USF hosts conference on Severe Mental Illness and the Death Penalty

October 4, 2017

The University of Sioux Falls will host a conference on Severe Mental Illness and the Death Penalty on October 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Salsbury Science Center, Room 120. This event is free and open to the public.

"The conference is important because of the gravity and expense of the death penalty," said Mike Thompson, USF Associate Professor of Criminal Justice.  "Students will benefit from experts in the field of mental illness as applied to the penalty phase of a capital case."

Guest speakers include Scott Langley, an independent, freelance photojournalist based in New York. Langley is most notably known for his educational and artistic work on the death penalty. Dr. Paula J. Caplan, a clinical and research psychologist, expert witness, activist, advocate, playwright, screenwriter, lyricist, actor and director, will also speak at the conference. Dr. Caplan received an A.B. with honors from Radcliffe College of Harvard University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Duke University. She is currently Associate at the DuBois Institute and has authored 11 books in addition to writing numerous articles, book chapters and essays.

Mark Meierhenry, former Attorney General of South Dakota, will join the conference and speak on the comparison between our severe mental illness legislation and current South Dakota law.

For more information on the conference, click here.