Perceptions that racial and ethnic bias in our courts impede fair and equal treatment will be explored in a day-long symposium Wednesday, April 7 at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas.
A joint project of the American Bar Association Judicial Division and SMU, “Justice for All? Perceptions of Racial and Ethnic Bias in Our Courts” will feature introductory remarks by ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. at 8:30 a.m.
Dennis W. Archer, ABA past president and former mayor of Detroit, will offer a keynote address during lunch.
Three panels of nationally recognized academics, judges and lawyers will address the presence and impact of bias among judges and juries, whether such bias infects the exercise of discretion by prosecutors, and how language and cultural differences might impact outcomes in litigation.
Breakout sessions will address issues discussed in the panels, and propose next steps and solutions to identified problems.
Sessions include:
• “Decisionmaker Bias,” with panelists Mark Curriden, director of communications, Vinson & Elkins L.L.P., Dallas; Dr. Daniel Shuman, Anderson Foundation Endowed Professor of Health Law, SMU Dedman School of Law; Judge Michael B. Hyman, Cook County Circuit Court, Chicago; and Pat Chew, professor of law, University of Pittsburgh; and Judge John Creuzot, Dallas County Criminal District Court, Dallas.
• “Prosecutorial Discretion,” will feature D. Aaron Lacy, associate professor of law, SMU Dedman School of Law; Craig Watkins, Dallas County district attorney; Tracy Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law, Yale Law School; and U.S. District Court Judge C. Darnell Jones II, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
• “Issues of Interpretation/Cultural Conflict,” featuring Prof. George Martinez, SMU Dedman School of Law; Prof. Christopher David Ruiz Cameron, Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles; and Judge Ramona G. See, Los Angeles Superior Court, Los Angeles.
The ABA, based in Chicago, has more than 400,000 members.
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