Thursday, February 4, 2021 9AM
Police Misconduct & Qualified Immunity: Reimagining “We the People”
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Sponsors




Register to join us on Thursday, February 4, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m (CST)., as Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Law, in partnership with The Earl Carl Institute for Legal & Social Policy, Inc., the Thurgood Marshall Law Review and the TSU Center for Justice Research co-present a virtual national conference, sponsored by the American Association for Justice Robert L. Habush Endowment, entitled, Police Misconduct & Qualified Immunity: Reimagining “We the People.” This conference provides a timely, relevant, and much-needed discussion on the disproportionate use of force by police in interactions with black people and the disparate treatment of black protestors in the United States.
In observance of Black History Month, Thurgood Marshall School of Law (“Thurgood Law”) will examine the long-lasting effect of police violence on families, remedies for people injured by police violence and how protestors should be treated given First Amendment Protections, including a review of the inequitable treatment of black protestors throughout U.S. history.
The conference keynote speaker will be Attorney Sherrilyn Ifill, law professor, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
To complement the symposium, the Earl Carl Institute Journal: The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy, will publish a special issue journal with articles on topics related to the issues raised in this conference. For information about submitting an article to the journal,
contact Lucinda Daniels at Lucinda.daniels@tmslaw.tsu.edu.
Thursday, Feb 4
9:00am – 9:15am
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Larry F. Taylor Jr., The Cochran Firm, Dallas, TX
9:15am - 10:00am
PANEL I: THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM:
“George Floyd Bill” & Qualified Immunity
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Dr. Howard Henderson, Center for Justice Research, Texas Southern University
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April Frazer Camara, Director of National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA)
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Professor Joanna C. Schwartz, UCLA Law
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Chris Colbert, DCP Entertainment, CEO
10:00am - 10:15am
Q&A
10:15am - 11:30am
PANEL II: The Anatomy of §1983 Litigation
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Attorney Gary Bledsoe
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Bhavani Raveendran, Senior Associate Attorney, Romanucci & Blandin LLC
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Attorney Brian Dunn, The Cochran Firm, California
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Honorable Federal Judge Ken Hoyt, Southern District of Texas
11:30am -11:45am
Q&A
11:45am - 12:15pm
John Crawford Video/Break
12:15pm - 1:15pm
Introduction of Keynote Speaker:
NAACP LDF President and Director-Counsel Sherrilyn Ifill
1:15pm - 1:45pm
PANEL III: THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
Reimagining “We the People” as an Inclusive Construct
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Dean Joan RM Bullock, Thurgood Marshall School of Law (TMSL)
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Professor Constance Fain, TMSL
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Professor L. Darnell Weeden, TMSL
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Professor SpearIt, TMSL
1:45pm - 2:00pm
Q&A
2:00pm - 2:15pm
BREAK
2:15pm - 3:00pm
PANEL IV: The Future of 1st Amendment Protests Protections: Examining the Use of Brutality on those Fighting Against Violence
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Sarah Guidry, Executive Director, ECI
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Attorney Roy J. Rodney Jr., Rodney & Etter, LLC
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Attorney George Oginni, Leo & Oginni Trial Lawyers, PLLC
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Honorable Craig Washington
3:00pm - 3:15pm
Q&A
3:15pm - 3:30pm
BREAK
3:30pm - 4:30pm
PANEL IV (Part II): The Future of 1st Amendment Protests Protections: Examining the Use of Brutality on those Fighting Against Violence
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Serbino Sandifer-Walker, TSU
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Attorney Nikeyla Johnson, The Cochran Firm
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Jessica Brown, Protestor
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Yasmeen Davila, Protestor
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Becky Selle, Protestor, West Street Recovery
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Chris Colbert, Documentary Writer, DCP Entertainment, CEO
- Dr. Halcyon Sadberry Watkins