Symposia
Achieving the Promise of the Sixth Amendment: Non-Capital and Capital Defense Services
Due to chronic underfunding throughout the country, extremely high caseloads are common among lawyers who represent indigent persons in criminal and juvenile delinquency cases. The Symposium will present leading national experts who will offer guidance on how to deal with the persistence of excessive caseloads in public defense through both litigation and non-litigation solutions. National experts will also discuss ethical considerations in death penalty cases and explore how today’s economic crisis creates opportunities for reform and cost savings in the administration of the death penalty.
Program Overview
Thursday, May 20, 2010
| 1:45 p.m. | Opening remarks |
| 2:00 - 2:30 p.m. | The Persistence of Excessive Caseloads in Public Defense |
| 2:30 - 5:00 p.m. | Dealing with Excessive Workloads without Litigation |
| 6:30 p.m. | Social Hour |
| 7:30 p.m. | Dinner Featured speaker: Hon. Laurie O. Robinson, Assistant Attorney General US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs |
Friday, May 21, 2010
| 8:00 - 8:45 a.m. | Continental Breakfast |
| 8:45 - 10:45 a.m. | Dealing with Excessive Workloads through Litigation |
| 11:00 - 12:30 p.m. | Unique Ethical Dilemmas in Capital Representation |
| 12:30 - 2:00 p.m. | Lunch Featured Speaker: David R. Dow, Distinguished Professor, University of Houston Law Center; Litigation Director, Texas Defender Service |
| 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. | Finding a Silver Lining in the Darkest Clouds: How Today’s Economic Crisis Creates Opportunities for Reform and Cost Savings in the Administration of the Death Penalty |
Previous Programs
On March 26, 2010, the Center in conjunction with the Tennessee Journal of Law and Policy sponsored a symposium on forensic evidence— "One Advocate's 'Junk Science' Is Another Advocate's Evidence: Forging New Paths In Forensic Science." Information regarding this symposium is available here.