Psychological Perspectives on Racial Disparities in Legal Outcomes

Join us as we discuss Psychological Perspectives on Racial Disparities in Legal Outcomes. This discussion will focus on Policing, Charging Decisions and Criminal Trial Proceedings and there will be an audience Q&A as well. Professor Sommers and Judge Lewis are both highly regarded in their fields and bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the discussion.

Panelists

Hon. Timothy K. Lewis, A76, is counsel at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, where he focuses on domestic and international complex commercial litigation as an arbitrator, mediator, settlement counselor and appellate advisor. He is co-chair of the firm’s ADR Practice Group and a past cochair of its Appellate Practice Group. Before entering private practice, Tim served on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. At the time of both appointments, he was the youngest federal judge in the United States. A relentless advocate for equal justice, Tim is a Director of the American Constitution Society for Law & Policy (ACS); a Board member of the Constitution Project, where he is co-chair of the National Committee on the Right to Counsel; and a Commissioner on Pennsylvania’s Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness. He co-chairs the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution’s National Diversity Task Force, and is a cofounder of the Higginbotham Fellows Program at the American Arbitration Association. He speaks throughout the country on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion. Tim frequently writes and speaks about threats to judicial independence and the need for a civil discourse among the three branches of government.  Tim is a member of the American Law Institute, a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the College of Commercial Arbitrators, a Board member of the Georgetown Supreme Court Institute, a former Board and Executive Committee member of the American Arbitration Association and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, and has served on the Boards of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, the Peter Jennings Project for Journalists and the Constitution at the National Constitution Center, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. He currently serves on the Duquesne University School of Law Dean’s Advisory Committee and as a Trustee of The Kiski School in Saltsburg, PA. Tim is a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law.  Click here for full biography.

Samuel R. Sommers, Ph.D., is an experimental social psychologist interested in issues related to stereotyping, prejudice, and group diversity. His research focuses on two general (and often overlapping) topics: 1) race and social perception, judgment, and interaction; 2) the intersection of psychology and law. In other words, he is interested in how race impacts the way people see and interact with the world in a wide range of social settings. In recognition of this work, in 2008 he received the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence from the American Psychology-Law Society. For more details regarding publications, ongoing projects, and media coverage of his research, see the Racial Equity & Diversity Lab website. At Tufts, Professor Sommers teaches courses in Introduction to Psychology, Social Psychology, Experimental Psychology, and upper-level seminars in social psychology and psychology and law. In 2007 he won the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Advising at Tufts; in 2009 he was named Gerald R. Gill Professor of the Year by the Student Senate. He has written two general audience books: Situations Matter and This is Your Brain on Sports. He is also a co-author of textbooks for Introductory Psychology and Social Psychology. Professor Sommers received his B.A. from Williams College and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has been at Tufts since 2003.  Click here for full biography.