Fall 2016

Issue 23

Department of Legal Studies

Also in this Issue:

Fall 2016 News and Events

(p.1-2) LES Student Ac-

tivities (p.2-3)

Faculty Updates (p.4-5)

Spring 2017 Courses (p.6-7)

Legal Studies

Department Office

Phone: (217) 206-

6535

Email: les@uis.edu

www.uis.edu/

legalstudies

LES Pendens

Pendens (pèndènz) is a legal term

meaning pending or in

progress.

A les pendens is a lien.

UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

LES PENDENS Fall 2016 News and Events

Legal Studies Welcome Week Picnic was a Success!

The annual Legal Studies Welcome

Week Picnic was hosted outside of

PAC on Wednesday, August 24th.

Faculty had the opportunity to meet

new Legal Studies students, and stu-

dents were able to learn about extra-

curricular opportunities such as

Mock Trial, Illinois Innocence Pro-

ject, and Model United Nations.

Students also met the newest mem-

ber of the Legal Studies faculty, Dr.

Eugene McCarthy, and were able to

learn about the Pre Law Center from

its new director, Professor Tess Dooley. Also in attendance was Dr. Hanfu Mi, the

new interim dean of the College of Public Affairs and Administration.

Congratulations to Our New Student

Representatives

Nominations were accepted and elections held to select the Le-

gal Studies Department graduate and undergraduate student

representatives in September. The winners of the elections

were graduate student Victoria Jackson and undergraduate stu-

dent Payton Roberts. Victoria attended Millikin University for

her Bachelor’s of Science Degree specializing in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice. She is currently earning her

Master’s Degree in Legal Studies. Payton has been very active

within the Legal Studies department: participating in Model

United Nations, volunteering at the Illinois Innocence Project,

and serving as the co-Vice President of the Pre Law Society.

Please contact our student representatives if you ever have any

questions or suggestions and they will submit them at the next

department meeting.

Victoria Jackson

Payton Roberts

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Fall 2016

Issue 23

Department of Legal Studies UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

LES PENDENS Legal Studies Department Co-Sponsors Constitution Day Speaker Series

Event

Legal Studies professor Tess Dooley introduced attorney Reggie Koch, who

delivered an address entitled “Hispanic Americans: Civil Rights, Social Justice

and the Legal System—where Policy Meets Practice” to celebrate Constitution

Day and to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month in Brookens Auditorium on

September 15th. This event was co-sponsored by the Departments of Public

Administration.

Mr. Koch discussed his early experiences growing up in Arkansas, the value of

becoming multilingual, and how he has used his abilities to defend those who, as

he says, “don’t have a voice,” against discrimination and unfair prosecution, both

as a police officer and as an attorney. He talked about the dangers of anti-

intellectualism and perpetuating legal institutions that lack diversity. “Embrace

diversity. It’s good. It will make you a better person.” Reggie Koch

Police Training Initiative

After completing the LES 488 Conviction of

the Innocent course taught by LES Chair,

Gwen Jordan, LES Master’s student, Mike

Schlosser, who is also Director of the Police

Training Institute (PTI) in Champaign, Illi-

nois and has a Ph.D. in Public Administra-

tion, worked with Dr. Jordan and the staff of

the Illinois Innocence Project (IIP) to share

this knowledge with police cadets. Already

offering optional sessions concerning racial

diversity and LGBT, Dr. Schlosser under-

stood that recruits needed an opportunity to

learn about wrongful convictions. Dr. Jor-

dan and Dr. Schlosser have worked jointly with the IIP, Jovan Mosley (a man who was wrongfully impris-

oned for nearly six years), and Laura Caldwell (director of Life After Innocence), to offer the course to two

classes of cadets so far.

Student Activities

Gwen Jordan, Jovan Mosley, John Hanlon, Laura Caldwell, Mike Schlosser

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Fall 2016

Issue 23

It’s really amazing what a little perseverance and Yankee ingenuity can accomplish. At one

point in my life I thought I had it all; a great job as a Letter Carrier at the United States Postal

Service, a nice comfortable home in suburbia, a loving husband and son, and good health and

strength. Overnight, poof- it was all gone. I was unemployed, homeless, on the verge of a di-

vorce, and hospitalized for two years (later being declared totally disabled) diagnosed with a

severe mental illness.

Because I was a veteran of the United States Navy I received care and counselling through the

Veterans Administration. This later led to me attending the College of Lake County, and grad-

uating in 2002 with honors. I was then accepted into UIS in the Minority Leadership in Public

Service program under the tutelage of the late Ms. Terri Jackson. From the moment I stepped

foot on the grounds of UIS doors have open for me that I am certain would never have been in

my grasp at any other institution and I have never looked back.

