Law School to co-sponsor forum on state’s death penalty May 15

In the wake of attention garnered by Gov. George Ryan’s moratorium on executions in Illinois, the University Law School and the Chicago Tribune will sponsor a community forum titled “The Failure of the Death Penalty in Illinois: A Six-month Retrospective” at 6 p.m. Monday, May 15.

Former Chicago Tonight host John Callaway will moderate the forum, which is intended to generate dialogue on capital punishment in Illinois and the state’s shift in criminal justice policy.

Featured speakers will include Illinois State Sen. Barrack Obama, Senior Lecturer in the Law School at Chicago; Richard Devine, Cook County state’s attorney; Matthew Bettenhausen, executive director of the Illinois Commission on Death Penalty Reform; William Hooks, president of the Cook County Bar Association; Andrea Lyon, professor of law at the University of Michigan; and William Kunkle, a former DuPage County prosecutor.

The Law School, which has a reputation for examining law within a social and human context, will host the event at its Weymouth Kirkland Courtroom, 1111 E. 60th St. For more information or to make reservations, call (312) 214-0630.