Past Events

Featuring Professor Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe, Acting Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law, and Chief Justice Bridget McCormack, Chief Justice, Michigan Supreme Court 

Please join us for part five of the SMU Law Review’s virtual symposium series, which features professors and practitioners in conversation about criminal legal reform.

Hosted by the Deason Center, and facilitated by Professor Pamela Metzger, Professor Joe and Chief Justice McCormack will discuss indigent defense and preview their symposium essays, which will appear in Issue 74.3 of the SMU Law Review.

Featuring Professor Kay Levine, Professor of Law, Emory Law School, Miriam Krinsky, Executive Director, Fair and Just Prosecution, and Liz Komar, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Fair and Just Prosecution

Please join us for part four of the SMU Law Review’s virtual symposium series, which features professors and practitioners in conversation about criminal legal reform.

Hosted by the Deason Center, and facilitated by Professor Pamela Metzger, Professor Levine joins Ms. Krinsky and Ms. Komar to discuss prosecution reform and preview their symposium essays, which will appear in Issue 74.3 of the SMU Law Review.

Professor Kami Chavis, Professor of Law and Director of the Criminal Justice Program at Wake Forest University School of Law, and Walter Katz, Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures, talk with Professor Pamela Metzger about police accountability. 

In McGirt v. Oklahoma, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the boundaries of the Muscogee Creek Nation and resolved jurisdictional questions about crimes committed in Indian Country. An expert panel discusses this historic decision and explores its implications for tribal sovereignty, federal courts, and the right to counsel.

Shawn Nolan, Chief of the Capital Habeas Unit and Community Federal Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, discusses the future of the death penalty. Mr. Nolan also explores how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the future of the federal death penalty. 

Across the country, in all types of jurisdictions, prosecutors are adding their voices to the call for criminal justice reform. Offered as part of the STAR Justice series, this panel features prosecutors from STAR areas discussing their problem-solving initiatives and procedural justice innovations.

Professor Michael Gentithes, University of Akron School of Law, and Professor Eang Ngov, Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law workshop their Fourth Amendment works-in-progress.

Professor Sandra Mayson of the University of Georgia School of Law presents a work-in-progress about the constitutional criteria for pretrial detention. Professor Mayson  describes two competing views of the constitutional criteria for pretrial detention that are emerging in the lower courts. The "minimal constraints view" holds that probable cause is sufficient to justify detention until trial, and that the state grants pretrial release at its discretion. The "robust constraints view" holds that due process prohibits detention of more than a few days absent a judicial finding that no less intrusive measure can meet the state's compelling interests; and that the finding must be made by clear and convincing evidence after an adversarial hearing. Professor Mayson explores each perspective and advances an argument for the robust-constraints view.
 

Brittany K. Barnett, SMU Dedman School of Law Alum 2011, is an award-winning attorney, author, and entrepreneur. The talk will feature a discussion about her acclaimed memoir, A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom. To find out more about Ms. Barnett’s work, please visit the Buried Alive Project and Girls Embracing Mothers.