Home - ABA Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project

Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project

Working to Obtain a Nationwide Moratorium on Executions

Steering Committee Members

Stephen F. Hanlon, Chair, has handled public interest and civil rights cases throughout his career. Since 1990, he has managed Holland & Knight's Community Services Team providing legal representation to those who could not otherwise afford it. Mr. Hanlon's major civil rights work has included death penalty litigation, voting rights, challenges to indigent defense systems, AIDS discrimination and The Rosewood Claims Bill ensuring 2.1 million dollars in compensation to the survivors of the Rosewood Massacre. Mr. Hanlon's efforts have won significant praise. In 2001, he received the Equal Justice Award from the Southern Center for Human Rights. He also received the Steven M. Goldstein Criminal Justice Award from the Florida Association of Criminal Lawyers in 2000. Mr. Hanlon's work on behalf of civil liberties and civil rights also won him the Nelson Poynter Award from the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida in 1996. He received a B.S. with honors from St. Louis University and his J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law.

Lauralynn E. Beattie is an attorney with the Office of University Counsel at Georgetown University. She previously worked as a litigation attorney at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and clerked for Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee. Ms. Beattie has been involved in capital defense work for several years. In connection with her work on the defense of North Carolina death row inmate Ernest McCarver, Lauralyn participated in preparing the cert petition and Supreme Court brief addressing the constitutionality of executing the mentally retarded. Ms. Beattie received degrees from Arizona State University and Duke University School of Law.

Zachary W. Carter is a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in New York, New York. In his position at the firm, Mr. Carter co-chairs the white-collar crime and civil fraud practice group and also does work with the trial, regulatory and technology group. Between 1993 and 1999, Mr. Carter served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Prior to serving as U.S. Attorney, Mr. Carter was a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Carter received his J.D. from New York University School of Law and his undergraduate degree from Cornell University.

Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Faculty Director of Clinical Programs at Harvard Law School, is an internationally recognized expert on race and criminal justice issues. He is co-author of the award-winning book, Beyond the Rodney King Story: An Investigation of Police Conduct in Minority Communities, and he regularly contributes to a wide range of publications, including Harvard Law Review. His commentaries have appeared in the editorial pages of New York Times and Los Angeles Times and he has appeared on television shows such as Nightline, Crossfire, and Meet the Press. In March 2002, as the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics at the University of Oregon, he hosted a conference about the future of capital punishment, The Law and Politics of the Death Penalty: Abolition, Moratorium, or Reform? Before joining the Harvard faculty, Mr. Ogletree worked as a public defender in Washington, D. C. Ogletree received degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Law School.

Morris L. Overstreet is a Professor of Law and the Director of Law School Clinics at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Texas Southern University. In November 1990, Judge Overstreet was elected to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. His election marked the first time an African-American was elected to Texas statewide office. In 1992, Overstreet was re-elected to a full six-year term on the court and, over the course of eight years, authored over 500 opinions. Judge Overstreet’s career highlights include five years as a Texas prosecutor, six years in private practice, and four years as a trial judge. In addition, he has served as general counsel to the Texas State Baptist Convention and as national legal counsel for Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Judge Overstreet received degrees from Angelo State University and Texas Southern University School of Law.

Cruz Reynoso is a professor at the University of California at Davis School of Law, Vice Chair of the U. S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Special Counsel at Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler. He is recognized for his leadership in civil rights, immigration and refugee policy, government reform, the administration of justice, legal services for the indigent, and education. Judge Reynoso’s professional highlights include serving as an Associate Justice on both the Third District Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court, directing the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, and teaching law at the University of New Mexico and the UCLA School of Law. Judge Reynoso received his undergraduate degree from Pomona College, Claremont, and his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

Thomas P. Sullivan, a senior partner at Jenner & Block, LLC, has practiced with the firm for the past 48 years, except from 1976 to 1981 when he served as United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He served as co-chair of the Illinois Governor’s Commission on Capital Punishment between 2000 and 2002. Mr. Sullivan specializes in civil and criminal trial and appellate litigation. He is a frequent author and lecturer on trial and appellate practice. He has served as an instructor at Loyola Law School in Chicago, and for the National Institute For Trial Advocacy. He has been a member of the Board of Governors of the Illinois State Bar Association, and of committees of local, state and national bar associations, and has received awards from various lawyers and civil organizations. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He is admitted in Illinois, California and New Mexico. Mr. Sullivan received his degrees from Loras College and Loyola Law School in Chicago.

Denise I. Young, currently serves as Habeas Assistance and Training Counsel, providing consultation, training and resource materials for Federal Public Defender Offices and appointed counsel representing death sentenced inmates in federal habeas corpus proceedings, and consulting with the Defender Services Committee of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. Denise is a graduate of the University of Arizona College of Law, with highest distinction, a former partner at Lewis & Roca in Phoenix, Arizona (1983-1992), former director of the Arizona Capital Representation Project, a death penalty resource center (1989-1996), former lead attorney of the capital habeas unit at the Federal Public Defender's Office for the District of Arizona (1996-1999), and adjunct professor at Arizona State University College of Law (1989-1996, 1999).