FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 21, 2006

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

LAW SERIES FOCUSES ON THE MEDIA AND JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE

“How the Media Impacts Judicial Independence and Accountability” will be the focus of a joint program on the U.S. justice system sponsored by the American Judicature Society and Drake University Law School. The program, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 3 to 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, in the Drake Legal Clinic in the Neal and Bea Smith Law Center at 2400 University Ave.

Three speakers will make remarks, then join in a panel discussion moderated by Mark Kende, the James Madison chair in constitutional law and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Drake.

Drake Law School alumnus Mark Bennett, chief judge of the U.S. District court, Northern District of Iowa, will discuss “A Federal Judge’s Perspective on the Media and the Public’s Confidence in the Judiciary.”

Rachel Paine Caufield, Drake assistant professor of politics, will talk about “The Media’s Influence on Judicial Selection and Judicial Decision Making.”
Kathleen Richardson, Drake assistant professor of news-Internet, will address “The Journalist’s Responsibility When Reporting on the Justice System.”
This is the final program of the four-part AJS/Drake Law School Series on the justice system. For more information, call (515) 271-2281.

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