Film Festival at the Beverly Arts Center and saw a classic film that was banned in Ireland in 1958.

Human Rights Symposium at University of Illinois By Steven Helle April 2006 The Human Rights Section Council sponsored a symposium on a variety of topics related to human rights on Feb. 24 at the University of Illinois College of Law.

Illinois Native American Bar Association, et al. v. The University of Illinois, 05 CH 4735 By Kenneth Dobbs September 2006 Oral arguments were heard in the Appellate Court of Illinois, First Judicial District on September 5, 2006.

Illinois Supreme Court adopts parental notification of minor’s abortion rule By Richard L. Hutchison November 2006 The Illinois Supreme Court recently adopted Rule 303A. The Rule provides procedures for unemancipated minors to pursue if they are unwilling to give 48 hours parental notice of an abortion.

ISBA newsletter authors can receive CLE program discounts April 2006 The ISBA announces its new newsletter article authors CLE discount program.

Leaving kids alone in cars: An amendment to the Illinois Child Endangerment statute is declared unconstitutional, but the underlying act can still be prosecuted without a statutory presumption By Mark E. Wojcik June 2006 When Christopher Jordan parked his car in the parking lot at Truman College in Chicago, he did not know that his actions that day would lead to declaration that a state statute was unconstitutional.

Never again or always forever? The fate of Africa, specifically the current genocide in Sudan By Sarah Simonson June 2006 After World War II, the world said “never again.” Never again would the rest of the world stand idly by as a government, theoretically the protectorate of the people, slaughtered millions of its own citizens.

Note on ACLU v. NSA 438 F. Supp. 2d 754 (E.D. Mich. 2006) By Kathryn E. Eisenhart November 2006 On August 17, 2006, Senior Judge Anna Diggs Taylor of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan issued a decision in American Civil Liberties Union et al (ACLU) v. National Security Agency et al (NSA). Decisions by federal district courts are only occasionally of sufficient importance to get noticed by the national press. This decision is clearly one of them.

Off the Record: Remembrances of the 1970 Illinois Constitutional Convention By Mary Lee Leahy April 2006 In December, 1969, 118 Delegates to the Illinois Constitutional Convention met in Springfield to draft a new Constitution for the citizens of Illinois.

Sexual orientation charges under the Illinois Human Rights Act—A preliminary analysis of the “sexual orientation” discrimination charges filed in the first eight months of the amended Illinois statute By Mark E. Wojcik November 2006 Discrimination based on sexual orientation became illegal statewide in Illinois on January 1, 2006, when the long-sought “sexual orientation” amendment to the Illinois Human Rights Act entered into effect.

Thoughts on the creation of the United Nations Human Rights Council By Mark E. Wojcik April 2006 The U.N. Human Rights Commission had been created with good intentions for protecting and promoting international human rights law, but along the way the countries who were elected to membership on the Commission had terrible human rights records.

The UN Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities By Walter J. Kendall December 2006 On August 25th the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities of the United Nations adopted a final text by a vote of 102 to 5.