Standing room only crowd for National Criminal Justice Month lecture

Mark Curriden making his presentation in LIB 307.

Mark Curriden, author, lawyer, and Writer in Residence at SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas, spoke to over 150 students, faculty, and staff on Tuesday, March 29.

His presentation was the compelling story of the lynching of an innocent black man accused of the rape of a young white woman in 1906 Tennessee, the court trial, the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the long-lasting impact of these events on the U.S. justice system.

The story is chronicled in his book, Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching That Launched One Hundred Years of Federalism.

This lecture was the closing event for the Justice Center's program of events for the 2011 National Criminal Justice Month.