This week in South Cook County history.
Died March 14, 2018 – Legal Scholar from Blue Island
Ronald D. Rotunda died on March 14, 2018. He was born in Blue Island, Illinois, and became a major figure in American legal scholarship. He specialized in United States Constitutional Law and Legal Ethics and authored a six-volume treatise on Constitutional Law and a widely used treatise on Legal Ethics. Rotunda earned a scholarship to Harvard University at age 18 and later received his J.D. from Harvard Law School. He taught for 25 years at the University of Illinois College of Law as the Albert E. Jenner Jr. Professor of Law. He advised Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr during the Clinton administration and worked on the investigative team during the Watergate scandal. Rotunda also provided an important legal opinion on the indictment of a sitting president. Later, he joined Chapman University School of Law. His career, which began in Blue Island, influenced legal scholarship and the teaching of constitutional and ethical principles.
