April 25/Saint Paul, MN: Bias against the #LGBT Community in the Criminal Justice System

This program will feature Phil Duran (OutFront Minnesota) and Andrew Gordon (the Legal Rights Center). The goal of the course is to bring attention and awareness to bias against the LGBT community in the criminal justice system.
Mr. Gordon will speak about how the perception of a witness’s gender or sexuality affects credibility determinations made by the fact-finder. He will discuss how juries are instructed to take a variety of things into consideration when considering a witness’s credibility, and how attorneys can deal with biases that may be created by the subtle characteristics or the appearance of the witness. Mr. Duran will speak on sexual orientation/gender identity issues in jury selection. He will address proposed (state) legislative, as well as judicial, avenues to combat sexual orientation/gender identity bias in jury selection.
Title:
Bias against the LGBT Community in the Criminal Justice System
When/Where:  
April 25,2012
4:15:00 PM - 6:00:00 PM
Hamline University School of Law, Room 105
1536 Hewitt Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55104-1284
Credit:
Elimination of Bias Credit applied for.
Program and Agenda
4:15 p.m.: Registration
4:30-5:30 p.m.: CLE
5:30 p.m.: Reception
Speakers:   Andrew Gordon, Associate Director, the Legal Rights Center
Mr. Gordon is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School. He has worked as a Public Defender in Massachusetts and Minnesota and is currently the Associate Director and the Legal Education Program Director for the Legal Rights Center.
Phil Duran, Legal Director, OutFront Minnesota
Mr. Duran’s work focuses on legal information, referral, and education; state legislative research and analysis; state administrative agency, judicial, and local government public policy; and direct representation in selected public-assistance and human-rights cases. He is well-known for his work regarding legal issues facing transgender people. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School, Chair of the Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity subcommittee of the Minnesota Judicial Branch’s Committee for Equality and Justice, Treasurer of the Minnesota State Bar Association, and a founding board member of the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association.
Cost: 
Free
Contact: 
Alyssa Smith
asmith21@hamlineuniversity.edu
Sponsor: 
Stonewall Alliance and the Minnesota Lavender Bar Association
More:
http://law.hamline.edu/Eventsdetail.aspx?id=4294974776&dt=4/25/2012