A June 9 deadline has been set by the Committee on Continuing Legal Education for proposals from committees and section councils that would like to present Law Ed Series seminars during the fall. Proposal forms may be obtained by calling the CLE registrar in the Illinois Bar Center, (800) 252-8908.
President-elect Terrence J. Lavin recently defined a goal of improving the scope and quality of ISBA seminar offerings "to ensure that we are the premier provider of CLE to attorneys throughout Illinois in all practice types and experience levels."
Lavin urged committees and section councils to contact the CLE Department for assistance in reflecting geographic, ethnic and gender diversity in selection of topics and speakers.
Andy MacPhail, president and chief operating officer of the Chicago Cubs, will be honored Wednesday, May 7, by the Scottish Law Society and the Scottish Business Forum.
Previously named Major League Executive of the Year and American League Executive of the Year, MacPhail will be guest of honor at a 5:30 p.m. reception in the Wrigley and Old Comiskey Rooms of Harry Caray's Restaurant in Chicago.
He follows his father, Lee MacPhail, and his grandfather, Larry MacPhail, as a significant player in the history of major league baseball.
Reception guests are asked to make minimum donations of at least $20 each to the Illinois Saint Andrew Society. Reservations should be made in advance by calling Laural Kostuck at (708) 447-5092, ext. 357. Payment may be made by phone with credit card information.
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Members of the Advocates Society who plan to participate in the Polish Constitution Day parade Saturday, May 3, may attend a 9 a.m. brunch in the Congress Hotel for $17.50 per person. Call (773) 283-4511 for reservations.
The parade on Columbus Drive begins at 11:15 a.m. at Balbo Drive and heads north to Monroe Street. The Advocates Society double-decker parade bus will leave Dugan's at 128 S. Halsted at 9:30 a.m.
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Prof. Richard H. McAdams of the University of Illinois College of Law will be invested as the Guy Raymond Jones Professor on Monday, May 5.
A member of the faculty since 1999, McAdams previously taught at the Boston University School of Law and the Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Director of Legislative Affairs
The nomination and election of judges to the Supreme Court of Illinois will be completely changed if Senate Bill 1415 becomes law.
Senate Bill 1415 (Obama, D-Chicago; Dillard, R-Westmont; McCarthy, D-Orland Park) creates the Supreme Court Campaign Reform Act to publicly finance nominations and elections to the Supreme Court of Illinois. It is in the House after passing the Senate on a 39-17-0 vote.
Senate Bill 1415 allows an eligible candidate for the Supreme Court to be given a total of $750,000 in public funds for the primary and general elections. An eligible candidate may use this money to finance any lawful expenditure during the primary and general election cycle except to repay any loan in violation of this Act or any other applicable law. This money is subject to certain restrictions, which are as follows.
(1) If the candidate is unopposed in the primary and general elections (other than by a write-in candidate), he or she will receive $50,000 for the primary election and $75,000 for the general election. If an eligible candidate becomes opposed, he or she becomes eligible for the $750,000.
(2) If an eligible candidate receives or raises more money than he or she is allowed to raise under this Act, this excess amount is deducted from the candidate's public financing by the State Board of Elections.
(3) If a nonparticipating candidate receives contributions or obligates to make expenditures more than $37,500, the candidate must notify the State Board of Elections.
(4) It requires those who make "independent expenditures" and "electioneering communications" for or against a candidate in excess of $1,000 in the aggregate to file a report with the SBOE. If these amounts exceed 10% of the legal limits ($750,000), an eligible candidate may again receive matching funds from SBOE. The maximum matching funds in any event is an additional $750,000 for a total of $1.5 million.
A person becomes an "eligible candidate" by raising a certain number of "qualifying contributions" from residents of his or her judicial district in amounts not less than $5 but not more than $25. The number of qualifying contributions is a formula of at least 0.15% of the number of ballots cast in the judicial district in the last gubernatorial election. The Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, who is the proponent of this bill, estimates that this would require 659 contributions in the Fifth District and 2,135 in the First District.
An eligible candidate may not contribute more than $10,000 of personal funds as "seed money" to his or her campaign. Personal money also includes the funds from immediate family members. "Seed money contributions" of not more than $100 per contributor may also be received, but the eligible candidate's campaign is capped at $30,000 for seed money and personal funds.
Eligible candidates may allocate their public funds as they see fit between the general and primary elections as long as it is not more than 80% for either the primary or general election.
The Illinois Supreme Court Democracy Trust Fund does not become effective until the Fund reaches $5 million. It is to be funded through a $1 check-off on Illinois income tax returns, and the Supreme Court of Illinois is authorized to impose a fee not to exceed $25 on lawyers' ARDC registration dues.
Editor
The rule of Law Day
It's Law Day in the United States. Has been since 1958. It comes along annually as kind of a new year's resolution day for the legal community.
Law Day is unique here, because this is the only republic where a rule of law has weathered the storms of history for more than two centuries global wars, droughts, floods, pestilence, depressions, impeachments, the insurrections of the 1860s and 1960s.
Until last year, one might argue, no such malady could imperil this nation. The rule of law has not only been curative, it has created antibodies that linger as preventatives.
But clouds of unprecedented war and unimaginable terrorism, some think, cast a pall over things we have taken for granted. In the name of security, the Patriot Act and the Domestic Security Enhancement Act have aroused as many feelings of insecurity.
If we are to weather the present storm, the rule of law must continue to be axiomatic. The Law Day 2003 theme, "Independent Courts Protect Our Liberties," must be chalked over and over on the blackboards of political institutions until it is beyond repression.
Law Day in 1958 was our answer to May Day totalitarianism of oppressive regimes. It is no less appropriate today to "Celebrate Our Freedoms" by resolving that they are worth more than the parchment on which they were written.
