Law School Briefs – 1/16/13

Law School Briefs highlights news from law schools in Indiana. While Indiana Lawyer has always covered law school news and continues to keep up with law school websites and press releases for updates, we gladly accept submissions for this section from law students, professors, alumni, and others who want to share law school-related news. If you’d like to submit news or a photo from an event, please email it to Marilyn Odendahl at [email protected], along with contact information for any follow-up questions at least two weeks prior to the issue date.

First female mayor of Gary to give MLK Lecture at Valpo

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson will present the Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture at Valparaiso University Law School. In her speech, entitled “From A Dream to a More Perfect Union,” Freeman-Wilson will discuss ways to ensure people are treated fairly regardless of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, income or abilities.

Freeman-Wilson is the first female mayor of Gary as well as the first African-American female mayor in the state of Indiana. She grew up in Gary and earned her undergraduate and law degrees at Harvard University. She has served as Lake County prosecutor, Gary city court judge and Indiana attorney general under the late Gov. Frank O’Bannon. Before being elected as mayor, she was in private practice in Gary.

The lecture will be from 4 to 5 p.m. Jan. 24 in Wesemann Hall on the Valparaiso University campus. The event is open to the public but reservations are requested. For more information, visit valpo.edu/law/martin-luther-king-jr-lecture.

New Jersey judge establishes endowment at Notre Dame

A University of Notre Dame alumnus has established an endowment to support the law school’s Loan Repayment Assistance Program. The Hon. Joseph C. and Margaret Cassini III Endowment for Excellence was created by a gift from Joseph Cassini, who earned his undergraduate, MBA and J.D. degrees from Notre Dame.

The endowment will help NDLS graduates who accept public interest and public service positions repay their student loans.

“Being able to make this gift is a fulfillment of my love to the University,” Cassini stated in a press release. “I’m thankful I can help future law students in their public service careers. This gift brings me great satisfaction.”

Cassini currently serves in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Criminal Division. He is also on the University of Notre Dame’s Law Advisory Council.

IU McKinney student groups hosting legislative panel

A legislative panel will preview the important legal issues that will be addressed during the 2013 session at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law on Jan. 22. The event is being hosted by Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity and the Black Law Students Association at I.U. McKinney School of Law.

Panelists include Brian Bosma, speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives, and Glenda Ritz, superintendent-elect of public instruction.

The event will be held in the Atrium and Wynne Courtroom, Inlow Hall, 530 W. New York St., Indianapolis. A reception will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. and the panel discussion will be from 5 to 5:55 p.m.

To RSVP, email Erin Radefeld at [email protected].

IU Maurer professor’s book praised as one of 2012’s best

A book examining the death penalty written by Jody Lynee Madeira, an associate professor at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law, is garnering national praise.

The Atlantic included Madeira’s “Killing McVeigh: The Death Penalty and the Myth of Closure,” on its list of the best books about justice published in 2012. The reviewer praised Madeira’s work in showing how victims in a high-profile case react to the legal process.

The book focuses on the 1995 bombing by Timothy McVeigh of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. McVeigh was convicted of the crime and executed in 2001. For her book, Madeira spent many hours interviewing survivors and victims’ families about their experience with McVeigh’s trial and execution. She concluded that victims were unable to put the tragedy behind them.•