web_0300.jpg

Spring 2023 Symposium: Facing Life

The Law and Racial Justice Center Presents:
FACING LIFE
Featuring The Visiting Room Project
Co-sponsors: Freedom Reads, Liman Center, Afro-American Cultural Center

On March 30 and March 31, 2023 the Law and Racial Justice Center presented its spring 2023 symposium, "Facing Life." The two-day symposium featured panels and discussions on life without parole, mass incarceration, and legal advocacy for incarcerated people.

View The Visiting Room Project’s archive of videos

About the Facing Life Symposium

Below are images of the two posters displayed during Facing Life symposium. The first poster is an overview of The Visiting Room Project, highlighting the key elements of the project as well as what the project seeks to accomplish. The second lists the agenda of the two-day symposium, including speakers, location, and content.

 

A poster for The Yale Law and Racial Justice Center's event titled "Facing Life, Featuring The Visiting Room Project." It includes a QR code on the right side of the page for archival materials.

 

 

Poster on event about life imprisonment

 

The articles below highlight some of the major issues discussed during “Facing Life.”

 

“Facing Life” Explores Life Imprisonment and Racial Injustice in Two States

Law and Racial Justice Center collaborates with Visiting Room Project to combat life sentences and mass incarceration (Yale Daily News)

Law and Racial Justice Center to present symposium on prison life sentences (Yale Daily News)

Facing Life Symposium Videos

Panel 2: "Post-Conviction Legal Advocacy and the Role of Jailhouse Lawyers"

Moderator: Darnell Epps '24
Panelists: Arthur Carter, The Visiting Room Project; Tiheba Bain, Women Against Mass Incarceration founder; Calvin Duncan, The Visiting Room Project Co-Founder; Everett "Buff" Offray, The Visiting Room Project

 

 

Panel 3: "Mass Incarceration, Racial Injustice, and Opportunities for Relief"

Moderator: Jennifer Taylor, Director of the Arthur Liman Center for Public Interest Law
Panelists: Bidish Sarma, Assistant DA in Orleans Parish DA's Office; Gaylord Salters, Author and New Haven Exoneree; Professor Miriam Gohara, Director of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization at Yale Law School; Alex Taubes '15, New Haven-based civil rights lawyer