Charles
Hamilton
Houston
Institute for
Race & Justice
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
Gideon’s
Promise & Peril
Meeting the
Mandate for
Indigent Defense
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark
Supreme Court decision Gideon v. Wainwright, in which
the Court ruled state courts were obligated to provide
counsel in criminal cases for defendants who could not
otherwise afford it. The logic of this unanimous decision
has had far-reaching implications for the way we
think about justice in the United States and held such
promise to those of us dedicated to the fairness of our
judicial system. We will gather to consider how perilous
the path remains to meeting this promise.
Keynote:
“Defiance & Resistance to Gideon”
Stephen Bright, President and Senior Counsel,
Southern Center for Human Rights
Panelists:
•Anthony Benedetti, Chief Counsel, Committee for
Public Counsel Services
•Cathleen Bennett, Criminal Defense Training Director,
Committee for Public Counsel Services
•Marc Bookman, Director, The Atlantic Center for Capital
Representation
•Robert Boruchowitz, Professor from Practice, Seattle
University Law School
•Gary Drinkard, Board member of Witness to Innocence
& exonerated Alabama death row prisoner
•Renée Hutchins, Associate Professor of Law, University
of Maryland School of Law
•Alexandra Natapoff, Professor of Law, Loyola Law
School, Los Angeles
•Jeff Sherr, Education & Strategic Planning Manager,
Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy
•Stephen Singer, Assistant Clinical Professor, Loyola
University College of Law
•Robert J. Smith, Assistant Professor of Law, UNC School
of Law
•Carol Steiker, Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law,
Harvard Law School
•Ronald Sullivan, Clinical Professor of Law & Director,
Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School
•Dehlia Umunna, Clinical Instructor and Acting Deputy
Director, Criminal Justice Institute, Harvard Law School
Also including:
A special screening of the documentary film Gideon’s
Army and a discussion with director Dawn Porter
A special tribute to
Judge George N. Leighton (HLS ’46)
U.S. District Court of Northern District of Illinois, retired
Friday, October 11, 2013, 9:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
Wasserstein Hall 2036, Milstein East, Harvard Law School
1585 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Lunch provided.
Free and open to the public • Please register at www.charleshamiltonhouston.org
This event is made possible in part through a generous contribution from
Janet Dewart Bell in memory of Professor Derrick Bell.
Additional information at: www.charleshamiltonhouston.org