IFRT accepting nominations for 2014 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award

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For Immediate Release
Mon, 10/28/2013

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) is seeking nominations for its 2014 John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award. The John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award honors intellectual freedom fighters in and outside the library profession who have demonstrated remarkable personal courage in resisting censorship. The award consists of $500 and a citation. Individuals, a group of individuals or an organization are eligible for the award. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 1, 2013.

John Phillip Immroth was a teacher, author, scholar, advocate and defender of First Amendment rights.  He was the founder and first chair of the Intellectual Freedom Round Table in 1973.  His impact on the ideal of intellectual freedom and its practice was great.

The Immroth nomination form is available on the ALA website. Nominations and supporting evidence should be sent to:  Shumeca Pickett, ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: 312-280-4220 or 800-545-2433, ext. 4220. Fax: 312-280-4227. E-mail: spickett@ala.org

The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians; serves as a channel of communications on intellectual freedom matters; promotes a greater opportunity for involvement among the members of the ALA in defense of intellectual freedom; promotes a greater feeling of responsibility in the implementation of ALA policies on intellectual freedom.  

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IFRT accepting nominations for 2014 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award

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For Immediate Release
Mon, 10/28/2013

CHICAGO — The American Library Association (ALA) Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) is seeking nominations for its 2014 Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award. The biennial award is presented for the best published work in the area of intellectual freedom and consists of $500 and a citation. Nominations will be accepted through Dec. 1, 2013.

The award was named for Eli M. Oboler, the extensively published Idaho State University librarian known as a “champion of intellectual freedom who demanded the dismantling of all barriers to freedom of expression.”  Works to be considered for the award may be single articles (including review pieces), a series of thematically connected articles, books or manuals published on the local, state or national level in English or English translation. The work must have been published within the two-year period ending the December prior to the ALA Annual Conference at which it is granted. The 2014 award is for work published between 2012 and 2013.

The Oboler nomination form is available on the ALA website. Nominations and supporting evidence should be sent to:  Shumeca Pickett, ALA, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611. Telephone: 312-280-4220 or 800-545-2433, ext. 4220. Fax: 312-280-4227. Email: spickett@ala.org.

The Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) provides a forum for the discussion of activities, programs and problems in intellectual freedom of libraries and librarians; serves as a channel of communications on intellectual freedom matters; promotes a greater opportunity for involvement among the members of the ALA in defense of intellectual freedom; promotes a greater feeling of responsibility in the implementation of ALA policies on intellectual freedom.  

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Samuel Buell comments: While accepting fault, JP Morgan limits risk

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s mea culpa on Thursday was a rare break from white-collar custom. But the company’s admission of wrongdoing in its settlement with regulators was no smoking gun, according to legal scholars. They say it was crafted in a way that minimized the bank’s exposure to class-action litigation.

In agreeing to pay about $920 million in fines over actions tied to its 2012 “London Whale” trading debacle, J.P. Morgan conceded that it had been sloppy with its books and lacked internal controls over financial reporting.

“We have accepted responsibility and acknowledged our mistakes,” J.P. Morgan CEO James Dimon said in a statement Thursday.

But the candor, largely limited to questions of record-keeping, was contained. J.P. Morgan never said it misled or deceived anybody.

The settlement may seem like a clean win for the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has faced criticism from some judges and lawmakers for its “no-admit” boilerplate settlements with companies and individuals accused of misconduct. But legal scholars said the fine print still works out fine for J.P. Morgan.

None of the admissions opens the door to lawsuits from private parties. The company, for instance, admitted that it ran afoul of a provision of the Securities Exchange Act that requires public companies to “make and keep books, records, and accounts, which, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the issuer.”

Any potential securities class-action would still have to show that J.P. Morgan made a reckless misstatements that had real financial consequences.

“In terms of financial consequences, it doesn’t make a lot of difference,” University of Michigan law professor Adam C. Pritchard, who teaches corporate and securities law, told Law Blog.

A spokesman for J.P. Morgan didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The SEC declined comment.  The co-director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement, George S. Canellos, said earlier that the company “failed to keep watch over its traders as they overvalued a very complex portfolio to hide massive losses.”

Should shareholders sue, the company’s admission at most could function as a “building block” to help demonstrate recklessness, Mr. Pritchard said.

The limited liability fallout makes sense, said Duke University law professor Samuel W. Buell, an expert on white-collar crime. “One would expect J.P. Morgan to structure a settlement that leaves them with running room on any private lawsuit,” he told Law Blog.

That doesn’t mean J.P. Morgan is feeling comfortable. An ongoing criminal probe remains a wildcard. But this appears to be a watered-down watershed moment.

“We still don’t have an example of someone admitting securities fraud liability,” said Mr. Buell.

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