Wen Ho Lee Case Examined and Thomas Todd to Speak at Diversity Week

CHICAGO --- Prominent pundits, politicians, activists and academics will come together during Diversity Week 2001 at Northwestern University School of Law, from Feb. 26 to March 2, to explore a range of subjects, concluding with a discussion of the cases of Fred Korematsu, who fought for decades to overturn his conviction for refusing to go to a World War II internment camp, and Wen Ho Lee, the computer scientist recently prosecuted for computer espionage.

Organized by the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA), the panel discussion on "The Legacy of Korematsu: the Wen Ho Lee Case" will take place from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, March 2, in Lincoln Hall at the Law School, 357 E. Chicago Ave. The panel will include Alberta Lee, daughter of Wen Ho Lee, and Heather Hersh, a member of the computer scientist’s legal defense team.

Thomas Todd, Esq., who was the first full-time African American professor at Northwestern University School of Law and a prominent civil rights official, will deliver the keynote address at 11:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in Lincoln Hall.

Free and open to the public, the weeklong program, "Redefining Diversity: New Directions for a New Century," was planned and coordinated by the Diversity Coalition at Northwestern University School of Law. To learn more click here.

The schedule follows:

Monday, Feb. 26, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. (Lincoln Hall, Levy Mayer Building)

Tuesday, Feb. 27, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. (Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150)

Wednesday, Feb. 28, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. (Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150)

Conversations with Successful Women Attorneys

Thursday, March 1, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. (Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150)

Creating Modern Families: Legal Challenges Facing Gay and Lesbian Parents

Thursday, March 1, 5:30-7 p.m. (Arthur Rubloff Building, Room 150)

Black and Blue: Colorable Issues in Race and Law Enforcement

Friday, March 2, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m. (Lincoln Hall, Levy Mayer Building)

The Legacy of Korematsu: the Wen Ho Lee Case

The Wen Ho Lee panel will discuss the manner in which the executive branch conducted an investigation that targeted ethnic Chinese in national security jobs and held Dr. Wen Ho Lee in solitary confinement for 278 nights for allegedly downloading U.S. nuclear defense secrets.

Issues in the case will be compared with larger themes related to Korematsu v. United States, the 1945 United States Supreme Court case that upheld the internment of Japanese-Americans on the grounds of military necessity.

Other Diversity Week participants include: Anton R. Valukas, former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Northwestern Professor Micaela di Leonardo, an anthropologist who specializes in race and ethnicity in intellectual history; Harvey Grossman, The American Civil Liberties Union; G. Flint Taylor Jr., the Peoples Law Office; John McGovern, press secretary to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert; R. Eugene Pincham, retired Illinois Appellate Court justice;

radio commentator Cliff Kelley; television commentator Joel Weisman; Charlie Wheelan, a correspondent for The Economist; Donna Leff, professor, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern; and Darren P. Davis, commander, University Police, Northwestern.

Co-sponsors of Diversity Week 2001 include Chicago law firms, Jenner & Block (primary sponsor); Latham & Watkins; Piper, Marbury, Rudnick & Wolfe; AsianAvenue.com; Northwestern University School of Law APALSA; DePaul College of Law APALSA; University of Chicago Law School APALSA; Northwestern University School of Law Student Bar Association; and Northwestern University School of Law Diversity Coalition.

2/22/01