Take the Matt Hale case; please!
As incongruous as it is to feel sorry for Matthew Hale 15177424, c/o Metropolitan Correctional Center, consider what a pitiful year this has been for the white supremacist wretch.
Last year ended with Hale's decision to quit his campaign for election to the East Peoria City Council. He planned to devote full vituperation to the federal case against his use of the name, World Church of the Creator, the intellectual property of the Te-Ta-Ma Truth Foundation.
Not only did he lose that legal tiff, but he was deprived of his freedom on Jan. 8 in a classic entrapment. Matthew Hale 15177424 since then has been attired in bright orange prison garb, instead of his prescribed uniform of white shirt, red tie, black pants and shoes.
Hale's 2003 tribulations began Jan. 1, when the Illinois Criminal Code was augmented by a tough hate crimes law. It would lead to his prosecution if any disciple committed felonies on his behalf, such as the 1999 murders after his application for a law license was denied.
On Jan. 13, Hale's detention hearing was postponed when U.S. v. Matthew Hale, No. 03 CR 0011, was assigned to federal Judge James Moody of Hammond, Ind., where on Jan. 23 a magistrate judge conducted the hearing. Hale was ordered held without bond as a danger to the community and a flight risk. Trial was set for July 14 in Chicago.
Feb. 21, the 30th anniversary of the founding of the World Church of the Creator by another white supremacist, came and went without fanfare. It was to have been, in Hale's words, "honored and celebrated by every White man, woman and child ... as a new dawn for our Race."
On Feb. 24, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced that "special administrative measures" would be invoked to limit Hale's communication with outsiders, including Thomas Durkin, his lawyer. Durkin was required to sign a statement that he would not repeat any conversation with Hale. On March 12, Durkin's motion to lift the restriction was denied.
In March, Hale's web site, www.wcotc.com, was inherited by the Te-Ka-Ma Truth Foundation, and he was left to proselyte with only www.creator.org. Requests appeared for donations to "support the fight against Anti-White bigots (and) haters of the White culture."
By mid-April, the home page was blank, but links included a schedule of such events as a white power festival of the Imperial Klans in Kentucky and the Aryan Nations World Congress on Idaho.
It was altogether a bad year for Hale, at least until the federal judge in Indiana reviewed his dubious status as a terrorist threat on April 17 and permitted Durkin to counsel him, without restriction, for the first time since March 3.
Incarceration seems not to have tempered Hale's dull point of view on societal relationships. His letters described confinement in an iron cage 23 hours a day as punishment by parasites. He predicted "victory as always" in RAHOWA, his acronym for "racial holy war."
Matthew Hale 15177424 will be in the slammer on his 32nd birthday, come July 27, since his trial now won't start until Sept. 22. But here is the ring of truth around his tub of sludge: He can talk to his lawyer.
Whether Hale begins to appreciate the Law Day theme, "Independent Courts Protect Our Liberties," all of us can thank Judge Moody for his exemplary illustration of a basic right.
Saturday, May 3, 8:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Committee on Minority and Women Participation Lawyer's Workshop, "Making Corporate Connections"; Chicago Regional Office.
Saturday, May 3 Ask-a-Lawyer Day telephone call-ins.
Monday, May 5, 12 noon Public Utilities and Transportation Law Section open luncheon program, "Globalization and the Utility Industry"; Chicago Regional Office.
Wednesday, May 14, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Mental Health Law Day program; James R. Thompson Center auditorium, Chicago.
Friday, May 16, 9 a.m. Board of Governors meeting; Chicago Regional Office.
Friday, May 16 Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project.
June 8-10 U.S. Supreme Court admission ceremony and related events; Marriott Hotel, Washington, D.C.
June 19-22 127th Annual Meeting; The Abbey on Lake Geneva, Fontana, Wis.
Thursday, July 17, 12 noon ISBA Senior Counsellors recognition luncheon; Standard Club.
Friday, July 18, 9 a.m. Board of Governors meeting, followed by 29th annual board alumni dinner; Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Chicago.
Dan Gillespie speaks 'Greek' at Newberry
Cook County Associate Judge Daniel T. Gillespie will be guest speaker during a meeting of the Newberry Library Wednesday Club that begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 7. His presentation is titled "From Aristotle to Enron: Why Corporate America Should Go Greek!"
Gillespie argues that the central themes of Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics" are still relevant, and a careful reading of the work would help leaders avoid human and business tragedies.
An adjunct professor of business law and ethics at the DePaul University College of Commerce, Gillespie is editor of The Gavel, a publication of the Illinois Judges Association. A member of the ISBA Assembly, he serves on the Civil Practice and Procedure Section Council and the Bar Publications Board.
The Newberry Chapter, a group of young professionals, is host for the program. The admission fee of $12 includes light refreshments. Call (312) 255-3510 for additional details.
Civil Appeals Division added in Cook County
Patty Formusa, who was honored recently by the Appellate Lawyers Association, has been appointed chief deputy of the new Civil Appeals Division of the Cook County circuit clerk's office.
Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown initiated the consolidation and centralization to enable "consistent and uniform policies regarding appeals," which have been handled by individual divisions.
Formusa's previous diligence in handling Law Division appeals drew praise from ALA President Gino L. DiVito, who said he was delighted with word of her new responsibilities.
Offices of the Civil Appeals Division are in room 801 of the Richard J. Daley Center, telephone (312) 603-5406.
Retirement announced
Associate Judge Richard A. Lucas of the 18th Circuit has announced that he will retire June 30 after almost 26 years. A former part-time DuPage County public defender, he was a partner in Popejoy, Nelson, Lucas & Speer when he was appointed to the bench in August 1977.