October 21, 1997

WHAT: "Miscarriage of Justice: A Panel on the Wrongfully Convicted"
A panel discussion by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Julian Faulkner, and Professors Dianne Martin and Alan Young of York University's Osgoode Hall Law School. The panel will discuss the issue of wrongful conviction, focusing on the miscarriages of justice that have occurred recently in Canada in the cases of David Milgaard, Donald Marshall and Guy Paul Morin.

Martin will formally launch the Innocence Project at Osgoode Hall Law School. The Innocence Project is a clinical program at Osgoode Hall in which students, with the guidance of Project co-initiators Martin and Young, research the causes and remedies for miscarriages of justice.

WHO: Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a top contender for the world middleweight boxing championship in the 1960s who was wrongfully convicted of murder in New Jersey. Singer Bob Dylan and other activists came to his aid and campaigned for his eventual release.

Julian Faulkner, a civil liberties advocate associated with the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, is a key player in the case of Lester Donaldson, a case which resulted in an inquiry into the relationship between the miscarriage of justice and racism issues.

Dianne Martin, a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School since 1989, has presented her work on wrongful conviction at both national and international conferences. She is a co-editor, with lawyer Clayton Ruby, of the Criminal Sentencing Digest.

Alan Young, a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School since 1986, produced a report for the Ontario Law Reform Commission on the constitutionality of the investigatory powers of public inquiries. He also co-authored reports for the Law Reform Commission of Canada dealing with criminal law and cultural minorities, and the constitutional and human rights dimensions of drug testing.

WHEN: Wednesday, October 22, 1997, 12:30 pm

WHERE: Moot Court Room, Osgoode Hall Law School
York University
4700 Keele Street
North York, Ontario

For more information, please contact:

Geraldine Teixeira
The John White Society
Osgoode Hall Law School
(416) 650-2461

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/089/97