Chicago, IL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/22/2006 --Professor Ralph Ruebner of The John Marshall Law School recently was appointed chair of the Housing Committee of the Village of Skokie Human Relations Commission in Illinois, which is charged with enforcing the village fair housing ordinance. This committee has the power to mediate and adjudicate discrimination complaints. Under his leadership, the Village of Skokie Board of Trustees amended the ordinance to prohibit discrimination based on the source of lawful income. This provision puts Skokie and the City of Chicago ahead of the State of Illinois which has failed to legislate in this area.

Ruebner also was recently re-elected as a director on the Board of Managers of the Decalogue Society of Lawyers.

Ruebner has been a member of the John Marshall faculty since 1981, after 12 years of experience as an appellate litigator, heading the Chicago office of the State Appellate Defender and representing indigent criminal defendants at all levels of appellate review.

He has developed an interest in international human rights and has represented victims of government abuse in a number of countries, including the former Soviet Union and Peru. He has published articles and presented papers at various international conferences on human rights topics, and has testified before Congress on human rights conditions in Peru.

He has drafted legislation in Illinois, making it the first state to criminalize international terrorism. He has served as a faculty member of the National Academy for Judicial Education and a Reporter of judicial seminars in Illinois.

Professor Ruebner served as the law school's Moot Court Director for 16 years and was the Law School’s Centennial Planning Committee chair. He teaches Criminal Procedure, Evidence, and International Human Rights.