As an undergrad I participated in many activities on and off campus. Off campus I am a proud

member of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order Elks of the World which provides me

with opportunities for service work and social intercourse with individuals worldwide. On

campus I have been involved organizing a student lobby day at the state capital. I represented

UIS on the Student Advisory committee for the Illinois Board of Higher Education (where we

had direct input into policy decisions). I worked on a case with the Illinois Innocence Project which resulted in the exoneration of an

individual wrongfully convicted of a crime. I worked daily alongside our state representatives as a legislative aide. And the crown

jewel was meeting an individual who would soon become the most powerful person in the free world- our current president Barack

Obama- while working on my senior project. I wrote a bill dealing with identity theft which he sponsored in the state senate and was

eventually signed into law by then Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

I received a Bachelor’s of Arts (cum laude) in Legal Studies in 2004 and initially planned to continue my education seeking a Masters

in Communication at (where else) UIS. Unfortunately, I suffered a relapse and was unable to accomplish my goal. Not one to let little

things stop progress I returned to the College of Lake County and received a certificate in Paralegal Studies in 2013.

Realizing I had work left undone I investigated the UIS Legal Studies Master’s program which conveniently was available 100%

online. I am thoroughly pleased with the program which has been stimulating, challenging, and thought provoking. I now have a new

perspective on our legal system, society and their interconnection. Upon completion of my studies in 2018, (hopefully the Lord will-

ing and the creek don’t rise) I would like to re-enter the workforce as a policy advisor for a politician or a governmental agency. At

UIS I learned to aim for the sky a lesson I hope to pass on to my five beautiful grandchildren.

This year I was fortunate enough to be blessed as the recipient of two scholarships from UIS; a UIS Merit scholarship and the Rose

Marie and Robert C. Roach Scholarship. I urge every student to apply for these institutional scholarships, I did mine at the last mi-

nute on a whim never expecting to actually be awarded one. I know without a doubt that it was the experiences and opportunities at

UIS to which I availed myself that made me eligible for these scholarships. Not one who goes in for superstition but my lucky charm

played a major factor in all my accomplishments- I wear something which says UIS every day of my life. Don’t knock it. Thanks UIS

for molding me into the person I am today.

LES PENDENS

Department of Legal Studies UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

Joye Williams

Joye Williams, Recipient of Two Scholarships from UIS, Shares Her Experience

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Fall 2016

Issue 23

LES PENDENS

Department of Legal Studies UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

LES Welcomes Dr. Eugene McCarthy to the Department

Eugene McCarthy is joining the Department of Legal Studies from the Uni-

versity of California, Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. in legal

rhetoric. Prior to pursuing his doctorate at Berkeley, Dr. McCarthy earned a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and practiced as an attorney at a

prestigious international law firm. Professor McCarthy also holds an M.A.

in English literature from the Pennsylvania State University and a B.A. from Rutgers College majoring in philosophy and English. Professor McCarthy taught and advised students at Berkeley, UCLA School of Law, and

Pennsylvania State University. His diverse teaching experience includes Dr. Eugene McCarthy

courses ranging from legal writing and reasoning to political theory and

world literatures. Dr. McCarthy’s research is interdisciplinary, drawing from legal theory, legal history, American literature, science and technology studies, and theories of human identity and personhood. His cur-

rent book project, Corporate Personhood(s): Novel Persons in American Law, Society, and Literature, 1870- 1914, examines the origins and repercussions of corporate personhood in American law, history, and culture.

This semester, Professor McCarthy is teaching Law and Literature (LES 454) and The American Constitution

and Civil Liberties (LES 416). In the Spring Semester, he will be teaching History of American Law (LES

352), and the Closing Seminar: Ethics and Current Legal Questions (LES 489).

Professor Sikka’s Presentations and Activities

This past June, Professor Anette Sikka presented her paper, ““Being” Illegal: The Le-

gal Regulation of Race and the Occupation of Space” at the Law & Society Annual

Conference in New Orleans. She presented a paper on a similar topic at Kent

University’s Critical Legal Studies Conference in September, “Law as Magician: The

Shapeshifting of Manifest Destiny through the Regulation of Race and Space.” In No-

vember she’ll be presenting her paper, “Trafficking in Persons and the Rule of Law:

Forever Looking for a “Victim,”” at the American Society for International Law Re-

search Forum in Seattle.

