10/1/01--Boston College Law School is proud to announce the formation of a new BCLaw chapter of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, a new national organization of law students, law professors, practicing lawyers and others. Judge Abner Mikva will be the group's first featured speaker on Tuesday, October 2. He will speak at 4 p.m. in room 120 of the East Wing.

"Judge Mikva was a very distinguished member of the federal judiciary," said BCLaw Professor Kent Greenfield. " He is beginning a nationwide speaking tour on behalf of ACS, and BCLaw is his first stop. We are honored to have him visit us."

Throughout his career, Abner Mikva has been an outspoken advocate for civil rights and judicial integrity. He is currently a visiting Professor at the University of Chicago Law School. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1956-1966, and in the United States Congress, as a Representative from Illinois, from 1969-1973 and 1975-1979. Abner Mikva became a judge on the US Court of Appeals (DC Circuit) in 1979, and he served as Chief Judge of that court from 1991-1994. From 1994-95, he served as Counsel to President Bill Clinton.

Abner Mikva will draw on his personal experiences in the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government for his talk, "Bringing Justice Back to the Law."

The American Constitution Society's goal is to help revitalize and transform the legal debate, countering the conservative vision that dominates U.S. law today. The group seeks to restore the fundamental principles of respect for human dignity, protection of individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice to their rightful - and traditionally central - place in American law. Check out the national organization's website, http://www.americanconstitutionsociety.org/.