Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 18, 2000

Volume 28, Number 21

Attorney for Abner Louima to speak
at 'Rebellious Lawyering' event

Peter Neufeld, who has represented defendants in several high-profile police brutality cases and helps wrongly convicted individuals achieve their freedom through "The Innocence Project," is the keynote speaker at a conference on "Rebellious Lawyering," to be held on campus Friday-Sunday, Feb. 25-27.

A student-run event now in its sixth year, the "Rebellious Lawyering" conference brings together practitioners, law students and community activists/advocates from around the country to discuss innovative, progressive approaches to law and social change.

The opening address will be presented by Professor Geraldo P. Lopez of the University of California-Los Angeles School of Law, author of "Rebellious Lawyering: One Chicano's Vision of Progressive Law Practice," at 6 p.m. on Friday.

Sessions on Saturday and Sunday will include: "Closing U.S. Borders: New Issues in Asylum Law," "Standardizing Inequality," "Advocacy for the Working Poor," "Emerging Issues in HIV/AIDS Advocacy," "Disability and the State," "Living with Welfare: Real Strategies for Promoting Independent Families" and "Race, Sentencing and Criminal Justice."

Highlighting the event will be the keynote address at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday by Peter Neufeld, co-founder and director of "The Innocence Project," which currently represents more than 200 inmates who are seeking post-conviction release through DNA testing. Since being established five years ago, the project has been responsible in whole or in part for exonerating more than 38 clients.

In his private practice, Neufeld specializes in criminal defense, civil rights and constitutional litigation, and his trials have helped redefine and expand the parameters of forensic psychiatry, laboratory sciences and civil rights. He is frequently retained by victims of police brutality who are pursuing civil rights claims in the courts and seeking systemic change. His clients have included Abner Louima, the Haitian-American who sued New York City police after being tortured in a precinct bathroom; and Thomas Pizzuto, who was beaten to death by corrections officers in Nassau County Jail. He has also secured acquittals and non-custodial dispositions in several cases on behalf of abused women charged with killing their batterers.

All of the "Rebellious Lawyering" activities will be held in the Law School, 127 Wall St. There is a $15 registration fee for the conference, which may be waived in cases of hardship. A complete schedule is available online at www.reblaw.org/agenda.htm. For further information, email andrea.marsh@yale.edu.

The "Rebellious Lawyering" conference is sponsored by the Black Law Students Association, Latino Law Students, Pacific Asian Native American Law Students, the Schell Center for Human Rights, South Asian Law Students, Yale Environmental Law Association, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism, Yale Law School Career Development Office, Yale Law and Technology Society and Yale Law Women.

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Show marks retirement of noted curator

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Yale 'bakers' show off their talents at benefit event

Yale-donated microscope inspires 'next generation of scientists'

University lends support to help New Haven become a 'city of readers'

Attorney for Abner Louima to speak at 'Rebellious Lawyering' event

Study finds similarities in U.S. and Nazi eugenics efforts

Retrospective exhibit showcases the work of the once 'most talked about artist' in Britain

Black History Month celebration

Pioneering alumna to discuss use of math in real world

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Campus Notes

Standing, Special and Appointments Committees

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