Protecting the constitutional rights of individuals who receive the death penalty will be the focus of a seminar co-sponsored by the DePaul University College of Law’s Center for Justice in Capital Cases (CJCC) and the DePaul Law Review. The day-long program, “Protecting a National Moral Consensus: Challenges in the Application of Atkins v. Virginia,” will be held at 9 a.m. March 9th at the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson Blvd., Room 8005.

In the 2002 landmark case, Atkins v. Virginia, the U. S. Supreme Court found that sentencing the mentally handicapped to the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which bars cruel and unusual punishment. Seminar participants will focus on the decision’s practical and theoretical implications.

Topics to be discussed include the reliability of IQ exams in measuring mental capacity, the special challenges defense attorneys face when representing persons with low mental capacity and jury selection in cases involving the mentally retarded. The program also will examine how the Atkins decision impacts subsequent capital cases.

Award-winning television journalist Bill Kurtis will provide the event’s keynote address at 9:15 a.m. Kurtis, who hosts the A&E series, "American Justice," also is the author of the recently published book, “The Death Penalty on Trial: Crisis in American Justice,” (Public Affairs, 2007).

Among the distinguished panel of presenters are:

Jim Ellis, an attorney and law professor at the University of New Mexico. Ellis was the capital defense attorney for Darryl Atkins in the U.S. Supreme Court proceedings.

Marla Sandys, associate professor of criminal justice at Indiana University and distinguished researcher on the Capital Jury Project. Sandys will discuss jury interpretation of evidence relating to mental health.

Carol Steiker, a professor of law at Harvard University and a capital defense attorney. Steiker will discuss how the decision in Atkins could impact future constitutional regulation of capital punishment.

Bryan Stevenson, director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama and a law professor at the New York University School of Law. Stevenson has won national acclaim for his work challenging bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system.

Andrea Lyon, a clinical law professor at the DePaul College of law and director of the CJCC. Lyon will discuss the issue of selecting capital juries for mentally retarded clients post-Atkins.

Established in 2000, the CJCC aims to create a high standard of practice in the capital defense arena. It strives to safeguard the rights of indigent capital defendants and to prepare qualified advocates for capital case work. The CJCC has been home to some of the most advanced training programs in the country for capital defense attorneys and their legal teams, including the Clarence Darrow Death Penalty Defense College, the Mitigation College and the Defense Investigator Certificate Program. The center also gives law students the opportunity to work on actual capital cases.

The event is open to the public, but a donation of $25 is requested to offset the cost of the event. To register, contact Chris Nadeau at 312/362-8553 or chnad8@yahoo.com.

Note to Editors: The seminar can be downloaded from I-Tunes at : http://itunes.depaul.edu/. It also will be available via video stream at: http://videostream.is-net.depaul.edu/depaultv-webcast.html.