Posted by Public Affairs on March 16, 19100 at 10:01:48:
Contact: Public Affairs
(212) 346-1637
Contact: Alta Levat
(914) 422-4128
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - The Feb. 29 fatal shooting of a first grader by a six-year-old classmate in Lansing, Mich., has re-ignited the issue of school violence in the United States. This tragedy, along with recent school shootings in Conyers, Ga., Littleton, Colo., Springfield, Ore., Jonesboro, Ark., and West Paducah, Ky., has communities around the nation asking, "Can we prevent a devastating act of weapons violence from happening here?" To address this question, Pace Law School will sponsor a symposium to focus on current violence-prevention measures, including tougher gun laws, student searches and seizures, liability lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and other legal solutions.
The symposium, titled "Preventing Weapons Violence in Schools: Legal Strategies and Remedies," will be held on Thursday, March 30 from 3-8 p.m., on Pace Law School's White Plains campus, 78 North Broadway, and is co-sponsored by the Pace Law Review and the Pace Health Law Society. The media is invited to attend. The program will be broadcast live over the Internet on the Pace Law School website at http://www.law.pace.edu. For more information, or to register for the Internet simulcast, call Kate Ryan at (914) 422-4266 or email kryan@law.pace.edu.
Each speaker will have 30 minutes to discuss school violence issues, followed by a question and answer period. Speakers will include:
· Stephen Bates Billick, M.D., clinical associate professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College in Valhalla, N.Y. Dr. Billick is a frequent presenter on child and adolescent psychiatry issues, including juvenile violence.
· Stephen Phillip Sullivan, M.D., of the Department of Psychiatry at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City.
· Victoria J. Dodd, professor of law, Suffolk University Law School. Professor Dodd specializes in the fields of education law and constitutional law and is currently the Chair of the Law and Education Section of the Association of American Law Schools.
· Kirsten Rowe, Esq., National Riffle Association Institute for Legislative Action. Rowe is a federal liaison with the National Rifle Association of America's Institute for Legislative Action.
· Elisa Barnes, Esq., was named 1999 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice Foundation for her work on Hamilton v. Accu-Tek, in which a jury held gun manufacturers liable on a novel theory of market share liability.
· John F. Renzulli, Esq., Renzulli & Rutherford, LLP. Renzulli is national counsel to manufacturers, importers and retailers of firearms and ammunition.
· U.S. Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (schedule permitting), 18th Congressional District of New York.
The symposium is co-sponsored by the Pace Law Review and the Health Law Society at Pace Law School. Edited and published by law students, the Pace Law Review is devoted to the study and publication of scholarly materials of professional legal interest. Each issue contains articles by law faculty, practitioners, and distinguished jurists, as well as student notes and comments on complex legal issues, recent case decisions, and current legislation.
The Health Law Society is a student-run organization advised by Professor Linda C. Fentiman, director of Pace University's Health Law and Policy Program. Its activities include presenting speakers who discuss timely health law topics, publishing a health law newsletter, and assisting in professional health law meetings.
Founded in 1976, Pace Law School has nearly 5,000 graduates throughout the country. It offers full-time and part-time day and evening J.D. programs on its White Plains, New York, campus. The Law School, which has one of the nation's top-rated environmental law programs, offers the master of laws and the doctor of juridical science degrees in that field. The School also offers the LL.M. in Comparative Legal Studies. Beginning in the fall of 2000, Pace Law School will begin offering online courses in health law to attorneys around the nation. The Law School is part of Pace University, a comprehensive, independent and diversified University with campuses in New York City and Westchester County.