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27th Annual McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 5:00 PM, Detroit Mercy Law, Room 226
Reception in atrium immediately following lecture
The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion series provides a forum for prominent thinkers and leaders to address fundamental issues of law, religion and society. This year’s lecture, titled “What Is Justice For? Law, Power, and Human Dignity” will be presented by Jelani Jefferson Exum, Dean & Rose DiMartino and Karen Sue Smith Professor of Law, St. John's University School of Law. What does justice require of a legal system that has the power to punish, police, and profoundly shape people’s lives? Drawing on her scholarship on sentencing, racial justice, and policing, as well as her experience leading mission-focused law schools, Dean Jefferson Exum 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.
Learn more and RSVP at: 2026McElroyLecture.eventbrite.com