Event contact: Center for American and International Law: e-mail: cburkel@cailaw.org,
(972) 244-3400
Press contacts: UT Law Professor Jordan Steiker, (512) 232-1346; UT Law
Communications Director Allegra Young (512) 471-7330
Free seminar targets defense lawyers, prosecutors, judges, and legislators involved in death penalty work
AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas School of Law will host a one-day seminar, Oct. 28, on mental retardation and the recent Supreme Court decision Atkins v. Virginia. The seminar will begin at 9:00 a.m. in UT Law's Jeffers Courtroom.
The event, featuring UT Law professor Jordan Steiker and UT Law's Capital Punishment Clinic co-director Robert C. Owen, is presented by the Dallas-based Center for American and International Law and its Institute for Litigation Studies. Steiker is a nationally known expert on capital punishment. Owen is an adjunct professor and supervises UT Law students working on death penalty issues. Other notable speakers and moderators include Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Patrick Higginbotham and Professor Michael Tigar of the Washington College of Law at American University.
According to the Center for American and International Law, "Atkins v. Virginia and Ring v. Arizona are two of the most important opinions decided by the United States Supreme Court in recent years. Atkins has focused attention on mental retardation, an issue that has long been misunderstood and a disability that is often unrecognized. This program will discuss these issues from both the perspective of the prosecution and the defense. It will consider the definition of mental retardation as well as legislative options and litigation issues that now confront us."
For registration information, please go online to http://www.cailaw.org, or contact the Center for American and International Law and its Institute for Litigation Studies at (972) 244-3400 or cburkel@cailaw.org.