"DISCUSSING AMERICAN JUSTICE," A LECTURE SERIES AT BARD COLLEGE, WILL EXPLORE ISSUES OF THE PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX, CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, DRUG LAWS AND NONVIOLENT CRIMES, THE SUPREME COURT, AND JUVENILE JUSTICE

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—"Discussing American Justice" is the topic of a student organized, five-part lecture series presented by the Bard Prison Initiative. The series at Bard College will explore issues of the prison-industrial complex, capital punishment, drug laws and nonviolent crimes, the Supreme Court, and juvenile justice. All the lectures are free and open to the public.

The first lecture, on Wednesday, September 27, addresses "Prison-Industrial Complex." It features Max Fraad-Wolff, a doctoral candidate in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Beverly F. Gage, a writer for The Nation, Salon, and New Haven Advocate, and a teaching assistant in the Department of History at Columbia University. The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., in Room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building.

The second program, on Tuesday, October 3, is on the topic of "Capital Punishment." Speaking will be Nancy Hammond from New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty and Joe Diamond, public affairs director for Center for the Community Interest. They will debate the value of the death penalty. The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., in Room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building.

The third lecture, on Wednesday, October 25, is a discussion of "Drug Laws and Nonviolent Crime." Speakers include Randy Credico, director of the Willam Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice's initiative against the Rockefeller Drug Laws in New York State, and former prisoner Anthony Papa. Papa's art, which he created while in prison for violation of the Rockefeller Drug Laws, has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. He is now a paralegal in New York and an outspoken opponent of the state's drug laws. Other men and women who were imprisoned under these laws will also be in attendance. The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., in Room 115 of the Olin Language Center.

The fourth lecture, on Wednesday, November 1, will explore "The Supreme Court." Speaker Philip Lacovara is an attorney with the appellate law firm Mayer, Brown, & Platt. Prior to joining the firm he was assistant to Solicitor General Thurgood Marshall and deputy solicitor general under Erwin Griswold. He left that office to become counsel to Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. He has argued seventeen Supreme Court cases in government service and in private practice. Joining Lacovara will be Bard professor and constitutional lawyer Alan Sussman. The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., in Room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building.

The final lecture in the series, on Wednesday, November 15, will be on "Juvenile Justice." Jason Ziedenburg, senior policy analyst with the Justice Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., will join Kim McGillicuddy, head of the Bronx Youth Force, and several former juvenile prisoners. The lecture will be held at 7:00 p.m., in Room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building.

The Bard Prison Initiative, sophomore students Cinta Conti-Cook and Rafi Rom, senior Max Kenner, and Jonathan Becker, dean of studies, have organized this lecture series. The BPI will also send Bard students and professors to area prisons for academic lectures, tutoring, and interaction with the prisoners. Members of the group also speak at high schools and community centers and participate in a direct-action network that lobbies for various issues and initiatives related to prisons and justice.

For further information, call 845-758-6822 or e-mail: [email protected].

# # #

(9.22.00)

This event was last updated on 03-02-2001

Back to Top