UT Law School Symposium Apr 9-10: The Direction of Legislative Change and the Prospects for Legislative Abolition of the Death Penalty

From the Courthouse to the Statehouse

Date:    Friday, April 9, 2010 & Saturday, April 10, 2010

Location:        Eidman Courtroom @ UT Law

Description:     From the Courthouse to the Statehouse: Politics Reshapes Capital Punishment

Audience:        Alumni, Faculty, Staff, Students, Prospective students, Public

Sponsor:         William Wayne Justice Center

The American Death Penalty in the 21st Century:

The Direction of Legislative Change and the Prospects for Legislative Abolition

EIDMAN COURTROOM

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SCHOOL OF LAW

April 9-10, 2010

Friday April 9th

10:15 — 10:30 Welcoming Remarks

        Dean Larry Sager, UT School of Law

        Jordan Steiker, Professor, UT School of Law

10:30 — 12:00: National Perspective on Recent Developments

        Shari Silberstein, Executive Director, Equal Justice USA

        Dick Dieter, Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center

        Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director, National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

        Moderator: Maurie Levin, UT School of Law

12:00 — 1:30: Lunch

1:30 — 3:00: Abolition Achieved : The Experiences in New Mexico, New Jersey, & New York

        Shari Silberstein, Executive Director, Equal Justice USA

        Viki Elkey, Director, New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty

        Jonathan Gradess , Executive Director, New York State Defender's Association

        Moderator: Jordan Steiker, UT School of Law

3:15 — 4:30: Study and Reform of the Death Penalty: Maryland & California

        Dick Dieter, Executive Director, Death Penalty Information Center

        Amy Fusting — Program Director, Maryland Citizens Against State Executions

        Gerald Uelman, Dean, Santa Clara School of Law

        Moderator: Jim Marcus, UT School of Law

Saturday April 10th

8:30 — 9:45: Reintroduction, Expansion and Administration of the Death Penalty: Georgia, Virginia & Massachusetts

        Chris Adams, Law Office of Chris Adams, Atlanta, Georgia

        Beth Panilaitis, Executive Director, Virginians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

        Renny Cushing, New Hampshire House of Representatives; Executive Director, Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights

        Moderator: Rob Owen, UT School of Law

9:45 — 11:00 Abolition Contested: The Experiences in Colorado, Kansas & New Hampshire

        Michael Radelet, Professor, University of Colorado at Boulder

        Donna Schneweis, State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator, Amnesty International

        Renny Cushing, New Hampshire House of Representatives; Executive Director, Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights

        Moderator: Jordan Steiker, UT School of Law

11:00 — 12:15: Reform to Redress Race Discrimination: The experience in North Carolina

        Rob Owen, Professor, UT School of Law

        Ken Rose, Senior Attorney, Center for Death Penalty Litigation

        Larry Womble, State Representative, North Carolina      

        Moderator:       Maurie Levin, UT School of Law

UT Law: Imprisoned by the Past ; The Enduring Role of Race in the American Death Penalty

Capital Punishment Center Presents:

Imprisoned by the Past ;
The Enduring Role of Race in the American Death Penalty

Eidman Courtroom, UT Law School
April 16, 2009 10:15 to 5:15 p.m.

Symposium Program

10:15 Welcoming Remarks
10:30–12:00
Panel I - Race Discrimination in Capital Jury Selection

Melynda Price, Visiting Scholar, Capital Punishment Center, University of Texas School of Law; Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky College of Law
Joseph E. Lambert, Chief Justice (ret.), Supreme Court of Kentucky
Steve McGonigle, Reporter, The Dallas Morning News
Elisabeth Semel, Clinical Professor and Director, Death Penalty Clinic, UC Berkeley School of Law
Moderator: Jim Marcus, Adjunct Professor, Capital Punishment Clinic, University of Texas School of Law

12:15–1:45
Keynote Lunch - "Confronting Injustice: Race, Poverty and Psychic Harm", Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, and Recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship

Charles I. Francis Auditorium, Room 2.114, UT School of Law (pizza and drinks provided)

Keynote Sponsored by American Constitution Society

2:00–3:30 Panel II - Reflections on Race, Culture and the Death Penalty
Jordan Steiker, Professor and Co-Director, Capital Punishment Center, University of Texas School of Law
George Kendall, Senior Counsel, Holland & Knight
Melynda Price, Visiting Scholar, Capital Punishment Center, University of Texas School of Law; Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky College of Law
Moderator: Robert C. Owen, Clinical Professor and Co-Director, Capital Punishment Center, University of Texas School of Law

3:45–5:15 Panel III - Innovative Litigation of Race Issues in Capital Trials
Robert McGlasson, McGlasson & Associates, P.C.; Attorney for Brian Nichols
Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director, Equal justice Initiative of Alabama
Christina Swarns, Director, Criminal Justice Project, NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund.
Moderator: Maurie Levin, Adjunct Professor, Capital Punishment Clinic, University of Texas School of Law

Presented by: Capital Punishment Center
Co-sponsored by: William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law
For more information please contact Rob Owen at rowen@law.utexasedu, 512.232.9391

Kerry Max Cook speaks at UT Law school

Reexamining incarceration: A Discussion on Civil Rights and the Prison System

April 17, 2007

12:00 – Catered Lunch (Free!)

Kerry Max Cook, author of Chasing Justice

exonerated after spending two decades on Texas ’

death row for a crime he did not commit

(Please RSVP for lunch to tjclcr@law.utexas. edu)

1:30 – Panel : “Juvenile Justice: How do we fix this mess?", Eidmann Courtroom

featuring speakers Scott Medlock , Texas Civil Rights Project, Will Harrell, ACLU of Texas, and Isela Gutierrez, Texas Coalition Advocating for Juvenile Justice

3:00 – Panel: “Fighting from the outside: Civil Society Challenges to the Conditions of incarceration” , Eidmann Courtroom

Nicole Porter, American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Michele Deitch, Professor, LBJ School of Public Policy, University of Texas, J. Rogue, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, Andria Shively , Inside Books Project