Terrorizing Dissenters at the RNC - National Lawyers Guild

COMMITTEE AND CHAPTER UPDATES
Death Row Exoneree Curtis McCarty Speaks
at Brooklyn Law
by Rebekah J. Pazmiño
On October 20, 2008, the Brooklyn Law
School (BLS) chapter of the National
Lawyers Guild was honored to host a talk
with Curtis McCarty, exonerated last year
by DNA evidence after spending 21 years
in Oklahoma prisons, including 18 years
on death row for a murder he did not
commit. Mr. McCarty spoke to a
captivated student audience about his
experiences with the criminal justice
system, his relationships with his
attorneys through the years, and the
challenges he has faced upon reentering
society after spending so much of his life
behind bars. His talk also shed light on
his wrongful incarceration, which was the
result of prosecutorial misconduct and
false testimony by Joyce Gilchrist—the
now infamous Oklahoma City police
department forensic analyst whose shoddy,
sometimes outright erroneous, work
later became the subject of FBI scrutiny.
Despite her participation in at least
two other prosecutions where innocent
men were exonerated by DNA evidence,
Ms. Gilchrist has not been prosecuted
criminally or civilly for her transgressions,
as Mr. McCarty informed several
students who spoke to him after the
event. This led Mr. McCarty to caution
students in the room to take their ethical
responsibilities seriously because of the
damage that can arise from prosecutorial
misconduct, erroneous prosecutions, and
wrongful convictions.
This event presented a rare opportunity
for the BLS community to hear directly
from someone who had spent time on
death row and put a human face on the
destruction that is caused when a false
We weren’t merely touched by your grace; we
were transformed by your insight. Every student
who attended will be a better lawyer because of
your visit.
conviction occurs. The impact of this was
clearly felt: following the talk, students
approached event organizers about writing
personal thank you letters to Mr.McCarty.
The following are excerpts from three of
those letters:
“I can say with certainty that [your
talk] was the most moving talk I have
ever attended during school. Your
attendance and comments helped put a
human face on a very crucial issue facing
the criminal justice system. I think it
really made a difference for the many
students who were present who may not
have realized how problematic and errorriddled
death penalty sentencing can be.”
“I want to thank you for the incredibly
inspiring and insightful talk you
gave…Your talk further solidified the
fact that there are many serious issues
facing those on death row. I believe other
students present certainly benefited from
exposure to the existence of these systematic
problems, as well as your wonderful
advice on the ethical obligations we must
live up to as young attorneys. You are a
truly amazing individual, Mr. McCarty,
and I hope you know this.”
“It takes extraordinary character to
emerge from an ordeal like the one you
faced thinking about the future and
hoping to improve other people’s lives.
But we weren’t merely touched by your
grace; we were transformed by your
insight. Every student who attended will
Curtis McCarty inspired dozens of Brooklyn
Law School students by sharing his story on
October 20, 2008.
be a better lawyer because of your visit,
which brought our ethics training to life
in a way that no textbook or classroom
exercise ever could. Expecting a lesson
about the death penalty and the
innocence movement, we received an
education in conscience: how to be good
and do right. Thank you, Mr. McCarty,
for making us better lawyers and better
people.”
Beyond deeply moving those in attendance,
Mr. McCarty’s talk also brought to
life the numerous failures within the criminal
justice system that underlie the Guild’s
historic anti-death penalty and pro-reform
missions. The BLS NLG chapter would
like to thank Mr. McCarty’s legal team at
the Innocence Project for offering us the
opportunity to have such a powerful and
eloquent speaker visit the school. •
22 • GUILD NOTES • WINTER 2008