Warren Wilson College to host panel discussion on murder and the death penalty

Press release here:

What:  Program & Panel Discussion Featuring Former NC Death Row Inmate Edward Chapman, Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation member, author and filmmaker Therese Bartholomew, UNC-Asheville Psychology Chair Dr. Pam Laughon, and UCC Reverend Joe Hoffman
When:  Wednesday, October 28, 6pm to 9pm
Where:  Canon Lounge in Gladfelter Hall, Warren Wilson College Swannanoa, NC

Warren Wilson College will host a panel of guests — former death row inmate Edward Chapman, author, filmmaker and murder victim family member Therese Bartholomew, psychologist and mitigation specialist Dr. Pam Laughon, and Reverend Joe Hoffman of Asheville’s First United Congregational Church of Christ — on Wednesday evening, October 28, from 6 to 9pm in Canon Lounge on the first floor of Gladfelter Hall.  This discussion of new perspectives on murder and the death penalty by a diverse and distinguished panel of speakers is free and open to the public.

Edward Chapman, who spent more than 13 years on North Carolina’s death row, along with Dr. Pam Laughon, a vital member of the post-conviction defense team that finally won Edward’s freedom, will discuss his wrongful convictions and his incarceration.   Chapman was one of three innocent African-American men released from North Carolina’s death row in the last two years.

Since his release from death row on April 2, 2008, Chapman has traversed the state talking about his experience and advocating reforms to the criminal justice system.  He was featured in the Racial Justice Act video on youtube and in many news stories since his release last year.  Chapman traveled to Raleigh in August to lobby state senators for passage of the NC Racial Justice Act, which seeks to remedy racial bias in North Carolina’s capital punishment system. The Bill was passed and signed into law by Governor Perdue.

When Therese Bartholomew’s younger brother Steve was shot and killed in Greenville, SC, she wondered how she would survive without him. Bartholomew’s powerful new memoir, Coffee Shop God, details her struggle to adjust in the weeks and months following her brother’s untimely death. Bartholomew, a former high school dropout, now holds an MS in criminal justice and is a writer, teacher, speaker and activist for victims and offenders.

Bartholomew is a member of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation (MVFR).  Founded in 1976, MVFR is a national organization of family members of victims of both homicide and executions who oppose the death penalty in all cases. Reverend Joe Hoffman, a WNC leader of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty (PFADP), provides a faith perspective on  the death penalty. This enlightening program is co-sponsored by the Religion and Social Work Departments at Warren Wilson College and by the William Faulds Lectureship.