5/30: Non-unanimous jury convictions:
A teach-in on its racist origins and impact

Join us at a teach-in to learn about why hundreds of people with unconstitutional non-unanimous jury convictions are still sitting in Oregon prisons, and what you can do about it.

This teach-in will walk you through the recent Supreme Court decision that ruled guilty verdicts for criminal trials must be unanimous, overturning a practice with racist origins only taking place in Oregon and Louisiana.

We will discuss why Attorney General, Ellen Rosenblum, refuses to give those still in prison or on parole from non-unanimous juries fair trials. You will hear from people whose lives have been forever changed because of this unconstitutional stain on our history. But let’s not just talk—let’s act. Together, we’ll tell Ellen Rosenblum how we feel about her inaction and what the people demand she do to set the record straight.

This will be a hybrid event. We will live stream the event (info TBD) and we will have the speakers and organizars out for a physical distanced & masks required in-person gathering. Registration is required for in-person and space is limited. Location has a restroom and sanitizer will be provided.

When: May 30th at 1-3 pm. Resgistration required, click here!

Location: Parklet at SE Uplift

Event facilitated by Peole for Mutual Education and the City Repair Project. Supported in part by SE Uplift.

Tickets:

Visit our TICKETING PAGE CLICK HERE!
Attendnance is by sliding scale donation. BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities encouraged to attend for free. All proceeds will be split to the causes putting this event on.

Speaker Bios:

Daniel Bluestein

Artist statement comming soon.

Professor Aliza B. Kaplan

Aliza teaches Lawyering and is the Director of the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic (CJRC) where students engage in a critical examination of and participation in important and complex issues and cases in the criminal justice system. She serves as of counsel to the Forensic Justice Project, helped create the Community Law Division at Metropolitan Public Defender, and co-founded the Oregon Innocence Project. She is also a documentary film producer — the 2007 film she co-produced, My Country, My Country, was nominated for an Academy Award, and her 2010 film, The Oath, was nominated for two news Emmy Awards.

Prior to teaching at Lewis & Clark, Kaplan was an Associate Professor of Legal Skills at Brooklyn Law School. She was also the Deputy Director of the national Innocence Project and co-founded the New England Innocence Project. She was an associate at Testa, Hurwitz and Thibeault in Boston and served as a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Joseph E. Irenas of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Professor Kaplan was the 2015 recipient of the Leo Levenson Award for Excellence in Teaching. She teaches, gives presentations on and researches/writes in the areas of criminal law and public interest lawyering.

People For Mutual Education

We are People for Mutual Education, a group based in Portland, Oregon who work collaboratively to assemble resources, synthesize existing information, and share knowledge on racial and social (in)justice. We do this by creating pamphlets for distribution through door-to-door canvassing and online, as well as presenting learning opportunities that feature Black public thinkers, scholars, and community members. Our goal is not to be the gatekeepers of knowledge, but rather, to offer a platform and a space for those who have been resisting oppression and fighting for liberation to educate others, so that the spread of information and means to take action runs as wide as it does deep.

People for Mutual Education, currently an all-volunteer initiative, was curated by a Black person to further advance the efforts of local and national activists working for racial justice. For too long, the antiracism movement has relied on the (unpaid) labor, energy and resilience of Black, Indigenous, and people of color. By using unpaid white labor to compile resources, People for Mutual Education redistributes the wealth of time within the local movement for racial justice, economic equity, and collective liberation.