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Dates and panelists subject to change.
 

 
From the cast: Sunny Jacobs (exoneree), Delroy Lindo (actor) and Erik Jensen (playwright & actor) moderated by Ron Tabak (Special Counsel on pro bono and general litigation matters at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP)
Wed, September 26

 

 
Organized by Innocence Project with exoneree Dewey Bozella
Thur, September 27

 

 
Pre-show 5:30-6:30 PM
“Solitary Confinement” with the New York Civil Liberties Union
 
Post-show
“Prosecution Misconduct” with George Kendall of Squire Sanders, former long-time head of capital defense work at NAACP LDF (organized and moderated by Ron Tabak)
Wed, October 3

 

 
“Wrongful Convictions” with Reinvestigation Project Director Risa Gerson and Senior Staff Attorney Kerry Jamieson
Thur, October 4

 

 
“Solitary Confinement”
with Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) Alexis Agathocleous, Gruber Fellow in Global Justice at the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) Scarlet Kim, Senior Staff Attorney at the NYCLU Taylor Pendergrass, and Sadé Jasmín Jackson whose brother is currently serving a sentence in extreme isolation; moderated by Annette Dickerson, CCR Director of Education & Outreach
Tue, October 9

 

 
“The Death Penalty”
with former death row inmate and activist Lawrence Hayes , John Forté (cast), Amnesty International Executive Director Suzanne Nossel, and moderated by Organizer for Amnesty International on U.S. Criminal Justice Issues Thenjiwe McHarris
Wed, October 10
(10th Anniversary of the World Day Against the Death Penalty)

 

 
with Innocence Project Executive Director Maddy deLone and exoneree Alan Newton
Thur, October 11
 
When he was 22 years old, Bronx, New York, native ALAN NEWTON was wrongfully convicted of rape based on an eyewitness misidentification. He eventually served nearly half his life—22 years—behind bars. He began requesting DNA testing in 1994, but the evidence could not be located until 2005. With the help of the Innocence Project, who secured DNA testing, he proved his innocence. Soon after his exoneration in July 2006 he enrolled at Medgar Evers College with support from the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund and completed a degree in business administration. He is a Research Associate with the City University of New York Black Male Initiative and is currently applying to law schools.

 

 
“Race and the Criminal Justice System”
Christina Swarns of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (Organized and moderated by Ron Tabak)
Tue, Oct 16

 

 
“The Future of Incarceration: Punishment or Redirection?”
Moderated by Brent Buell, contributing author, Performing New Lives: Prison Theater with three men formerly incarcerated and now working professionals: Dino Johnson, Cornell Alston and Clarence Maclin
Wed, October 17

 

 
with Exoneration Initiative Founder & Director Glen Garber
Thur, October 18

 

 
“National Trends on the Death Penalty, Exonerations and Cases of Innocence”
Shari Silberstein, Executive Director of Equal Justice USA, will speak on national trends on the death penalty, exonerations, and cases of innocence, to which Innovative California capital defense attorney Gary Sowards will add perspective on the November 6 California death penalty ballot initiative (Organized and moderated by Ron Tabak)
Wed, Oct 24

 

 
with Pace Post-Conviction Project Professor Adele Bernhard with exoneree Fernando Bermudez
Thur, October 25
 
FERNANDO BERMUDEZ served over 18 years in New York State maximum security prisons following his wrongful conviction of murder in the shooting death of Raymond Blount in 1991 until proven innocent in late 2009 with assistance from pro bono attorneys from Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York. Mr. Bermudez’s case presents a rare instance of New York case law in which a judge has overturned a conviction on “actual innocence grounds” without DNA evidence. The sole evidence against him involved mistaken and coerced eyewitness identification by five teenagers, who later recanted their testimony. Mr. Bermudez is married with three children and lives in Connecticut. Recently completing his bachelor’s degree in behavioral science (Summa Cum Laude), he is considering two law school and postgraduate degree offers while adjusting to life outside of prison. He also engages in public speaking, having spoken at nearly 100 venues, including Columbia, Cornell, Yale and Wesleyan Universities and lecturing in both New Haven and Hartford Federal District Courts in CT. In February 2011 he filed suit a $30 million dollar suit against the city of New York for his wrongful incarceration. He recently helped abolish CT’s death penalty with CT legislators and has also been selected for sponsorship by five German law schools for a 14-day speaking tour in Germany set for April 2013.

 

 
DUE TO ISSUES RELATED TO THE STORM THE TALKBACKS SCHEDULED FOR 10/31 & 11/1 HAVE BEEN RESCHEDULED.
 

 

 
“The New York Death Penalty: Federal-Style”
United States Senior District Judge Frederic Block, of the Eastern District of New York, author of the new book, Disrobed; organized and moderated by Ron Tabak
Wed, November 7

 

 
with Innocence Project Policy Director Stephen Saloom
Thur, November 8

 

 
“New York After the Death Penalty”
with Valerie Gotlib, attorney at Sher Tremonte LLP whose focus is criminal law and who is a member of the Capital Punishment Committee of the New York City Bar Association and a principal author of their forthcoming report on New York After the Death Penalty; moderated by Ron Tabak
Wed, November 14

 

 
with Jeff Deskovic, an exoneree who has formed the Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation for Justice
Thur, November 15

 

 
“The Death Penalty from Here to Guantanamo”
Denny LeBoeuf, Director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project; organized and moderated by Ron Tabak
Tues, November 20

 

 
“New York’s Death Penalty Saga”
with former New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye, Chief Judge during the time that NY had the death penalty law enacted in 1995, moderated by Ron Tabak
Wed, November 28

 

 
Innocence Project Case Analyst Edwin Grimsley and Marty Tankleff
 
MARTY TANKLEFF had just turned 17 years old when he was arrested for the murder of his parents in their Long Island home. After hours of aggressive interrogation by a detective with a questionable background, a dubious and unsigned ‘confession’ lead to Marty’s conviction. He was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison, with the possibility of parole in 2040. After more than 17 years in prison, Marty’s conviction was vacated by the New York State Appellate Division in December 2007. On July 22, 2008, a judge signed off on a motion by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to dismiss all charges against Marty. Marty has two lawsuits pending and seeks to find out the truth about what led to his wrongful conviction, and who is responsible for his parents’ murders. Now 41 years old and finally exonerated, Marty is in his third year at Touro Law School and seeks to change the system from the inside out. Helping the wrongfully convicted has become his life’s pursuit, and he has the opportunity to do so working as a paralegal at Barket Marion Epstein & Kearon, LLP in Garden City, New York.
Thur, November 29

 

 
“Incompetent Lawyers and the Conviction of the Innocent”
Stephen Bright, President and Senior Counsel, Southern Center for Human Rights and Visiting Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School; organized and moderated by Ron Tabak
Fri, November 30
 
Dates and panelists are subject to change. Based on availability, all previous The Exonerated ticket holders are welcome to attend post-show talkbacks.