Circuit Court Judge Joanne F. Alper ’72 to speak as part of IJPM lecture series ‘Law, Politics and the Media’ Feb. 6

Circuit Court Judge Joanne F. Alper ’72 to speak as part of IJPM lecture series ‘Law, Politics and the Media’ Feb. 6 January 30, 2008Jaime Winne Alvarezjlwinne@syr.edu

Joanne F. Alper ’72, a judge serving on the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of Virginia, will speak on Wednesday, Feb. 6, as part of the Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics and the Media at Syracuse University‘s (IJPM) semester-long lecture series “Law, Politics and the Media.” Her lecture, “Methods of Judicial Selection,” will take place from 2:30-4 p.m. in Room 204 at SU College of Law. It is open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots.

Since June 1998, Alper has been a judge on the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Circuit of Virginia. Prior to the circuit court, she served as judge of the juvenile and domestic relations district court for the Seventeenth Judicial District and was chief judge of that court. Before being elevated to the bench, she was in private practice in Arlington, Va. She is a member of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission, the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee and the Education Committee of the Virginia Judicial Conference.

Alper earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from The College of Arts and Sciences at SU and a juris doctor with honors from The George Washington University Law School. She is past president of the SU Alumni Association, where she served as vice president and chair of the bylaws, nominating and awards committees. She is currently a member of the SU Board of Trustees and the SU College of Law Board of Advisors.

The American judicial system today operates in a complex environment of legal principle, political pressure and media coverage. The goal of the “Law, Politics and the Media” lecture series is to provide an introduction to the court system and its environment as a single, integrated subject of study. Throughout the spring semester, sitting judges, practicing lawyers and working journalists will be featured speakers.

The lecture series is part of an interdisciplinary course on law, politics and the media that is cross-listed between the College of Law and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. The course is taught by SU professors Keith Bybee (IJPM director), Lisa Dolak (IJPM associate director) and Mark Obbie (IJPM associate director) and funded through support from the John Ben Snow Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. of New York.

Launched in September 2006, IJPM is an academic institute devoted to the interdisciplinary study of issues at the intersection of law, politics and the media. A collaborative effort of SU’s College of Law, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and Newhouse School, the institute sponsors lectures, conferences and symposia designed to foster discussion and debate among legal scholars, sitting judges and working journalists.

For more information on the “Law, Politics and the Media” lecture series and IJPM, visit http://jpm.syr.edu.