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Council and Chicago Appleseed Co-Sponsor National Conference on Wrongful Conviction and the Death Penalty "Perhaps the bleakest fact of all is that the death penalty is imposed not only in a freakish and discriminatory manner, but also in some cases upon defendants who are actually innocent." -Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., 1994 Last year, the Chicago Council of Lawyers sponsored a one-year moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois. Coordinated by Ed McManus, a member of the Council's Board of Governors, the Council's initiative included an amicus brief to the Illinois Supreme Court prepared by Locke Bowman and Jean Schneider at the University of Chicago's MacArthur Justice Center, legislation in the Illinois General Assembly sponsored by Representative Jan Shakowsky, and letters to Governor Edgar and Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan. While a moratorium was not enacted, the campaign brought renewed interest and attention to the inadequacies of capital processes in Illinois. Now, the Chicago Council of Lawyers and the Appleseed Fund For Justice is continuing their work on the death penalty by co-sponsoring the National Conference on Wrongful Convictions and the Death Penalty with the Northwestern University Legal Clinic. On November 13-15 of this year, attorneys, scientists, journalists, activists, and 75 exonerated death row inmates will meet in Chicago to focus attention on the terrible shortcomings of the capital system nationwide and discuss potential reforms. The conference will offer information from defending individuals to exploring broad policy objectives for change, including:
For more information please contact:The Council/Appleseed Fund office or Jeanine
Bell, Event Coordinator
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