Cohen Testimony & Just Mercy (with Bryan Stevenson)
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Bryan Stevenson is a a civil rights attorney who represents prisoners on death row. Described as “America’s Nelson Mandela,” his Equal Justice Initiative, a non-profit law firm based in Alabama, is dedicated to challenging racial injustice and ending mass incarceration. Stevenson is also the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. 

REFERENCES AND SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

Q&A Michael Cohen’s prepared opening statement before the House Oversight Committee Michael Cohen’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee An article from the Washington Post about Representative Matt Gaetz’s tweet and the Florida Bar’s investigation  Rule 35 - Correcting or reducing a sentence

Stevenson & EJI Stevenson’s book, Just Mercy The movie adaptation of Just Mercy(2020) The Equal Justice Initiative EJI’s The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration EJI’s The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (and efforts to create memorials in Berlin and South Africa)

Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 SCOTUS decisions concerning the death penalty: Furman v. Georgia (1972), Gregg v. Georgia(1976), McCleskey v. Kemp(1987) An article in the Washington Post on the McCleskey opinion and dissent (“fear of too much justice”) A 1994 paper by David Baldus and co. addressing to the “inevitability doctrine” SCOTUS decisions concerning life sentences without parole for juveniles: Graham v. Florida(2010), Miller v. Alabama (2010), Sullivan v. Florida(2010), Jackson v. Hobbes(2012) The SCOTUS decision that struck down the death penalty for juveniles: Roper v. Simmons, 2005 (and an article from the NYT analyzing the court opinion) The SCOTUS decision that struck down the death penalty for mentally ill folks: Atkins v. Virginia, 2002 The SCOTUS decision that justified Japanese internment: Korematsu v. United States ,1944 An article in the Washington Post on court nominees refusing to answer questions about Brown v. Board of Education The Scottsboro Boys case and the ultimate pardon of the wrongfully accused

Congress An article from the Asia Society on the history of Asian exclusion acts History of The Klu Klux Klan Act

Constitutional Amendments Eighth Amendment Thirteenth Amendment

Alabama An article in the New Yorker about Alabama judges’ power to “override” jury rulings and impose the death penalty Articles in Slate about Alabama’s Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee Day Articles in the Washington Post about Goodloe Sutton’s editorial calling for the return of the KKK and his subsequent resignation and replacement. Plus, Senator Jones and Representative Sewell’s reactions to Sutton

Judicial elections An article by Adam Liptak in the NYT on judicial elections, and analysis from The Brennan Center on how judicial elections impact sentencing A 2012 article from the Yale Law Journal, “The Origins of the Elected Prosecutor” Recently elected District Attorneys in Philadelphia, Chicago, Brooklyn, Baltimore

Relevant news An article from the NYT about Virginia officials wearing blackface in the past A timeline from the NYT on Jussie Smollett, plus an update on his role on the TV series, “Empire.” 

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