Events

An Interview with Judge Marvin E. Aspen (JD '58): A Judge Who Shaped the Court, the City, and the Nation

 Wednesday, February 27, 2019
 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
 Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, 219 S Dearborn St
 ILND_RSVP@ilnd.uscourts.gov
 For Law Community


Reflections from the Court at the Heart of America

In the Bicentennial Year of the Northern District of Illinois, the Court will host a Judicial Oral History Project to interview history-makers who have left an indelible mark on the legal system. There is no better way to launch the Project than with Judge Marvin E. Aspen (JD '58), who served as the Chief Judge from 1995 to 2002 and is completing his fourth decade of service on the Court. The interview will be moderated by three of his former law clerks, whom he now counts as colleagues: Judges Edmond E. Chang (JD '94), Jeffrey T. Gilbert (JD '80), and Sidney I. Schenkier (JD '79).

Judge Aspen will share insights into historic cases over which he presided. Cases that literally shaped Chicago's landscape and boundaries. Cases that had widespread public impact, like the Gautreaux consent decree governing Chicago's public housing and the El Rukn gang cases. And cases that drew nationwide attention, including when the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, testified in Judge Aspen's courtroom to defend against an accusation of copyright infringement.
 
Going beyond cases, Judge Aspen will explain how he helped create the Court's Trial Bar Program, spread the ethos of civility as Chair of the Seventh Circuit's Committee on Civility, and ushered in a new era of technology and innovation in the Court as the Chief Judge. No history of Judge Aspen would be complete without hearing about his family upbringing, as well as his fascinating career before joining the federal bench, including what it was like to work for Mayor Richard J. Daley and to serve on the Cook County Circuit Court.
 
Please join us for this special event on February 27, 2019, at 3 p.m. in Courtroom 2541, Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. with a reception to follow in the Court History Museum on the 21st Floor.
 
RSVPs requested (but not required) to ILND_RSVP@ilnd.uscourts.gov.

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