PROFESSOR SHAAKIRRAH R. SANDERS TO PARTICIPATE AT UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LAW SCHOOL SYMPOSIUM
March 2024 — Professor Shaakirrah Sanders has been invited to present and to publish “Protesting Nonconfrontation at Felony Sentencing” for the 2024 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Symposium entitled, “Crawford at 20: Reforming the Confrontation Clause.”
This symposium will recognize the monumental reform that stemmed from Crawford and its progeny and provide a forum to discuss what areas warrant further change. Celebrating the anniversary of this monumental decision recognizes the significant impact Crawford has had in the law and provides an avenue for scholars and practitioners to envision change through discussion.
Ten years ago, this Journal published the first of four publications in which Professor Sanders has advocated for the ability to cross examine criminal sentencing evidence. “Protesting Nonconfrontation at Felony Sentencing” recognizes the true facts that underline the 1948 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Williams v. New York, which constitutionalized judicial sentencing discretion and denied the ability to cross-examine criminal sentencing evidence. This Article further discusses the racialized conviction and sentencing of the defendant, Samuel Tito Williams and urges attorneys to protest Williams by offering an alternative citation to the 1948 decision.
Learn more about the symposium here.
Shaakirrah R. Sanders serves as Associate Dean for Antiracism and Critical Pedagogy, as Professor of Law, and as the Lewis H. Vovakis Distinguished Faculty Scholar. Prior to joining Penn State Dickinson Law as visiting professor of law in 2022, Professor Sanders was the first African-American descendant of slaves to achieve the rank of full professor at the University of Idaho and its College of Law. She teaches Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and the First Amendment.