Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 Time: 5:30 p.m.–6:45 p.m. ET
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When George Washington was inaugurated as first president at Federal Hall, the world was watching the birth of a new government. The world will be watching again on January 20, 2021, after a period of historic electoral turbulence. What lessons can we learn from November’s tumultuous election? Is it time for legislative change — or even additional constitutional amendments — to restore order for future American presidential elections? Join us to explore the roots of presidential power in the Constitution and the sometimes contentious processes, historically and today, by which we select and confirm the president.

This event is produced in partnership with National Parks of New York Harbor Conservancy at Federal Hall, New York University, and the National Park Service.

Speakers: Michael Waldman, President, Brennan Center for Justice; Franita Tolson, Vice Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, USC Gould School of Law; David Frum, Staff Writer, The Atlantic; MODERATOR: John Avlon, Senior Political Analyst, CNN

Date: Thursday, January 14, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
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With every passing year, the United States’ continuing practice of capital punishment leaves the country more and more of an outlier on the world stage. The nationwide decline in executions in recent years only highlights the arbitrary nature of those that are still carried out, an injustice heightened by the racism inherent to the system. Marshall Project staff writer Maurice Chammah, in his new book Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty, takes a close look at the constellation of people involved in capital punishment in Texas, long the country’s leader in executions. In doing so, he casts a critical eye on the death penalty in the United States and on mass incarceration, of which it is an especially iniquitous part.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.

SPEAKERS: Maurice Chammah, Staff Writer, The Marshall Project, Author, Let the Lord Sort Them: The Rise and Fall of the Death Penalty; Taryn A. Merkl, Senior Counsel, Brennan Center’s Justice Program and Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration