For Immediate Release
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CONTACT: Christi Powers
State Bar of Wisconsin
(800) 444-9404, ext. 6025 cpowers@wisbar.org |
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Death penalty symposium slated
MADISON, April 25, 2003 - The State Bar of
Wisconsin's Criminal Law Section is co-sponsoring a death penalty
symposium on Monday, April 28 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Orpheum
Theater. Free and open to the public, the event features a panel of
speakers addressing issues on the death penalty. Wisconsin has not had
the death penalty since 1853 but there is now proposed legislation to
reinstate it.
Media Advisory
EVENT: Pre-symposium session media session
RE: Proposed Reinstatement of the Death Penalty in
Wisconsin -- A presentation co-sponsored by the State Bar of Wisconsin
& the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School
WHO: Former Governor George Ryan, R-Illinois
Prof. Larry Marshall, Northwestern University Law School
DATE/TIME: Monday, April 28, 2003 - 2:30 to 3:30
p.m.*
LOCATION: University of Wisconsin Law School - Room
7200
975 Bascom Mall, Madison, WI 53706
*Notify Keith Findley 608-262-4763 - kafindle@wisc.edu if you plan to
attend
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"The Wisconsin legislature is considering whether to create a death
penalty system for the first time in 150 years," said Atty. Keith
Findley, University of Wisconsin Law School, who organized the event.
"The proposal comes despite scores of exonerated men and women who were
wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death."
Nationally, the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Since then 107
people in 25 states were released from death row after being found
innocent. Further controversy stems from the introduction of DNA testing
in death penalty cases because since 1989 a total of 127 people who had
been sentenced to death were found innocent as the result of
post-conviction DNA testing.
Co-sponsored by the Wisconsin Innocence Project of the Frank J.
Remington Center, UW-Law School and the State Bar's Criminal Law
Section, the speakers include:
- Former Governor George Ryan, R-Illinois, a previous proponent of the
death penalty, who recently commuted the sentences of all 167 people on
death row in Illinois
- Professor Larry Marshall, Northwestern University School of Law, who
is a national leader in exonerating the innocent, and was instrumental
in Governor Ryan's decision
- Christopher Ochoa, who spent 12 years in a Texas prison for a rape
and murder he did not commit. He was released from prison in 2001 after
the Wisconsin Innocence Project successfully obtained DNA testing that
proved him innocent
- Jeanette Popp, the mother of murder victim Nancy DePriest who was
the victim in the Christopher Ochoa case
"Former Governor Ryan and Professor Marshall are two of the most
important figures in the current debate on capital punishment," Findley
said. "Also, Christopher Ochoa and Jeannette Popp will offer unique and
compelling insights on how a death penalty system can result in
miscarriages of justice for defendants and victims alike."
The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association,
created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a law
license in Wisconsin. With more than 20,000 members, the State Bar aids
the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides
continuing legal education for its members, and assists Wisconsin
lawyers in carrying out initiatives to educate the public about the
legal system.
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