Post by CCADP on Mar 15, 2006 22:14:21 GMT -5
Criminal Justice Reform Conference April 20-22
By Rachel Capp
3/16/2006
For nearly two decades, Pittsburgh native Thomas Doswell lived a nightmare, serving a jail sentence of 13 to 26 years in prison for a rape he insisted he did not commit. As his children grew up without him, Doswell steadfastly maintained his innocence, even though his refusal to admit guilt cost him parole four times. Finally, in 2005, DNA evidence irrefutably proved that Doswell was not the attacker and he was released. Doswell will share his compelling story as one of the distinguished guests at next month’s 6th annual Forensic Science and Law Conference.
Duquesne University’s Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law and the School of Law, in partnership with The Justice Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan organization dedicated to fighting injustice, will bring together some of the nation’s leading legal scholars, forensic scientists, public policy makers and journalists to explore the impact of recent advances in forensic science on criminal justice reform. Justice for All: A National Symposium on the Role of Forensic Science in the Evolution of Criminal Justice Reform in America will be held Thursday, April 20, through Saturday, April 22, in the Bayer Learning Center. Justice for All is co-sponsored by the American Bar Association’s sections of Criminal Justice and Science and Technology Law, along with the Pittsburgh Institute of Legal Medicine.
Topics to be addressed include DNA testing, the reliability of eyewitness and “snitch” testimony, scientific and prosecutorial misconduct, and other issues at the forefront of the criminal justice reform debate. Speakers include former FBI Director William Sessions, renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, Policy Director for the Innocence Project Stephen Saloom, and Duquesne University Professor John Rago. The various panels will also feature talks from Doswell and another who has experienced first-hand the horror of wrongful conviction—Kirk Bloodsworth, the first death row inmate ever exonerated through DNA evidence.
The Justice for All conference is open to the public and is approved for Act 48 Continuing Education. Approval is being sought for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and PA Coroners Continuing Education.
For more information or to register, visit www.justiceforall.duq.edu or call 412.396.1330.
By Rachel Capp
3/16/2006
For nearly two decades, Pittsburgh native Thomas Doswell lived a nightmare, serving a jail sentence of 13 to 26 years in prison for a rape he insisted he did not commit. As his children grew up without him, Doswell steadfastly maintained his innocence, even though his refusal to admit guilt cost him parole four times. Finally, in 2005, DNA evidence irrefutably proved that Doswell was not the attacker and he was released. Doswell will share his compelling story as one of the distinguished guests at next month’s 6th annual Forensic Science and Law Conference.
Duquesne University’s Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law and the School of Law, in partnership with The Justice Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan organization dedicated to fighting injustice, will bring together some of the nation’s leading legal scholars, forensic scientists, public policy makers and journalists to explore the impact of recent advances in forensic science on criminal justice reform. Justice for All: A National Symposium on the Role of Forensic Science in the Evolution of Criminal Justice Reform in America will be held Thursday, April 20, through Saturday, April 22, in the Bayer Learning Center. Justice for All is co-sponsored by the American Bar Association’s sections of Criminal Justice and Science and Technology Law, along with the Pittsburgh Institute of Legal Medicine.
Topics to be addressed include DNA testing, the reliability of eyewitness and “snitch” testimony, scientific and prosecutorial misconduct, and other issues at the forefront of the criminal justice reform debate. Speakers include former FBI Director William Sessions, renowned forensic scientist Dr. Henry Lee, Policy Director for the Innocence Project Stephen Saloom, and Duquesne University Professor John Rago. The various panels will also feature talks from Doswell and another who has experienced first-hand the horror of wrongful conviction—Kirk Bloodsworth, the first death row inmate ever exonerated through DNA evidence.
The Justice for All conference is open to the public and is approved for Act 48 Continuing Education. Approval is being sought for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and PA Coroners Continuing Education.
For more information or to register, visit www.justiceforall.duq.edu or call 412.396.1330.