The program, “Lessons from Louisiana: The Damon Thibodeaux Story, Capital Punishment and Criminal Justice,” will explore the exoneration of Thibodeaux, who was incarcerated on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary for almost 15 years for a crime he didn't commit. Kaplan, senior counsel to the Minneapolis law firm of Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., was a member of Thibodeaux’s post-conviction legal team for a decade. The legal team also included the Capital Post-Conviction Project of Louisiana and the Innocence Project of New York.

Thibodeaux, who currently lives in Minneapolis, Minn., was released from prison on Sept. 28, 2012 following a comprehensive reinvestigation that included the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office. He is the 141st innocent death row inmate to be exonerated since the United States Supreme Court re-instated capital punishment in 1976. Thibodeaux also became the 300th person in the U.S. to be exonerated in whole or in part on the basis of DNA testing.

The only leadership program in the state – as well as the oldest and most well-established leadership program in the Midwest – the W.O. Farber Center for Civic Leadership was established by the South Dakota Board of Regents in 1997 as a Center of Excellence. Housed within the Department of Political Science at USD, the W.O. Farber Center for Civic Leadership annually hosts programs, Farber Forums, designed to students and the public insight into national and state politics, campaigns and elections, public administration and international relations. For more about this and other Farber Center events, please contact farbercenter@usd.edu or visit the Farber Center on the Web at www.usd.edu/farbercenter.

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