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Prof to address NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Fleury-Steiner and Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, will discuss recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court concerning racial discrimination in jury selection. The Supreme Court has, for the second time in as many years, overturned the death sentence of an African-American prisoner in Texas because prosecutors engaged in racial profiling during jury selection, unfairly stacking juries with whites “This is an unbelievable honor,” Fleury-Steiner said of his selection as a speaker at the conference. “The NAACP Legal Defense Fund is an organization of some of the most committed, selfless people alive. I cannot think of a more important honor than this, for me personally.” Fleury-Steiner is the author of the book Jurors’ Stories of Death: How America’s Death Penalty Invests in Inequality, which was published in 2004 by the University of Michigan Press. In the book, which draws on interviews with jurors through the Capital Jury Project, Fleury-Steiner argues that the death penalty is unfairly stacked against African-American defendants because American society remains mired in racial stereotypes. The presentation before the Legal Defense Fund will center on the book, with a discussion of how juries are selected and how jurors behave in capital cases, particularly those involving a white victim and an African-American defendant. Fleury-Steiner said that, historically, prosecutors have kept African-Americans off juries in these cases. When African-Americans are included as jurors, they are often a minority of one. As such, he said he believes that death penalty cases are inextricably entwined with the continuing civil rights movement. “Some people argue that the death penalty is a separate issue from that of equal justice in America, but I see it as an important part of the struggle for equal justice,” Fleury-Steiner said. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s work in putting the death penalty issue “in the context of the civil rights movement” has long been admired by Fleury-Steiner. “These have been heroes of mine for many years,” he said. “Their struggle is something that I find quite incredible.” Fleury-Steiner received his doctorate in sociology from Northeastern University, where he also earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a master’s degree in sociology. He joined the UD faculty in 2000. Stevenson, who will join Fleury-Steiner as a featured speaker, is a professor of clinical law at the New York University School of Law in addition to his work with the Equal Justice Initiative. He said of the book Jurors’ Stories of Death, “This illuminating and insightful examination of jury deliberations makes a terrific contribution to the study of capital punishment.” Article by Neil Thomas To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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