The intersection of race and law enforcement
Lincoln Presidential Library presents Jan. 27 roundtable on slavery’s legacy and police-community relations

[January 21, 2015]  SPRINGFIELD – With the nation giving renewed attention to police interactions with the African-American community, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum will explore the issue and its connections to slavery at a Jan. 27 roundtable discussion.

Participants in “Race, Courts and Community Police Relations” will include a historian, lawyer, state’s attorney and NAACP leader. Audience members will be able to ask questions and offer their own perspectives.

The free event takes place 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Lincoln Presidential Library (112 N. Sixth Street, Springfield).

Reservations can be made by visiting www.presidentlincoln.gov and clicking “Special Event Reservations” or by calling [phone].

The program will review interactions between minority communities and police from the plantation to the present. It will also cover legal questions and the grand jury process.

Panelists include:

Charles Branham, historian with the University of Chicago Laboratory School

Jay Elmore, a Springfield attorney

Teresa Haley, president of the NAACP Springfield chapter

Judith Johnson, Springfield school board member and past NAACP president

John Milhiser, Sangamon County state’s attorney

And moderator J. Steve Beckett, director of trial advocacy, University of Illinois College of Law

[Chris Wills, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum]