Baton Rouge, Louisiana —  On Thursday, February 11, 2010, at noon, New York author Gilbert King will present the series’ closing lecture of the Southern University Law Center’s 2009-2010 Speakers Series.

     King will address “Race, Murder and Capital Punishment in Louisiana, and the Execution of Willie Francis, ” based on his book published by Basic Books in 2008.  His book tells the true story of a 16- year-old boy in Southwestern Louisiana who survived his own execution in 1946.  Willie Francis’s case made front-page headlines around the country and came before the US Supreme Court three times after the governor insisted the youth return to the electric chair.  

        King has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Playboy.  He is currently at work on a book about Thurgood Marshall to be published in 2011 by HarperCollins.

       The lecture is free and open to the public.

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For more information, contact

Stanley Halpin, Chairman, SULC Faculty Lecture

Series Committee, (225) 771-4900