A death penalty debate between two leading scholars on capital punishment is set for 12 p.m. Nov. 9 in Vanderbilt Law School’s Flynn Auditorium. The debate takes place the day before the scheduled Nov. 10 execution date for John Allen Muhammad, mastermind of the 2002 sniper attacks in Washington D.C. that left 10 dead.

Conducted in Oxford style, audience members will choose the winner by exiting through a door designated with the name of the debater they believe presented the best argument.
     
Debating are Ken Haas, professor of sociology and criminal justice from the University of Delaware, and District Attorney Joshua Marquis of Clatsop County, Ore. Law Professor Christopher Slobogin, an expert in criminal procedure, mental health law and evidence law, will moderate.
     
Haas, who will advocate the view that the death penalty should be abolished, holds a joint appointment at the University of Delaware as professor of sociology and criminal justice and professor of political science and international relations. He is the editor of Challenging Capital Punishment: Legal and Social Science Approaches (Sage Publications, 1988) and The Dilemmas of Corrections: Multidisciplinary Approaches (Waveland Press, 2006). His widely published scholarly work has been cited in books and journal articles and by the United States Supreme Court.

On the other side of the debate is Joshua Marquis, who has served as district attorney of Clatsop County since 1994 and is a member of the board of directors of the National District Attorneys Association. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles, speechwriter to California’s attorney general, and in his 18 months as a criminal defense lawyer, represented three defendants in capital murder cases. Marquis is a frequent guest on national radio and television programs, where he has discussed the criminal justice system and the legitimacy of the death penalty.

The debate, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Law School’s Hyatt Fund and Law Students for Social Justice.

Media Contact: Jennifer Johnston (615) 322-NEWS
Jennifer.johnston@vanderbilt.edu