The Center for Children, Law and Policy and the Southwest Juvenile Defender Center are pleased to announce that Bryan Stevenson has agreed to speak at the Zealous Advocacy Conference 2010: Game Changing Strategies.

Bryan Stevenson is the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama and also a Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law. His representation of poor people and death row prisoners in the deep south has won him national recognition. He and his staff have been successful in overturning dozens of capital murder cases and death sentences where poor people have been unconstitutionally convicted or sentenced. Mr. Stevenson has been recognized as one of the top public interest lawyers in the country. His efforts to confront bias against the poor and people of color in the criminal justice system have earned him dozens of national awards including the National Public Interest Lawyer of the Year, the ABA Wisdom Award for Public Service, the ACLU National Medal of Liberty, the Reebok Human Rights Award, the Olaf Palme Prize for International Human Rights, the Gruber Foundation International Justice Prize and the prestigious MacArthur Foundation Fellowship Award Prize. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the Harvard School of Government. He has published articles on race and poverty and the criminal justice system, and manuals on capital litigation and habeas corpus.

Sullivan v. Florida

Bryan Stevenson most recently argued before the Supreme Court of the United States in Sullivan v. Florida involving a 13 year old who received life in prison without parole in a Florida state court on a conviction for sexual battery. In the Brief on the Merits (.pdf) petitioner argued that sentence was cruel and unusual and thus violated both the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. A decision on the case is expected soon.

The Center for Children, Law and Policy at the University of Houston Law Center recently hosted the Children, Sex and the Law Symposium. Professor Franklin Zimring’s keynote presentation, Juvenile Sex Offender Registration: The Wages of Ignorance is available on video below.

Franklin Zimring, Juvenile Sex Offender Registration: The Wages of Ignorance from Center for Children, Law and Pol on Vimeo.

Professor Zimring is the William G. Simon Professor of Law and Wolfen Distinguished Scholar at Boalt Hall, University of California Berkeley and the nation’s foremost expert on adolescent sexual offenses and is the author of An American Travesty: Legal Responses to Adolescent Sexual Offending.

More videos of the Children, Sex and the Law Conference will be posted as they become available.

The Texas State Bar will host a CLE training on Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System.

• Brochure: Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System Course 2009 (.pdf)
• Register on the website: Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System Course 2009 (live)

Details:
Special Education and the Juvenile Justice System Course 2009 (live)
Austin - Jun 19, 2009
Austin Convention Center
500 East Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, TX 78701
(512) 476-5461
MCLE Credit: 7.75 hrs (includes 1.50 hrs ethics)
MCLE No: 901175748
Early Bird Registration: $195.00
(Regular Course Fee: $245.00)
Note: Early Bird Registration
ends Friday, June 05, 2009

Schedule:

8:30 Primer on Adjudication
of Juveniles with Mental
Disabilities
.75 hr (.25 hr ethics)
Patricia J. Cummings, Round Rock
Attorney & Counselor at Law
9:15 A Primer on Special
Education Law .75 hr
Martin J. Cirkiel, Round Rock
Cirkiel & Associates
10:15 Juvenile Lawsuits Affected By
Special Education
.75 hr (.25 hr ethics)
Ellen Marrus, J.D., LLM, Houston
George Butler Research
Professor of Law
University of Houston Law Center
11:00 Child Welfare System .5 hr
Jane Burstain, Austin
Center for Public Policy Priorities
Alison Little, Austin
School of Social Work - University
of Texas
11:30 Question and Answer Session
With Morning Panelists .25 hr
Moderator:
Rosa Elva Torres, McAllen
Panelists:
Patricia J. Cummings, Round Rock
Martin J. Cirkiel, Round Rock
Ellen Marrus, Houston
Jane Burstain, Austin
Alison Little, Austin
11:45 Break - Lunch Provided
12:00 Luncheon Presentation: Juvenile
Justice and Mental Health Issues
.75 hr
Susan A. Stone, M.D., Rosanky
Attorney and Counselor at Law
Susan Stone and Associates
1:00 Pipeline from School to Prison:
Legal and Public Policy Issues
.5 hr
Barbara Best, Houston
Executive Director
Children’s Defense Fund - Texas
1:30 Litigating Cases Involving
Children with Disabilities
.75 hr (.25 hr ethics)
James Holtz, Houston
Holtz & Wright
Karen Dalglish Seal, San Antonio
The Law Office of Karen Dalglish
Seal
2:15 Manifestation Determination
Reviews .5 hr
Jose Martin, Austin
Richards Lindsay & Martin
3:00 Legislative Update .5 hr
Dustin Rynders, Austin
Advocacy, Inc.
Jeff Miller, Austin
Advocacy, Inc.
3:30 Judicial Perspective
1 hr (.25 ethics)
Hon. Patricia A. Macias, El Paso
388th District Court
Hon. Darlene Byrne, Austin
126th District Court
Hon. Susan Criss, Galveston
212th District Court
4:30 Ethical Guidelines for
Representing Juveniles with
Mental Health Issues .5 hr ethics
Lynda E. Frost, J.D., Ph.D, Austin
Associate Director
Hogg Foundation For Mental
Health
5:00 Question and Answer Session
With Afternoon Panelists .25 hr
Moderator:
Rosa Elva Torres, McAllen
Panelists:
Barbara Best, Houston
James Holtz, Houston
Karen Daglish Seal, San Antonio
Jose Martin, Austin
Dustin Rynders, Austin
Jeff Miller, Austin
Lynda E. Frost, Austin

INTERDISCIPLINARY CHILD WELFARE INSTITUTE (ICWI)
At Capital University Law School
May 18 - 22, 2009
Columbus, Ohio

For more information visit the ICWI website.

Capital University Law School, in conjunction with the National Center for Adoption Law and Policy, is pleased to offer a one-week intensive Interdisciplinary Child Welfare Institute (ICWI). This two-credit course will provide law students and graduate level social work students with a mutual understanding of the legal and sociological principles central to child welfare practice. In the increasingly complex world of child welfare, quality collaboration among legal and social work professionals is critical to keeping children safe and strengthening families. Interdisciplinary learning provides a common foundation for students from different professional programs and an environment for developing the skills required of future child welfare attorneys and social workers.

The ABA’s section on Children and the Law has two conferences coming up in May. Visit the ABA Center for Children and the Law Website for more details.

• Improving Representation for Parents in the Child Welfare System:
  THE FIRST NATIONAL PARENTS’ ATTORNEYS CONFERENCE
  May 13-14, 2009 Washington, DC
• Representing Your Client and Advocating for Change in Challenging Times:
  THE 2009 NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN AND THE LAW
  The Center’s 30th anniversary conference
  May 15-16, 2009 Washington, DC
  (with optional choice of 3 full-day Preconference programs on May 14)

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