The University of Iowa College of Law invites submissions for a proposed symposium to mark the 25th anniversary of the United States Supreme Court’s landmark opinion in Batson v. Kentucky (1986). The symposium is prompted by a need for reflection upon what a quarter-century of experience with the revolutionary constitutional restrictions that Batson and its progeny have imposed on peremptory jury challenges means for the criminal justice system. Submitted work should be prompted by the Batson doctrine (its impact, consequences and implications for the future) or, more broadly, by other concerns regarding the theory and function of the peremptory challenge. We encourage a broad range of doctrinal and methodological approaches to these questions, and both legal and social science scholars are welcome to participate. We anticipate a live symposium in October of 2011 and publication of the completed papers in a to-be-determined format. The conference planners reserve the right to solicit authors independently of this call for papers and to condition going forward on sufficient submissions of interest and quality.
Those interested in participating should submit a one paragraph summary of the paper they will present and an abstract of no more than 750 words that outlines the structure and content of the paper in more detail. The deadline for expressions of interest is December 15, 2010. More detailed outlines will be due at a later date. Final manuscripts will be due three weeks before the symposium.
Submit summaries and abstracts via email in either Word or PDF format to: Prof. James Tomkovicz, james-tomkovicz [at] uiowa.edu. Inquiries about the symposium can be made to Prof. Tomkovicz.
