Saturday morning’s program began with a talk from
Mitch Landrieu, former Mayor of New Orleans and currently
Senior Advisor to the President and Infrastructure
Implementation Coordinator – which means that he is in
charge of figuring out how to distribute 1.2 trillion dollars
authorized by the Infrastructure Bill. No small task,
but by the end of his presentation there was no doubt the
President had tapped the right person for the job.
The next speaker was Damon Hewitt, civil rights lawyer
and current President and Executive Director of the
Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Mr.
Hewitt spoke about the beginning of the Committee in
1963, its mission and the work it is doing in such areas
as election law, gerrymandering, discrimination and the
January 6 insurrection.
Don Washington, the former Director of the United
States Marshal’s Service, spoke about the origin and history
of the Service (first established in 1789), how the
5,500 U.S. marshals and deputy marshals are organized,
interactions with the federal judiciary and its roles including
witness protection, fugitive apprehension, protection
of the courts and protection details such as that
provided to Dr. Fauci during the pandemic when he received
death threats.
The final speaker was Professor Becki Kondkar of Tulane
Law School. Kondkar is also the Director of the Women’s
Prison Project, the recipient of the 2020 Emil Gumpert
Award. President O’Donnell introduced Professor Kondkar
and “presented” her with a $100,000 check (actually
paid two years ago but this was the first opportunity for
an in-person recognition). The mission of the Women’s
Prison Project is to seek freedom for women incarcerated
in Louisiana prisons for killing an abusive husband or
partner in self-defense. Many of these women have been
in prison for more than twenty years. The project has so far
been able to secure the release of seven women, but more
than 140 women remain imprisoned for such crimes. Professor
Kondkar’s talk was inspiring and validation, if any
was ever needed, for the Project being the recipient of the
Emil Gumpert Award.
The meeting ended with a Saturday reception highlighted
by a strolling musician – the College’s very own James
Brown – playing the violin. Everyone then went out on
their own to enjoy the finest in dining offered by New
Orleans. The meeting was truly in the tradition of our host
city, as everyone “let the good times roll.”
David N. Kitner
Dallas, TX
FALL 2022 JOURNAL 24