FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb. 1, 2005

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

RENOWNED ETHICIST TO SPEAK AT DRAKE LAW SCHOOL FEB. 10

The Constitutional Law Center at Drake University Law School will welcome nationally renowned ethicist Anita Allen as part of its 2004-05 Constitutional Law Distinguished Lecture Series on Thursday, Feb. 10. Allen, the Henry R. Silverman professor of law and professor of philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, will present "Law Floats on a Sea of Ethics" at 4 p.m. in Room 213 of Cartwright Hall, 27th Street and Carpenter Avenue. One hour of continuing legal education (CLE) credit is available.

Allen originally was scheduled to speak at Drake on Oct. 28 but the event was postponed until February.

The title of her lecture, which is free and open to the public, refers to a statement by former Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren who said, "In civilized society, law floats on a sea of ethics." Allen's lecture will candidly explore the 21st Century American ethics scene. She will address what it means for society in general, and for lawyers and judges in particular, to see so many social sectors permeated by ethical failures, to experience value uncertainty brought on by change, and to witness an under-commitment to justice.

Drawing on her new book, "The New Ethics: A Guided Tour of the 21st Moral Century Landscape," Allen will explain the difficulty of adhering to ethical and moral standards. Allen's book has drawn praise from leading scholars such as Cornell West of Princeton University, who said, "This is a fascinating and illuminating book. It is the most original work I've read on our contemporary lived experience."

A reception will follow the lecture and Allen will be available to autograph her new book.
Allen is a graduate of New College and has served on its Board of Trustees. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan and later earned her law degree from Harvard University.

For more than a decade, Allen was a member of the faculty of Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as associate dean. She also was the first black woman to teach philosophy at Carnegie-Mellon and the first black woman on the Pittsburgh law faculty. She has been a visiting professor at Yale Law School, Villanova Law School, and Harvard Law School. During the 2003-04 academic year, Allen was a law and public affairs fellow of the Woodrow Wilson School and visiting professor at Princeton University.

Allen has been an ethics consultant for industry and government. She also is a nationally known expert on the law and ethics of privacy. She is the author of "Why Privacy Isn't Everything," "Privacy Law" (with R. Turkington), and "Uneasy Access: Privacy for Women in a Free Society." In addition to her books, Allen has published more than 70 articles.

For more information about the Constitutional Law Distinguished Lecture series, contact Drake Law School at (515) 271-2988.

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