Post Date: May 3, 2005
This weekend, Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice will host a national conference to examine a number of legal, racial and political issues surrounding the death penalty. The event, “From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State,” will take place May 5-6 in Ames Courtroom (HLS’s Austin Hall) in conjunction with the release of a new book by the same title, written by Professor Charles Ogletree and Amherst College Professor Austin Sarat.
“At a time when public support for the death penalty is waning, this very timely conference will examine the long and deep connection between the nation’s racial politics and the killings of African Americans through lynchings and executions,” said Ogletree. “By bringing together a distinguished and accomplished mix of attorneys, advocates and scholars, we hope to generate a robust and dynamic exchange of ideas and viewpoints, and to forge stronger links between the academy and the new abolition movement.”
Panelists include experts in law, academia and advocacy. The conference will address ways of engaging academia in anti-death penalty efforts and how organizations around the country can coordinate these efforts.
More information about the event and how to register is available on the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice website.