Date/Time
Date(s) - October 20, 2026
5:00 pm
Location
Room 226, Riverfront Campus, University of Detroit Mercy
The 2026 McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion series provides a forum for prominent thinkers and leaders to address fundamental issues of law, religion and society. The 27th annual lecture is set for Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 5 p.m., in Room 226 of the Riverfront Campus. A reception follows the lecture in the atrium.
This year’s lecture, titled “What Is Justice For? Law, Power, and Human Dignity” will be presented by Jelani Jefferson Exum, Dean and Rose DiMartino and Karen Sue Smith Professor of Law at St. John’s University School of Law.
The lecture explores the question: What does justice require of a legal system that has the power to punish, police and profoundly shape people’s lives?
Jefferson will explore the relationship between legal power, human dignity and the purposes of justice. Her lecture will address the values that should guide the exercise of legal power and the role of legal education in cultivating an understanding of lawyers’ responsibility to preserve human dignity.
Jefferson served as the Dean and Philip J. McElroy Professor of Law at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law prior to her current position at St. John’s University. A widely recognized sentencing scholar, her work on sentencing, comparative criminal law and procedure, policing and the impact of race on criminal justice has been widely published. She serves on the New York State Justice Task Force, on the editorial board of the Federal Sentencing Reporter and as Secretary of the Neighborhood Defender Service, Inc. Board of Advisors.
Learn more and RSVP for lecture here.
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