UNCA will host racial justice panel

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Press release here:

WHAT:  Racial Justice in North Carolina

WHEN:  Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 7pm

WHERE:  UNC-Asheville Highsmith Center Grotto

CONTACT:  Alex Cury at (828)253-5088 or 318-7741

Asheville, NC — Several of North Carolina’s leading experts in the field of Racial Justice will visit UNC-Asheville’s Highsmith Grotto next Thursday at 7pm to discuss the subject of “Racial Justice in North Carolina”. 

ACLU Racial Justice Project attorney Rebecca Headen and legislative counsel Sarah Preston will serve on the panel, which will highlight the effects of racial discrimination on the criminal justice system and on the civil liberties of people living in North Carolina.

Jeremy Collins, the director of the North Carolina Coalition for a Moratorium, led the lobbying efforts for the NC Racial Justice Act, which was signed into law by Governor Bev Perdue last month.  He will serve on the panel along with the executive director of the Fair Trial Initiative, Mark Kleinschmidt. 

Kleinschmidt, who is currently running for mayor of Chapel Hill, represents two Buncombe County death row inmates.  Special attention will be paid to the Buncombe County residents of North Carolina’s death row and the impact of the Racial Justice Act on their cases and other local cases.

North Carolina death row exoneree Edward Chapman will also be present for the panel discussion, which is free and open to the public.