RWU Law Film Screening & Panel: “Gideon at 50: What the Right to Counsel Means Today”

Members of the community are invited to a panel discussion and screening of the recently released 30-minute documentary, “Defending Gideon,” a film narrated by Martin Sheen and produced by the Constitution Project that examines the case of Clarence E. Gideon, who challenged the fact that he could not afford a lawyer to defend himself against a conviction 50 years ago, setting off what would become a Consitituional right to an attorney. Following the film screening will be a panel discussion of Gideon’s impact on prosecution and defense and the legislative process.

Panelists will include Tara Allen, assistant federal defender in the District of R.I.; Gerald J. Coyne, deputy attorney general of RIAG; Debra Krupp, training coordinator for the Committee for Public Counsel Services, Mass.; Family Court Magistrate Charles J. Levesque, a former R.I. state Senator; the Honorable John J. McConnell, U.S. District Court of R.I.; Mary McElroy, an R.I. Public Defender. RWU Law Dean Andy Horwitz and RWU Law Professor Priya Lakhi, acting director of the Criminal Defense Clinic, will moderate the panel.

A light buffet will be served.

This event is sponsored by The Alliance, the RWU Law Student Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, The Association for Public Interest Law, the Criminal Law Society, and the Multicultural Law Students Association.

The event will be held in the RWU School of Law Building, Room 283.

Please RSVP to gideonrsvp@gmail.com, and for more information call, Amy Lanoie at (401)254-4650.