Events & News
Spring 2024
Policing Since the Murder of George Floyd | March 5
Mr. Arthur Ago (Director, Criminal Justice Project in the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) and Vice Dean Kami Chavis hosted a discussion on the history of the American police reform movement, as well as renewed initiatives to hold officers responsible for misconduct.
Fall 2023
Rap as Evidence | October 10
Professor Andrea L. Dennis (Associate Dean for Faculty Development & John Byrd Martin Chair of Law, University of Georgia) and Vice Dean Kami Chavis hosted a conversation on the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials.
Professor Dennis is the co-author of Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America, and her research on the issue has received national attention in both courts and media outlets.
Spring 2023
The Exoneration of Alfred Dewayne Brown | March 27
"The Exoneration of Alfred Dewayne Brown": A Conversation with Attorney Brian Stolarz and exoneree Alfred Dewayne Brown. Hosted by Center Director Kami Chavis. Mr. Stolarz was the habeas attorney for Mr. Brown, the 13th exoneree from Texas's death row and the 154th death row exoneree nationally. Mr. Brown's case is featured in episode 8 of the Innocence Files on Netflix.
View the event recording Learn more about the Netflix series.
Ending Police Brutality: Embracing Systemic Reform After Memphis | February 13
Panel discussion featuring W&M Law Professor Jeffrey Bellin, author of Mass Incarceration Nation, Center Director Professor Kami Chavis, and Professor Seth W. Stoughton of the University of South Carolina School of Law.
Co-sponsored by the Center for Racial and Social Justice, the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Reform, the Criminal Law Society, and Black Law Students Association.