September 17, 2008
For Immediate Release
For an Interview:
Michael Minch
(801) 863-7482
Is the death penalty ethical? Why should the public care about incarcerated citizens? These are just two of many issues the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Utah Valley University plans to discuss at the 4th Annual Symposium on Restorative Justice, Punishment and the Death Penalty, Oct. 2, in UVU’s Library Lecture Hall (LI120).
“Students, faculty and community members should [be aware of] how a society treats its offenders,” said Michael Minch, director of peace and justice studies at UVU. “All citizens should be interested in who gets locked up, who gets killed, what percentage of their citizens are incarcerated and so on.”
The conference, overseen by Minch, was created in an effort to educate the public on the status of capital punishment as a human rights issue from various global perspectives. In order to accomplish this, UVU is set to host a few of the world’s most highly regarded scholars in the aforementioned subjects, the most recognized being William A. Schabas.
“William Schabas may very well be the single most authoritative person about these issues,” said Minch. Shababs, the director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, is also a member of several international human rights organizations and institutions such as the International Institution for Criminal Investigation. His lecture and presentation, the last scheduled in the conference, is titled, “The International Movement to Abolish the Death Penalty.”
“We should care deeply about our democracy, about nurturing it and strengthening it; and we should care about justice,” said Minch. “Concerned citizens want to know why so many fellow citizens are incarcerated, and what can be done about crime and sentencing to promote justice rather than mere punishment.”
Other speakers and guests, in order of appearance, include Sangmin Bae, assistant professor of political science at Northeastern Illinois University; Sandy McGunigall-Smith, assistant professor of criminal justice at Utah Valley University; Alan Clarke, associate professor of integrated studies at Utah Valley University; Laurie Whitt, professor of philosophy and integrated studies at Utah Valley University and Daniel Medwed, associate professor of law at the S.J. Quinney School of Law, University of Utah.
The event is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 8:30 p.m. For specific lecture times visit http://www.uvsc.edu/idst/peace/.
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College Marketing Contact:
Kim Chapman
(801) 494-7409
Written by:
Hanna Hopkinson
(801) 863-7205