At the New York Society for Ethical Culture
Sunday Meeting – Russell Neufeld: “The Federal Death Penalty in the Age of Trump”
Sunday, September 10, 2017 at 11:00 am
Ceremonial Hall – 4th floor
The takeover of the Department of Justice by Jeff Sessions has had an enormous impact on the politicizing of the criminal justice system ~ none more seriously than in policies affecting the death penalty.
Russell Neufeld graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1982. He spent the next 22 years at The Legal Aid Society. He created and led the Capital Division of The Legal Aid Society from 1995 – 2002. He was co-counsel in New York State’s first death penalty trial in the modem era and was co-counsel in the first full acquittal verdict in Kings County under the then new first degree murder statute. He was the Attorney-in-Charge of the Criminal Defense Division and Criminal Practice at the Legal Aid Society from 2002 – 2004.. He taught in the BLS criminal clinic and legal writing programs. Mr. Neufeld taught a course on the death penalty at New York Law School from 1996 – 2002. He has published numerous articles on capital punishment and human rights. While at The Legal Aid Society, he started and coordinated the Alabama Death Row Project which handled capital post-conviction cases. In2004 he went into private practice, initially associated with the firm of Cochran, Neufeld & Scheck. Since 2000 he has represented capital clients in federal district courts, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.. He is a board member of Witness To Innocence – the national organization of death row exonerees.
