Law Professor to Discuss 'Wrongful Convictions: Causes and Reforms' Oct. 18

The public is invited to attend a free talk by Professor Katherine Kruse. The title of her talk will be "Wrongful Convictions: Causes and Reforms." This talk will take place on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. in the Program Room of the Las Vegas Library, located at 833 Las Vegas Boulevard North (between Bonanza and Washington across from Cashman Field).

In the fall of 2008, with the help of the Rocky Mountain Innocence Center and the Boyd School of Law, Kruse started the UNLV Innocence Clinic. In the clinic, law students investigate claims of wrongful conviction by Nevada state prisoners while taking a seminar that focuses on the causes of wrongful conviction and postconviction remedies. Last year they also worked on two legislative reform projects to create a statute requiring state agencies to preserve biological evidence for the entire time that a prisoner is serving a sentence and to permit defendants to go back into court to request DNA testing of biological evidence in cases where such testing may prove their innocence. They also seek to provide resources and support for local attorneys who represent Nevada state inmates in postconviction proceedings. Kruse will be accompanied by three UNLV law students, Joanna Myers, John Wickett, and Chan Lengsavath, who are currently enrolled in the UNLV Innocence Clinic.

Kruse's talk is being sponsored by the Humanist Association of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada, a local chapter of the American Humanist Association.

Contact: Loretta Cardaronella
Email: lorettac2@cox.net
Phone: 702-258-1587