March 10, 2010

Perspectives on Postville: In the Shadow of the Raid - Film Premier

Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 7:00 PM
Rogalski Center, St. Ambrose University
Ripley and Lombard Streets, Davenport, IA

Postville, Iowa, was the site of a clash of cultures, as well as the biggest immigration raid in United States history.

The film documentary "In the Shadow of the Raid" focuses on the immigration raid of Postville's Kosher meat plant that resulted in the arrest of nearly 400 undocumented workers. The film will show how these arrests severed an economic lifeline to a Guatemalan village in one of the poorest corners of the Western Hemisphere and pushed the Iowa farm town to the brink of collapse. Spanish translation will be available.

A panel discussion with the filmmakers and Postville activists will follow.

A part of 'The Migration Project'.

March 11, 2010

Perspectives on Postville:  Lessons Learned From Postville

Thursday, March 11, 2010,  7:00 PM
Rogalski Center, St. Ambrose University
Ripley and Lombard Streets, Davenport, IA

Author Steven Bloom will focus on the fundamental changes confronting the small, predominately Lutheran, Iowa town after 150 Lubavitcher Jews settled there; bought the local slaughterhouse; and became the community's new power brokers. His book on the subject was named a Best Book of the Year by MSNBC and the Chicago Sun-Times. Author of many books, short stories and articles, Bloom teaches narrative journalism and magazine reporting and writing at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.

A part of 'The Migration Project'.

Marriage Equality Forum:  A Legal Perspective

Thursday, April 1, 2010, 7:00 PM
Sun Room, Memorial Union
Iowa State University, Ames

Camilla Taylor was lead counsel when the Iowa Supreme Court voted unanimously that the state's same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay and lesbian couples. She is Senior Staff Attorney with Lambda Legal, the oldest and largest legal organization working for the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, the transgendered. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School and her B.A. From Yale College, and is currently an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law.

Mark Kende is the James Madison Chair in Constitutional Law and director of the Constitutional Law Center at Drake University Law School and teaches both sides of the ruling. You can add he received his B.A. from Yale University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.

Iowa State philosophy professor Clark Wolf will moderate. Wolf is director of the Bioethics Program, and much of his published work is in political and legal philosophy.

April 3, 2010

Marriage Equality Anniversary Party!

April 3, 2010, 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Temple for Performing Arts
1011 Locust St, Des Moines

Hosted by One Iowa and Lambda Legal
 

April 7, 2010

The Rules of Engagement: Rights vs. Responsibilities in Civic Dialogue - Panel Discussion

Wednesday, April 7, 2010, 7:00 PM
South Ballroom, Memorial Union
Iowa State University, Ames

Panelists include:
Paul Shirley, professional basketball player, former contributor to ESPN.com, and the author of Can I Keep My Jersey?;
Jeff Blevins, Iowa State assistant professor of journalism;
Kathleen Richardson, director of Drake University's School of Journalism & Mass Communication; and
Andie Dominick, editorial writer for the Des Moines Register.
Richard Doak, retired editor and columnist for the Des Moines Register, will moderate.

Part of the First Amendment Days Celebration.

April 8, 2010

Whom Do You Trust to Tell You the News? Fair, Accurate, Balanced and Thorough Reporting in the 21st Century - Panel Discussion

Thursday, April 8, 2010, 4:00 PM
Gallery, Memorial Union
Iowa State University, Ames

Rafat Ali, publisher and editor of the New York-based Paid Content, will lead a panel on what news media consumers trust most. Ali, a native of India, owns one of the most successful web-only news sites in the world. He sold the site in 2008 to The Guardian in Great Britain but continues to run the operation. He will be joined by Marcus McIntosh, morning and noon anchor at KCCI-TV, Des Moines; and Alexandra Hayne, editor of the Ames Tribune. Barbara Mack, professor of media law in the Greenlee School of Journalism, will moderate.

Part of the First Amendment Days Celebration.

April 8, 2010

Watchdog Journalism in the 21st Century - Joe Mahr

Thursday, April 8, 2010, 8:00 PM
Great Hall, Memorial Union
Iowa State University, Ames

Joe Mahr is a journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Previously, he worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Toledo Blade, where he was part of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize-winning team that uncovered the U.S. Army's 36-year cover-up of Tiger Force during the Vietnam War. He has written award-winning stories on subjects ranging from Ohio's lax efforts to fix dangerous stretches of highways to allegations that Toldeo police refused to arrest or investigate abusive priests. More recently he has written a series of stories looking at abuse and neglect in the mental health system.

Part of the First Amendment Days Celebration.

 April 23, 2010

Equal Pay Is Not Only About Fairness - It's About Survival - Lilly Ledbetter

Friday, April 23, 2010, 7:30 PM
Sun Room, Memorial Union
Iowa State University, Ames

Lilly Ledbetter gained national recognition when in 2007 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a jury's ruling in the pay equity law suit she had won almost a decade before. Ledbetter had worked for nearly twenty years at Goodyear Tire and Rubber  in Gadsden, Alabama, and despite receiving top performance awards discovered that she had been paid significantly less than male co-workers in the same position. In a 5-4 decision, Supreme Court  justices ruled that employees could only file a wage discrimination complaint within 180 days of the original pay decision.

In January 2009, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act became the first bill that President Obama signed into law. The law restores the long-standing interpretation of civil rights laws and EEOC policies that allows employees to challenge any discriminatory paycheck they receive

June 12-13, 2010

Des Moines 2010 PrideFest

Saturday and Sunday June 12 - 13, 2010
Downtown Des Moines

ACLU of Iowa 75th Anniversary Conference

Saturday, October 9, 2010
The Meadows Conference Center, Altoona

A day-long 75th Anniversary celebration including a conference and dinner at the Meadows in Altoona, IA.  Featured speakers will be John Dean, noted author and former Nixon White House Counsel during Watergate; and Jonathan Turley, expert in constitutional law and professor at George Washington Law School.