Panel discussion sponsored by the Heman Sweatt Symposium on Civil Rights and the UT School of Law Capital Punishment Symposium Series. The state of Texas is at the forefront of the national debate on capital punishment. This panel discussion seeks to shed light on a number of issues related to the prosecution and defense of individuals charged with capital offenses that result in the imposition of the death penalty sentence. Panelists will address the pros and cons associated with the quality of representation defendant's receive, the lack of a public defender system in Texas and its impact on death penalty cases, what role race plays and the effects of an elected judiciary at the trial and appellate levels on the outcome of capital punishment cases. The moderator will be Jordan Steiker, the Cooper H. Ragan Regents Professor in Law at the University of Texas School of Law.
All events are free and open to the public.