NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

2/23/2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - The School of Social Sciences at Northwestern State University and the American Democracy Project at NSU will co-sponsor a debate on racial profiling between King Downing of the ACLU and Joe Morris, coordinator of the criminal justice program at Northwestern on Wednesday, March 7. The debate begins at 2 p.m. in the Ora G. Williams Television Studio (Room 142) in Kyser Hall. The public is invited to attend.

The debate moderator will be Randy Stelly, publisher of The Real View.

Downing is the ACLU's national coordinator for the Campaign Against Racial Profiling. The campaign began in 1999 and has worked with other civil rights and community organizations to raise the issue of racial profiling. Downing monitors and coordinates the efforts of the organization's 53 affiliates and chapters across the country to identify and end racial, ethnic and religious profiling through litigation, legislation, education, outreach and media awareness.

Downing is a graduate of Rutgers Law School. He received a bachelor's in government from Harvard University.

A native of Oil City, Morris is a veteran of more than 20 years in law enforcement. He survived numerous armed encounters, allowing him to bring a unique perspective on law enforcement to the classroom. Morris started his career in patrol and transferred to undercover narcotics investigation where he worked for more than four years. He also worked as a criminal investigator on varied cases including burglary, armed robbery, rape, and homicide.

Morris led the implementation of community policing in North Caddo Parish and implemented several programs to better serve the citizens such as a summer youth program, citizen advisory committee and a program using elderly volunteers to check on the welfare of elderly citizens living alone in the community. He was an adjunct instructor for the police academy for more than 12 years. During this time he developed two courses, Police Stress, which was P.O.S.T. (Police Officer Standards and Training) approved and mandated for statewide training and a course dealing with the elderly that P.O.S.T. approved as an elective. He also rewrote the criminal investigation courses, which were P.O.S.T. approved.

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