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Mary Jean has extensive experience representing local governments, focusing her practice on constitutional, legislative, and policy issues.
Mary Jean has practiced in the government sector for close to two decades. In her previous position as in-house legal counsel to the City of Chicago, she advised public officials on a full range of issues including the First Amendment, Equal Protection, home rule, discrimination, affirmative action, land use, personnel, police, and public health. She is experienced in drafting ordinances and policies, testifying before legislative bodies, and advising and creating legal solutions. Mary Jean also previously served as Legal Counsel to the Cook County Department on Human Rights and Ethics, where she developed expertise in employment discrimination, sexual harassment, fair housing and ethics.
Mary Jean has presented and written extensively, in both the attorney and academic arenas, primarily on the First Amendment speech and religion clauses as they affect local government.
Mary Jean earned her B.A., with high honors, from the University of Notre Dame and her J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Law School.
Presentations
The Recent Pleasant Grove Decision: Its Import for IMLA and Municipal Government Speech, International Municipal Lawyers Association Annual Seminar, Washington, D.C., April 20, 2009
Why Monuments are Government Speech: The Hard Case of Pleasant Grove v. Summum, Illinois Municipal League Annual Conference, Chicago, Illinois, September 25, 2008
Protecting the Public’s Health: Compelled Isolation & Quarantine and State and Local Coordination, ABA/CDC Regional Conference on Public Health Emergencies and Law, St. Louis, Missouri, May 2006
Quarantine & Isolation: Lessons from the Chicago Experience, IDPH/IHA/MCHC Conference on Public Health Emergency Legislation, Springfield and Chicago, Illinois, February 2005
Recent Developments in Religious Freedom Litigation, Illinois Municipal League Annual Seminar, Bloomington, Illinois, March 2004
Public Art and Private Speech, IMLA Annual Conference, Denver, Colorado, October 2002
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Publications
The Cross National Memorial: At the Intersection of Speech and Religion, 61 CASE WESTERN RESERVE LAW REVIEW 1171 (2011)
The Supreme Court’s First Look at Municipal “Government Speech,” MUNICIPAL LAWYER (July/August 2009)
New Risk on an Uncertain Path: Establishment Clause Guidelines for Municipal Aid to Religious Organizations, 49 MUNICIPAL LAWYER 15 (March/April 2008)
- Why Donated Monuments are Government Speech: The Hard Case of Pleasant Grove v. Summum,
58 CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW 7 (2008) (cited in Sutcliffe v. Epping School Dist., 584 F.3d 314 (1st Cir. 2009))
Government-Sponsored Chaplaincies and Crisis: Walking the Fine Line in Disaster Response and Daily Life, 35 HASTINGS CONSTITUTIONAL LAW QUARTERLY 505 (Spring 2008)
The Constitutional Flaws in the New Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Why RFRA’s Don’t Work, 31 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO LAW REVIEW 153 (Winter 2000) (cited in C.L.U.B. v. City of Chicago, 2001 U.S. Dist. Lexis 17213 (N.D. Ill. Oct. 7, 2001)
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