The North Carolina Racial Justice Act of 2009 (RJA) broke new ground in its recognition of the role that social science research can play in identifying racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. 

Join us as we explore not only the implications of such a remarkable shift for the death penalty in North Carolina, but also the possibility that the RJA heralds a new openness to the use of social science research to inform questions obscured through exclusive reliance on direct evidence. The symposium will begin at 3:00 on Thursday, April 7, and end with dinner on Friday, April 8.

We have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response to our initial call for participants.  (Please see preliminary list below.)  Scholars from across  the country will present on myriad related topics. Please let us know if you would like to present, but we hope you will consider attending even if you don’t make a formal presentation. We seek to involve a wide variety of scholars who are able to advance the discussion and help to frame future research in this area.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please do not hesitate to contact either Catherine Grosso (grosso@law.msu.edu) or Barbara O’Brien (obrienb@law.msu.edu).  As more information about the Symposium becomes available, we will update this website.  Continue Reading »

* Andrew E. Taslitz, Racial Blindsight: The Absurdity of Color-Blind Criminal Justice, 5 Ohio St. J. of Crim. L. 1 (2007).