Wednesday, June 7, 3–4 p.m. ET
RSVP for this free virtual event

Paula Cooper was just 15 years old when she killed a 78-year-old Bible teacher in a violent home invasion. But despite Cooper’s age — too young to get a driver's license or register to vote — she was soon condemned to death row. A new book details the 1985 case and the questions it sparked about our criminal justice system.

There is substantial evidence that the death penalty is applied inequitably in the United States and that people sentenced to death suffer in ways that may well violate the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Despite this evidence, thousands of people are currently sitting on death row. On the campaign trail, President Biden vowed to end the federal death penalty and work toward banning it on the state level, but his Department of Justice continues to seek the death penalty in some cases. And as we approach the 2024 presidential election, some of the leading Republican candidates are demanding broader, swifter use of capital punishment as a natural extension of their “tough on crime” platforms.

Join us for a live panel discussion with Alex Mar, author of Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy, and journalist Josie Duffy Rice. The conversation about capital punishment will be led by moderator Laura Coates of CNN.

Speakers: Alex Mar, Journalist; Author of Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy // Josie Duffy Rice, Journalist; Podcast Host, Unreformed // Moderator: Laura Coates, Chief Legal Analyst, CNN

Tuesday, June 13, 6–7 p.m. ET
RSVP to attend this event via live stream or in person in New York

The most extreme Supreme Court in decades is on the verge of changing the nation — again. In 2022, the Court’s conservative supermajority radically loosened gun safety laws, overturned the constitutional right to abortion, and limited the federal government’s power to fight climate change. Next up: redistricting, voting rights, and affirmative action — and the potential to fundamentally alter how the country deals with racial justice. How did we get here? How will overreach by the justices impact the 2024 election? And what can we do to protect American democracy from a deeply political, fiercely partisan Supreme Court?

Join us in person or via live stream for an event at 92NY with Michael Waldman, president of the Brennan Center for Justice. Waldman, who recently served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States, is the author of a new book, The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, about the Court’s devastating 2021–2022 term. The panel will discuss the threat posed by the Court’s radical turn and what must be done to shore up American democracy.

The panel will be followed by a book signing for The Supermajority.

Speakers: Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center; Author of The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America // Wilfred Codrington III, Associate Professor of Law and Dean’s Research Scholar, Brooklyn Law School; Brennan Center Fellow // Cristina Rodríguez, Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law, Yale Law School; Co-Chair, Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States // Moderator: George Stephanopoulos, Anchor, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, ABC News

What can we learn about bipartisan collaboration from the congressional committee system? What practical changes would make Congress more representative of the country as a whole? For a limited time, sign up to access this previously recorded conversation about making Congress more effective, featuring former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), political correspondent Daniel Strauss, and the Brennan Center’s Maya Kornberg, author of Inside Congressional Committees: Function and Dysfunction in the Legislative Process. Get access today.