This first-of-its-kind institute focused on the “Law of Order” and discussed handling and litigating police misconduct cases.

The 2022 Civil Rights Law Institute

AT THOMAS JEFFERSON’S MONTICELLO
JUNE 6 & 7, 2022

The first-of-its-kind institute explored critical issues involving policing and featured more than 20 esteemed faculty. The Virginia Law Foundation, the Virginia Bar Association, the Old Dominion Bar Association, and Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello co-presented the inaugural Civil Rights Law Institute, a timely event to explore police misconduct and civil rights from legal and societal perspectives. The Institute attracted civic leaders from several regions and professions including former Virginia Supreme Court Justice John Charles Thomas, Senator Jennifer L. McClellan, Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr., University of South Carolina Professor Seth W. Stoughton (a key witness in the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd), and several others.

“The strength and dedication of our profession to the dominant principle that the law is to protect, as well as to prosecute, was on full display at the inaugural Civil Rights Law Institute,” comments David Landin, a Trustee of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. “There is a Power of Place at Monticello. Thomas Jefferson would approve of this gathering of leaders.”  

This first-of-its-kind institute focused on the “Law of Order” and discussed handling and litigating police misconduct cases through four core panels. The Institute’s faculty also included leading attorneys and scholars, key players in the Commonwealth’s law enforcement and governmental institutions, college administrators, journalists, historians, and directors of civil rights organizations. Participants in this relevant educational experience were able to converse with panelists, civic and community leaders and more than 100 attendees, plus a virtual audience who tuned in via livestream.

Six hours of CLE credit were offered.

Panels

  • Drawing Upon Historical Perspectives and Precedents Regarding Laws and Legislative Intent on the Nature and Purpose of Policing to Support Winning Arguments 

  • Police Power on University Campuses: Lessons Learned and to Be Learned 

  • The Law of Excessive Force and Legal Remedies: Building Successful Arguments as They Relate to the Disproportionate Impact on People of Color 

  • Legal and Practical Ramifications of New Legislation Designed to Curtail Police Abuses

Faculty

Mary Bauer
Executive Director, American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia

DeAnza A. Cook
History Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard University

Chief Maggie DeBoard
Chief of Police, Herndon Police Department, Herndon, Virginia

Dr. Sally Hadden
Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of History, Western Michigan University

Professor Anna Lvovsky
Assistant Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Harvard University

Joseph Martins
Associate Dean and Professor, Liberty University School of Law

Senator Jennifer L. McClellan
Virginia State Senator, Democrat, 9th District

Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander
Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Norfolk State University

Senator Thomas K. Norment, Jr.
Virginia State Senator, Republican, 3rd District

Roscoe Roberts, Esq.
Former Chief Counsel, University of Virginia

Juval Scott
Public Defender, Western District of Virginia

Professor Seth W. Stoughton
Professor of Law, Professor (by Courtesy) of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina

John Venuti
Associate Vice President of Public Safety, VCU and VCU Health System; Chief, VCU Police Department

Professor Paul J. Zwier, II
Professor of Law, Emory University

Keynoter Speaker

Hon. John Charles Thomas
Former Justice, Supreme Court of Virginia

Speakers

Leslie Greene Bowman
President, Thomas Jefferson Foundation

David Landin
Trustee, Thomas Jefferson Foundation; Past President, Virginia Bar Association, Virginia Law Foundation, Virginia Association of Defense Attorneys

Bruce C. Sams
Attorney, Law Office of Bruce C. Sams; Past President, Old Dominion Bar Association

Raymond M. White
Executive Director, Virginia Law Foundation

Moderators

Dean Risa Goluboff
Dean, University of Virginia School of Law

Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory
Fourth Circuit, U.S. Court of Appeals

Rudene Mercer Haynes
Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Alison M. McKee
Attorney, Kaufman & Canoles, Virginia Beach; Past President, Virginia Bar Association

Sponsors

Rudene & Ricardo Haynes