As part of the ongoing "Taking a Stand Lecture Series", Jason Downs will speak on racial justice and criminal justice. Downs handles civil-rights law, civil litigation, criminal defense, and legal matters that involve an overlap in both civil and criminal proceedings. Mr. Downs gained nearly a decade of experience working with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia (PDS), serving as lead counsel on 26 felony jury trials against federal prosecutors. In that time, he maintained an astounding success rate in jury trials that was 282% higher than the average in the Superior Court. Among his many achievements, Mr. Downs successfully represented an NFL player in a contract dispute governed by the NFL Players Association. No stranger to high-profile litigation, he was a key part of the litigation team that investigated and settled the 2015 Freddie Gray civil case for $6.4 million. In 2017, Mr. Downs was honored by the National Trial Lawyers for being in the Top 40 Under 40. He was also selected in 2018 and 2019 as a Rising Star by Super Lawyers. Mr. Downs is a part of for Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Workshop and serves as an adjunct law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Registration is requested. Sign up online, by calling the library at 302-645-2733, or stopping by the Circulation Desk. Walk-ins are welcome.

This lecture series is co-hosted by the Lewes Public Library, ACLU of Delaware, and Topical Seminars. Topical Seminars is a bi-monthly meeting of members of our community interested in participating in sessions of informed discourse on a variety of topics. The goal is to have a shared learning experience that will improve the social capital of our community.