1st Amendment center appoints lawyer-priest
Former assistant Illinois attorney general Shawn W. Denney of Springfield, a career champion of freedom of the press, has been appointed to the board of the Illinois First Amendment Center.
Ordained as an Episcopal deacon in 1997 and a priest in 1998, Denney is archdeacon in Springfield and vicar of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. He retired as the attorney general’s senior counsel on Dec. 31, 2002.
The Illinois Press Association presented its James C. Craven Freedom of the Press Award to Denney in 1995 for his extensive advocacy of openness in deliberations of government bodies.
He was the chief drafter of amendments that strengthened the Open Meetings Act, and he lectured on application of the law to public entities, ethics in government and conflicts of interest.
Denney chairs the Ethics Training Committee of the state Executive Ethics Commission, on which he has served since 2004. The commission oversees implementation and enforcement of the 2003 State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
A 1976 graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law, Denney served under five attorneys general during the next 26 years. He has been ethics officer, solicitor general and chief of the opinions division.
He was instrumental in production and distribution of pocket guides to the state’s Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act.