CBA Record February_March 2016

PRESIDENT’S PAGE BY PATRICIA BROWN HOLMES Educational Equality and the Future

EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Amy Cook Amy Cook Consulting CBA RECORD Features Editor Justin Heather The Quinlan Law Firm, LLC Summary Judgments Editor Pamela S. Menaker Clifford Law Of À ces YLS Journal Editors-in-Chief Jonathan B. Amarilio Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Geoff Burkhart American Bar Association Carolyn D. Amadon Shannon R. Burke American Bar Association Anne Ellis Proactive Worldwide, Inc. Clifford Gately Heyl Royster Angela Harkless The Harkless Law Firm Jasmine Villaflor Hernandez Cook County State’s Attorney’s Of À ce Michele M. Jochner Schiller DuCanto & Fleck LLP Stacey R. Laskin Illinois Attorney General’s Of À ce John Levin Bonnie McGrath Law Of À ce of Bonnie McGrath Clare McMahon Law Of À ce of Clare McMahon Peter V. Mierzwa Law Bulletin Publishing Company Kathleen Dillon Narko Northwestern University School of Law

A. Mills, and to President Lyndon Baines Johnson (posthumously) for his leadership and courage in the passage of both the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. President Johnson’s daughter, Lynda Johnson Robb, accepted the award on behalf of her father –and how proud we are that the CBA’s award is now permanently housed in the Presidential Library in Austin. The quest for equality goes on and this year I wanted to build on that success through a program that spotlights today’s civil rights issues. Millennials have put a sharp focus on equality and have identified emerging civil rights issues that include: educational equality, health care equal- ity, immigration equality and workplace equality. These are the dominant equality issues for Millennials and in truth they are critically important for all Americans. How we address these issues will define and determine their future and the future of our cities, states and nation. The Educational Equality Planning Committee began its work last July and I am pleased to announce that the Associa- tion in conjunction with the University of Illinois at Chicago and WYCC/Chan- nel 20 (PBS) TV will hold a Town Hall Meeting on this important issue that will be taped before a studio audience on Thursday, May 5. CBA Secretary Jesse Ruiz, who formerly served as Director of the State of Illinois’ Department of Edu- cation and as Vice-Chair of the Chicago Board of Education, serves on the planning committee and enlisted the support of Dr. Steve Tozer, Director of the Center for Urban Education Leadership, University of Illinois Chicago, and Robin Steans of the Steans Foundation and founding Executive

J ust before becoming president, my predecessor, Dan Cotter, hosted a magnificent celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Dan, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman and Brenda Russell planned a variety of special programs that included aWYCC/Channel 20 (PBS)TV special entitled: “Bridging the Divide” featuring Juanita Abernathy and Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. The one-hour WYCC TV special was hosted by former NBC news reporter Renee Ferguson and fea- tured a live audience of students from Leo High School, City Colleges, andThe John Marshall Law School. The legendary Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. was our keynote speaker at the gala dinner, which featured brief video clips of civil rights leaders and people who were active in the movement, e.g. religious leaders, business leaders, members of Con- gress, educators, judges and lawyers. The Chicago Children’s Choir also performed at the dinner after which we presented “Keeper of the Flame–Awards of Cour- age” to Abernathy, Moss, Judge Martha

Adam J. Sheppard Sheppard Law Firm, PC

Rosemary Simota Thompson U.S. Department of Justice

William A. Zolla II The ZOLLaw Group, Ltd.

THE CHICAGO BAR ASSOCIATION David Beam Director of Publications Joe Tarin Advertising Account Representative

6 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016