DePaul University's Center For Justice In Capital Cases To Examine The Impact of Race On Death Penalty Proceedings</p>

Sep 24, 2003

DePaul University's Center For Justice In Capital Cases To Examine The Impact of Race On Death Penalty Proceedings

The Center for Justice in Capital Cases at DePaul University will examine the role race plays in the administration of the death penalty during a two-day conference Oct. 24 beginning at 8 a.m. and Oct. 25 beginning at 9 a.m., at the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 8005.

The panel discussion portion of the program, “Race to Execution,” is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. A luncheon will be held at noon Oct. 24. The cost is $50.

“No matter where you turn when you look at capital punishment, you are confronted with the issue of race and its impact on how people are tried, convicted and sentenced to die in this country,” said Andrea Lyon, director of the Center for Capital Cases at DePaul. The center, which provides defense to people accused of capital crimes, represented Illinois death row inmate Madison Hobley, who was one of four men granted clemency by former Illinois governor George Ryan during a press conference held at the DePaul University College of Law in January. “This conference will not only discuss race and the death penalty but work to explore what can be done to fix a system that is so blatantly discriminatory,” said Lyon.

According to a 2003 study published by Amnesty International , 40 percent of the current death row inmates in the United States are African-American, while African-Americans account for only 12 percent of the U.S. population.

While African-Americans and whites were victims of the estimated 500,000 murders in the U.S. since 1977 in almost equal proportions, 80 percent of the people executed during that time were convicted of murdering w hite victims. And, according to Amnesty, at least one in five African-Americans executed since 1977 had been convicted by all-white juries.

A distinguished collection of lawyers, educators, public officials and authors will present diverse perspectives on capital punishment during the conference. Ryan will discuss his unprecedented move to commute to life imprisonment the death sentences of all Illinois death row inmates. Attorney and author Scott Turow will discuss his experiences being a member of Ryan’s task force that studied the death penalty and also discusshis newest book, “Ultimate Punishment” (2003, Farrar Straus & Giroux), which reflects on capital punishment. Other presenters will include:

Bryan Stevenson —executive director of the Equal Justice Intiiative of Alabama. He will discuss his experience representing death row prisoners in the deep south.

Marc Mauer—assistant director of The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice policy.

David Cole—a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center and author of “No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal Justice System” (2000, New Press). Cole also is a columnist for The Nation.

R. Eugene Pincham—a retired justice of the Illinois Appellate Court who is currently in private practice.

Eric Zorn—a Chicago Tribune columnist who has written extensively about the death penalty.

Randolph Stone—a clinical professor of law and director of the Edwin F. Mandel Legal Aid Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School. Stone is the former Cook County Public Defender.

Susan Bandes—a professor of law at DePaul, a reporter for the Constitution Project’s Death Penalty Initiative, and former staff counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

Speakers will discuss such topics as how and when race matters in capital cases; race and capital juries; race in federal capital cases; how race impacts litigation in capital cases; the role of media; and solutions to the problem.

For more details or to register for the luncheon contact Julie Darr at 312/362-5837 or jdarr@depaul.edu. A program schedule is available at www.law.depaul.edu/racetoexecution.

Note to Editors—Reporters wishing to cover the event should call Valerie Phillips at 312/-362-5039 or 312/330-3155 (cell).