This semester, she will be assisting Dr. Adriana Crocker with the Model United Na-

tions in preparation of the annual Model UN competition in New York. She will also

be joining the Innocence Project to assist with research projects. Dr. Anette Sikka

Faculty Updates

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Fall 2016

Issue 23

LES PENDENS

Department of Legal Studies UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

Dr.Tejani has been invited to author a new Law and Society book for University of California Press. The work is a monograph derived from Tejani’s LES 307 sylla-

bus and intended for college-level, English-language Law and Society courses in

the US and abroad. Professor Tejani’s first book, Marketing Justice (an ethnography of for-profit legal education), will appear from Stanford University

Press this spring. Dr. Tejani will present on empirical research methods alongside faculty from UC Berkeley and Irvine at the Association of American Law Schools conference in January. He will also speak at a grant-funded symposia on legal education and profession at the American Bar Foundation (ABF) in March and UCI

School of Law in June. The ABF paper will appear in a new edited series on legal

education forthcoming from Ashgate next year, while another paper, “Efficiency

Unbound” (on behavioral studies in law and economics), will appear at the U.C. Irvine Law Review this November. Dr. Riaz Tejani

Professor Tejani’s Upcoming Publications and Presentations

Professor Jordan Convenes Wrongful Convictions Policy Meeting

In August 2016, Dr. Gwen Jordan convened a wrongful convictions policy meeting at UIS hosted by the Illi-

nois Innocence Project. Members from the University of Chicago Exoneration Project, the Northwestern

University Center for Wrongful Conviction, the Loyola University Life After Innocence program, and

the Cardozo Law School Innocence Project all met in Springfield to discuss pursuing criminal justice re-

forms. The group developed an ambitious agenda that it hopes will both assist the wrongly convicted and

stem wrongful convictions before they happen.

Members of the wrongful convictions policy meeting discuss criminal justice reforms

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Fall 2016

Issue 23

COURSE TITLE Credit

Hours

Instructor Day Time Location

LES 201—Introduction to the American Political System 3 Magic Wade M/W 12:00pm—1:15pm Online

LES 303—American Law in Comparative Perspective 3 Riaz Tejani R 10:00am—12:30pm On Campus

LES 352—History of American Law 3 Eugene McCarthy M/W 12:00pm—1:40pm On Campus

LES 402—Legal Analysis and Writing 3 Anette Sikka NA NA Online

LES 413—Appellate Advocacy: Moot Court A 3 Jason Pierceson T 6:00pm—8:30pm On Campus

LES 413—Appellate Advocacy: Moot Court B 4 Jason Pierceson T 6:00pm—8:30pm On Campus

LES 414—American Constitution: Government Powers and Institutions A 3 Tess Dooley M 2:00pm—4:30pm On Campus

LES 414—American Constitution: Government Powers and Institutions B 4 Tess Dooley M 2:00pm—4:30 pm On Campus

LES 441– Poverty, Law, and Justice A 3 Tess Dooley NA NA Online

LES 441—Poverty, Law, and Justice B 4 Tess Dooley NA NA Online

LES 449—Employment Discrimination Law A 3 Deborah Anthony NA NA Online

LES 449—Employment Discrimination Law B 4 Deborah Anthony NA NA Online

LES 462—International Law and Organizations A 3 Adriana Crocker NA NA Online

LES 462—International Law and Organizations B 3 Adriana Crocker NA NA Online

LES 473— The Law of Military Conflict A 3 Anette Sikka NA NA Online

LES 473—The Law of Military Conflict B 4 Anette Sikka NA NA Online

LES 488— ECCE: Conviction of the Innocent A 3 TBA M 6:00pm—8:30pm On Campus

LES 488—ECCE: Conviction of the Innocent B 4 TBA M 6:00pm—8:30pm On Campus

LES 489—Closing Seminar: Ethics and Current Legal Questions 3 Eugene McCarthy R 2:00pm—4:30pm On Campus

LES 504—Graduate Seminar 4 Anette Sikka NA NA Online

LES 512—Theories of Justice 4 Riaz Tejani NA NA Online

LES 522—Health Care Law, Patient Privacy, and HIPPA 4 Tess Dooley NA NA Online

LES 568—Labor Arbitration and Dispute Resolution 4 TBA R 6:00pm—8:30pm On Campus

LES 587—Public Advocacy 4 Deborah Anthony NA NA Online

LES PENDENS

Department of Legal Studies UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD

SPRING 2017 COURSE SCHEDULE POSTED ONLINE

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