Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Black Law Students Association (BLSA) hosted the 21st Annual Charles Hamilton Houston Black Tie Gala Nov. 18 at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing.
Founder of WMU-Cooley BLSA, the Honorable Hugh Clarke of the 54A District Court; Robert P. Young, Jr., associate justice (retired), Michigan Supreme Court; and LeDura Watkins, WMU-Cooley Law School Innocence Project's fourth exoneree, were featured speakers during the event.
BLSA hosts the Charles Hamilton Houston Black Tie event each fall to acknowledge the great achievements of Houston in the fight against racial injustice, as well as provide students with the opportunity to network with judges, attorneys and other community leaders from the Greater Lansing area.
Clarke provided opening remarks and spoke about the history of WMU-Cooley BLSA via video. As a second-year law student, Clarke formed the WMU-Cooley BLSA in an effort to increase graduation rates and encourage other minority students to attend WMU-Cooley Law School. The small group of students met regularly to discuss how they could help and support one another.
"From those humble beginnings, this organization has grown," Clarke said. "To look at some of the events that are done now for students, mentoring students, doing bar review courses and their outreach and work into the community is truly a blessing and showing how much these students care and what they've done to assist and help Cooley Law School."
During his remarks, Watkins spoke about perseverance, and how the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project made a difference in his life. As WMU-Cooley Innocence Project's most recent exoneree, Watkins served almost 42 years for a robbery and murder he did not commit before leaving as a free man in June 2017.
"I've had the advantage, the unfortunate advantage, of viewing what I call the movement of advocacy taking place and growing across the country - seeing Innocence Projects start, witnessing Innocence Projects popping up all over the country, wrongfully convicted innocent people being released from prisons after years and decades. And I stayed hopeful. So after going through about four or five attorneys, after running out of all money and having no resources, I just reached out. And someone answered my call; the Cooley Law School Innocence Project answered my call," Watkins said.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's office agreed to vacate the judgment of conviction and dismiss all charges against Watkins following a motion for a new trial by WMU-Cooley's Innocence Project earlier this year. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Watkins is the longest serving wrongly convicted person in Michigan.
Watkins thanked those who helped free him, including Marla Mitchell-Cichon, director of the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project. He said the law students involved in his case were passionate, and that it was their passionate advocacy for justice that made all the difference.
Distinguished Professor Emeritus Norman Fell, who founded the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project, was honored during the event with the first-ever Norman Fell Chairman's Award. The BLSA created the award in recognition of Fell's efforts to create the WMU-Cooley Innocence Project. Fell was a chair of the law school's Clinical Law Department.
The WMU-Cooley BLSA chapter strives to maintain communication with minority law students in Michigan and nationwide, promote exchange between WMU-Cooley law students and Lansing's legal community, establish and maintain academic and financial support services and encourage other minority students to attend WMU-Cooley Law School.
Published: Fri, Dec 08, 2017
