LAWFUEL – Santa Clara University:
WHAT:
Santa Clara University will host the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice when it convenes a public hearing to address solutions for wrongful convictions. The Commission will focus on five sets of questions for its inquiry. Among other topics, the questions deal with whether or not current laws are adequate, the obstacles in getting claims of innocence reviewed, the availability of laboratory testing, and compensation for those wrongfully incarcerated.
WHO:
Gerald Uelmen, executive director of the Commission, professor at Santa Clara University School of Law
Among witnesses invited to address the Commission:
Myrna Raeder, Southwestern University Law School, member of American Bar Association’s Innocence Committee
Justin P. Brooks, California Western School of Law, executive director of the California Innocence Project
Linda Starr, Santa Clara University School of Law, legal director of the Northern California Innocence Project
Michael Chamberlain, Deputy Attorney General
Exonerees Rick Walker and Herman Atkins
Mark Windham, head deputy, Los Angeles County Public Defenders Office
Karen McGagin, director of the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 17, 9:30 a.m.-noon
WHERE: Kennedy Commons
Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053
More information: Contact Chris Boscia, (408) 554-5026; cboscia@scu.edu or visit www.ccfaj.org
Background on the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice:
The commission was established by the California State Senate to examine the causes of wrongful convictions and to make recommendations and proposals to ensure that criminal justice in the state is just, fair, and accurate. The event on Oct. 17 is the sixth public hearing the commission has convened. Earlier hearings dealt with problems surrounding eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, forensic evidence and other issues.
About Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University, a comprehensive Jesuit, Catholic university located 40 miles south of San Francisco in California’s Silicon Valley, offers its 8,377 students rigorous undergraduate curricula in arts and sciences, business, and engineering, plus master’s and law degrees and engineering Ph.D.s. Distinguished nationally by one of the highest graduation rates among all U.S. master’s universities, California’s oldest operating higher-education institution demonstrates faith-inspired values of ethics and social justice. For more information, see www.scu.edu.
