Crimes Against Humanity:
Science, Smugglers and Survivors
27th Law & the Media Seminar
The program is co-sponsored by the Houston Bar Association, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Houston Press Club.
Saturday, February 2, 2013 • 9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. • South Texas College of Law
The 27th Law and the Media Seminar will examine “Crimes
Against Humanity: Science, Smugglers and Survivors.” This
year’s two-theme, two-panel seminar includes journalists,
attorneys and newsmakers at the intersection of two of
Houston’s most challenging legal and societal issues: forensic
science and exoneration controversies and the epidemic of
human trafficking.
The first panel – “Evolution of Forensic Science and Exoneration Cases” – will explore developments in local and
national forensic science and exoneration issues and provide
practical and ethical considerations for lawyers and journalists.
The second panel – “Confronting the Human Trafficking
Epidemic” – will explore the ongoing efforts of law enforcement agencies, the courts, and community advocates to
solve the trafficking problem. The panel will discuss practical
and ethical considerations for lawyers and journalists.
Journalists, communication professionals, law students and
journalism students attend at no charge. The cost for attorneys is $50 with advance reservations and includes 3.0 hours
of MCLE credit, including 1 hour ethics credit. Door registration for attorneys is $55, space permitting. Continental breakfast is included. See page 2 for agenda and bios.
REGISTRATION FORM
Saturday, February 2, 2013 • 9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
South Texas College of Law, Fred Parks Law Library, 1303 San Jacinto, 6th Floor, Houston, Texas 77002
____________________________________________________________
Name
___________________________________________________________
Firm/Organization
____________________________________________________________
Address
___________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip
____________________________________________________________
Phone Number
___________________________________________________________
Email
Please check the area of media in which you are involved
o Newspaper
o Television
o Attorney - State Bar No. ___________________
o Radio
o Public Relations
o Student - School___________________________
o Magazine
o Internet Media
o Other_____________________________________
Send registration to the Houston Bar Association, 1001 Fannin, Suite 1300, Houston, Texas 77002 or call (713) 759-1133 for more
information. Members of the media and students may email form to BrookeE@hba.org or fax to (713) 759-1710.
There is no charge for this seminar for members of the media, communication professionals, journalism students and law students.
Registration fee for attorneys: $50.00 in advance; $55.00 at the door (space permitting) 3.0 hours MCLE credit,
including 1.0 hours ethics credit. Make checks payable to HBA.
Note: Pre-registration must be received at the HBA office no later than 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 31, 2013.
2013 Law & the Media Seminar Agenda
8:00-8:55
Registration and Continental Breakfast
10:30-10:45
8:55-9:00
Welcome and Introductions
10:45-12:15 Confronting the Human Trafficking Epidemic
Prof. Naomi Jiyoung Bang, FosterQuan, LLP; Tim Johnson,
former U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Texas; Lise
Olsen, reporter, Houston Chronicle; John F. Sullivan III, Watt
Beckworth (moderator); Human trafficking survivor/Forced
labor victim (to be announced)
9:00-10:30
Evolution of Forensic Science
and Exoneration Cases
Phil Archer, KPRC-NBC 2 (moderator); Dr. William M. Davis,
Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences; Brandi
Grissom, reporter, Texas Tribune; John Raley, Raley &
Bowick; Prof. Sandra Guerra Thompson, UH Law Center
12:15 p.m.
Evolution of Forensic Science
and Exoneration Cases
Adjourn
Confronting the Human
Trafficking Epidemic
Phil Archer, an award-winning reporter at
KPRC-NBC 2 in Houston since 1976, has covered fires, floods, foreign wars, and fugitives,
along with the Houston legal beat. He majored in journalism at the University of Houston,
and later was a University of Chicago William
Benton Fellow in Broadcasting.
Prof. Naomi Jiyoung Bang is an adjunct clinic
professor of the Asylum/Human Trafficking
Clinic at South Texas College of Law, where
she teaches students in asylum, T visas, civil
trafficking lawsuits, administrative enforcement actions, and outreach. She is a former
federal prosecutor with the US Attorney’s
Office in DC, human rights lawyer and trainer
with USAID. She is currently a senior attorney
at FosterQuan, focusing on federal litigation.
Dr. William Davis is Trace Evidence Manager
at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences and certified by the American Board of
Criminalistics as a fire debris specialist. He previously served as principal research scientist at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
was an analyst in the Chemistry Section of the
New York City Police Department.
Tim Johnson is chair of Locke Lord’s White
Collar Criminal Defense and Internal Investigations practice in the firm’s Houston office.
As the former U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of Texas (Houston), he led the office’s
investigations and prosecutions of smugglers,
traffickers, and child predators, among others.
Brandi Grissom is managing editor of the Texas Tribune in Austin. She has won awards from
the Associated Press Managing Editors and
the ACLU of Texas for her use of the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) and her reporting
on government entities and programs and
immigration.
Lise Olsen is an investigative reporter at the
Houston Chronicle with 20 years’ experience
specializing in crime, corruption and human
rights issues. Her stories have inspired laws and
reforms, spurred official investigations, restored
names to unidentified murder victims and
freed dozens of wrongfully held prisoners. She
has been twice named Texas APME newspaper reporter of the year.
John Raley is a partner at Raley & Bowick,
LLP in Houston. His pro bono work, along with
the Innocence Project, helped free Michael
Morton, who was wrongfully convicted of
murdering his wife in Williamson County and
spent 24 years in prison before becoming the
45th Texas inmate to be exonerated by DNA
testing.
Prof. Sandra Guerra Thompson is the University
of Houston Law Foundation Professor of Law
and Director of the Criminal Justice Institute
at the UH Law Center. She is a director of
the Houston Forensic Science Local Government Corp., a group charged with creating
and overseeing an independent forensic lab
and transferring such duties from the Houston
Police Department crime lab.
Break
John F. Sullivan III, is a partner at Watt
Beckworth in Houston. His pro bono work on
behalf of immigrants has been honored by
the American Bar Association, the State Bar of
Texas, the American Immigration Lawyers Association, and the Houston Bar Association.
Human Trafficking Survivor/Forced Labor Victim
(To be announced)
Law & the Media 2013 Planning Committee
Co-chairs: Erin Powers, Powers MediaWorks Sheila Hansel, South Texas College of Law
Megan Alexander
Phil Archer
Gerald Birnberg
Lavonne Burke
Lauren Chapman
Carrie Criado
Margaret Downing
Pamela Easton
Tracee Evans
Mary Flood
Debra Fraser
Juan Lozano
Jane Johnston Mumey
Ruth Nasrullah
Eileen O’Grady
Crystal Parker
Amanda Patrick
Seema Puri-Patel
Roy Reynolds
Richard Rothfelder
Paul Van Slyke
Terry Williams
Tara Shockley
HBA Communications
Director