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Perspectives at the Death House Door: A Special Hearing on Capital Punishment
Legal experts, elected officials and religious leaders will convene at the State Capitol to discuss the issues surrounding the death penalty including wrongful convictions, lethal injection, the role of religion in the death penalty, and the impact of executions on those closest to the process.
Exclusive clips from the Independent Film Channel’s new documentary At the Death House Door will frame each discussion. Slated to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival, At the Death House Door tells the story of Carroll Pickett who served as chaplain for the Texas Department of Corrections from 1982-1995 and counseled 95 inmates on their way to execution by lethal injection. The film’s Directors, Steve James and Peter Gilbert, also directed the highly acclaimed films Hoop Dreams and Stevie.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
1:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Senate Hearing Room E2.016
Texas State Capitol, Austin
Panelists will include:
Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis
Craig Watkins, Dallas County District Attorney
Carroll Pickett¸ Texas Death Row chaplain, featured in “At the Death House Door”
Award Winning Filmmakers Steve James and Peter Gilbert, Kartemquin Films
Award Winning Chicago Tribune Journalists Maurice Possley and Steve Mills
Ginger Anders, Co-Counsel in the Supreme Court case addressing the legality of lethal injection
David Oshinsky, Pulitzer-Prize winning author and UT Professor
Rob Owen, Clinical Professor, UT School of Law; Counsel in Supreme Court cases Tennard, Cole, & Brewer
