Program Schedule

9:00am – 9:30am Registration and Coffee ….….….....…….…….……...….Atrium

9:30am – Call to Order & Welcome …...………..…….........……..…….Auditorium
George W. Conk, Fordham Law School, Stein Center for Law & Ethics
Patrick E. Hobbs, Dean, Seton Hall Law School

9:35am – 9:50am Keynote Address: The Dynamic Interaction between Courts, Legislature, and Public Opinion
Hon. James R. Zazzali, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of New Jersey (Ret.)

9:50am – 10:20am Legislative History - The Penalty of Death: Restoration, Referendum, Study and Abolition 1982 – 2007
Prof. Robert J. Martin, Seton Hall Law School, Center for State & Local Government

10:30am – 11:20am – Panel I - The Struggle in the Courtroom
Moderator: W. Michael Murphy, Jr., former Morris County Prosecutor
Dale Jones, Assistant Public Defender and former death penalty trial attorney
William A. Zarling, Former Deputy First Assistant Prosecutor – Mercer County
David A. Ruhnke, Ruhnke & Barrett, private defense attorney

11:30am – 12:30pm Panel II - The Death Penalty on Appeal: Constitutionality, Equality, and Proportionality Review
Moderator: Hon. James R. Zazzali, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of N.J. (Ret.)
Hon. Deborah T. Poritz, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of N.J. (Ret.)
James K. Smith, Assistant Public Defender
Hon. Alan B. Handler, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of N.J. (Ret.)
Hon. Peter G. Verniero, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of N.J. (Ret.)
Lawrence S. Lustberg, Gibbons P.C.

12:30pm – 2:00pm Luncheon ………………………….……...…The Newark Club
Speaker: Governor Jon S. Corzine

2:00pm – Call to Order ………………………………….……..………….Auditorium
Prof. Wilfredo Caraballo, Assembly Sponsor, Professor, Seton Hall Law School

Legislative Resolution Presented to Celeste Fitzgerald for the New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, Senate Sponsor of Repeal Bill

2:15pm - 3:15 Panel III - Legislative Moratorium and the NJ Death Penalty Study Commission
Moderator: Prof. R. Erik Lillquist, Gibbons Institute, Associate Dean, Seton Hall Law School
Celeste Fitzgerald, Director, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Kevin D. Walsh, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
Hon. James H. Coleman, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of N.J. (Ret.)
Miles S. Winder, III, Member of N.J. Death Penalty Study Commission

3:30pm – 4:30pm Panel IV – The Final Act – Repeal: Marshaling the Votes
Moderator: Kathy Barrett Carter, Editorial Board Member, The Star Ledger
Jeremy Peters, New York Times
Prof. Wilfredo Caraballo, Assembly Sponsor, Professor, Seton Hall Law School
Senator Raymond J. Lesniak
Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman

4:30pm – Reception ……………………………………………………....…….Atrium