please join with me in offering professor stinneford a warm welcome. [applause] >> thank you all very much. it's really nice to be here, and this is just a beautiful and -- beautiful facility and a great crowd. i will try and keep this as brief as i can, although like many of your professors probably i tend to be a little long winded. over the last ten years, the supreme court has limited the death penalty in a number of ways. they have declared that it's unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, to execute minors and also to execute anyone for a nonhomicide offense against an individual. my thesis today is going to be that those results are largely defensible as a constitutional matter, although not, unfortunately, for the reasons the court has given. so let's jump right into it, and i want to start by posing a problem that the court has faced really ever since it started thinking about the cruel and unusual punishment clause, and that is how do we determine whether a punishment is imper mismy cruel. be because if you think about it, the very

john stinneford will offer initial remarks. a meeting following that, our very own professor clifford taylor, a former chief justice of the michigan supreme court, will offer additional comments. and immediately following that, professor john stinneford will be allowed to make comments for rebuttal and other remarks. and then the remainder of the time will be for question and answer session, which professor stinneford will be in charge. raise your hands and offer any questions you have. i have thether ado, opportunity to introduce professor john stinneford to you. anfessor john stinneford is assistant professor of law at the university of florida. the professor received his bachelor's from the university of virginia, a master's degree from harvard, and his jd from harvard law school. professor john stinneford's area of expertise include criminal law, criminal procedure, the eighth amendment, and evidence. professor john stinneford's focuses on constitutional limitations on government powers and punishment. more specifically, th