That's the title of a symposium at the University of Texas School of Law, set for March 23 & 24, 2012.
The symposium will focus on the historical link between lynching and the death penalty, their similarities and differences, and the enduring role of lynching and race discrimination in contemporary capital litigation.
Keynote address by Bryan Stevenson: Lynching, Racial History and Death Penalty Disqualification.
Presented by: Capital Punishment Center
Sponsor: William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law
Student Organization Sponsor: Texas Journal on Civil Liberties & Civil Rights
More information, including the full program of Lynching and the Death Penalty, is at the link. It will be held in the Eidman Courtroom at the UT Law.
Friday March 23rd
12:30 – 12:45 Welcoming Remarks
12:45 – 1:15: Keynote address: Bryan Stevenson
1:30 – 3:15: Panel One: Lynching, a General Historical Perspective
This panel will discuss the practice of lynching in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including its social and political significance, its role in maintaining racial caste, and its connection to other practices (including criminal punishment).
Philip Dray, New York University, Institute for the Humanities
Grace Hale, University of Virginia, Departments of History and American Studies
Amy Louise Wood, Illinois State University, Department of History
George C. Wright, Prairie View A&M University
Moderator: William Forbath, University of Texas School of Law
3:15-3:30 Coffee Break
3:30 – 5:00: Panel Two: The Relationship between Lynching and the Death Penalty during the Lynching Era
This panel will focus on the relationship between lynching and capital punishment during the era of active lynching, including the similarities/dissimilarities of those practices, the extent to which capital punishment and lynching served as “substitutes” for each other, and the connection between lynching reform movements and criminal justice policies.
Carol Steiker, Harvard Law School
Jordan Steiker, University of Texas School of Law
Margaret Vandiver, University of Memphis, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Moderator: Cary Franklin, University of Texas School of Law
Saturday March 24th
8:45-10:15: Panel Three: Lynching’s Legacy and Contemporary Capital Practice
This panel will discuss the extent to which contemporary capital punishment is influenced by, understood through, or reflective of the practice of American lynching.
Sherrilyn Ifill, University of Maryland School of Law
David Oshinsky, University of Texas, Department of History
Rob Owen, University of Texas School of Law
Frank Zimring, University of California Berkeley, School of Law
Moderator: Justin Driver, University of Texas School of Law
10:30-12:00: Panel Four: Lynching and Contemporary Litigation
This panel will examine the continuing role of race discrimination in general and lynching in particular on contemporary American criminal justice, focusing on the significance of past lynching practices - as an integral part of community histories of racism - in contemporary capital litigation.
Maurie Levin, University of Texas School of Law
Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative
Christina Swarns, Director, Criminal Justice Project, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Moderator: Jim Marcus, University of Texas School of Law
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