The intensely scrutinized and hotly debated laws and policies of immigration to the United States will be reviewed in a Public Policy Roundtable next month during the annual Chicago Humanities Festival.

Sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association and the Human Rights Program at the University of Chicago, the panel discussion will take place at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, in Thorne Auditorium at the Northwestern University School of Law.

University of Chicago Law Prof. Geoffrey R. Stone will be the moderator for an assessment of the status and effectiveness of immigration laws and how they affect U.S. security, economy, identity and living standards.

Speakers include U.S. attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, Georgetown University Law Prof. David Cole, immigration scholar David M. Kennedy of Stanford University, and Doris Meissner, former Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioner and senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute.

Others are Susan R. Gzesh of the U.C. Human Rights Program, U.C. history professor Mae Ngai, senior research fellow Bonnie Honig of the American Bar Foundation, and senior fellow Tamar Jacoby of the Manhattan Institute.

For more information about Chicago Humanities Festival programs and special events, access www.chfestival.org.

Chicago attorney Lester Munson, legal analyst for Sports Illustrated and CNN, will speak in the Humanities Festival program, “Betting the House,” at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, in Hughes Auditorium on the Chicago campus of Northwestern University.

Munson will explain the plight of the sports gambler and the typical cycle of denial, delusion, debt and desperation. Incorporating the gambling histories of stars like Pete Rose and Michael Jordan, he asks whether this should be accepted and encourages.

Munson also will participate in the sports panel, “Why Do We Care so Much?” at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, at the same location. Participants will discuss loyalty and identification with teams by fans.

With Northwestern University Law Prof. Leigh Bienen as moderator, panelists include Munson, Northwestern President Henry S. Bienen, athletic director Mark Murphy and Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany.

Chicago attorney Alexander Polikoff will be a panelist in the Humanities Festival program, “Public Housing: Beyond the Walls,” at 12 noon Saturday, Nov. 12, in DePaul University's Lincoln Park student center.

Attorney Mary Dempsey, commissioner of Chicago Public Libraries, will interview author Mary Gordon about her fictional female characters and relationships at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, at the Chicago Sinai Congregation.

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