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Faceless No More
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The Cypress of Raleigh Presents:
Faceless No More: Social Justice/Criminal Justice Immersion
Thursdays, 7:00 P.M to 8:15 P.M., April 4, 2021 to April 29, 2021
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In partnership with Mark Hall and Faceless No More, The Cypress of Raleigh will host a virtual social justice/criminal justice immersion for five consecutive weeks, starting April 1, 2021. Participants will engage with the organization behind the bestselling book and award-winning film Just Mercy, the protagonist from the film Dead Man Walking (starring Susan Sarandon), and other leading activists working on behalf of the justice-involved. Program sessions will be held on consecutive Thursdays starting April 1, from 7-8:15 PM. Course limited to Cypress of Raleigh residents only.
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Session Schedule
Thursday, April 04: Introduction - Mark Hall
Mark Hall At fifty, after a life of privilege and career success, Mark was sentenced to prison for financial crimes and served ten years in prison, learning from fellow prisoners about the addiction, homelessness, and other issues in their lives. He acknowledged his actions and sought to change his life. During his time of incarceration, he made many discoveries worth sharing. Now active with the Durham Rescue Mission and other organizations, he has earned a Duke certificate in nonprofit management and will soon complete an MBA.
Thursday, April 8: Molly Gill, vice president of policy for Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), a national, nonpartisan, sentencing reform organization
Molly Gill is a lawyer, advocate, and expert on sentencing law and policy, with almost 15 years’ experience working in the criminal justice field. She coordinates FAMM’s sentencing reform campaigns in states across the country and works with state lawmakers, affected family members, and other criminal justice stakeholders. They work together to promote sentencing and prison policies that are cost-effective, protect public safety, fit the crime and the individual, and preserve families. Gill is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and also serves as a commissioner of the District of Columbia Sentencing Commission.
Molly Gill is a lawyer, advocate, and expert on sentencing law and policy, with almost 15 years’ experience working in the criminal justice field. She coordinates FAMM’s sentencing reform campaigns in states across the country and works with state lawmakers, affected family members, and other criminal justice stakeholders. They work together to promote sentencing and prison policies that are cost-effective, protect public safety, fit the crime and the individual, and preserve families. Gill is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and also serves as a commissioner of the District of Columbia Sentencing Commission.
Thursday, April 15: Sofia McDonald, Fellow at Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), founded by Brian Stevenson and featured in the book and movie Just Mercy
Sofia McDonald is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where she was in the Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic, worked for the Policing Project, and interned for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Before law school, she was a special education teacher in Chicago with Teach for America. She worked on the appeal of a client on death row in Alabama as a litigation associate at Ropes & Gray LLP prior to joining EJI in 2019.
Sofia McDonald is a graduate of New York University School of Law, where she was in the Equal Justice and Capital Defender Clinic, worked for the Policing Project, and interned for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Before law school, she was a special education teacher in Chicago with Teach for America. She worked on the appeal of a client on death row in Alabama as a litigation associate at Ropes & Gray LLP prior to joining EJI in 2019.
Thursday, April 22: Tessie Castello, author of Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row and Peter Kuhns, Psy.D. Department of Public Safety, Juvenile Justice
Tessie Castillo is a journalist and author from Durham, North Carolina. She co-wrote her first book, Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row, with four men serving death sentences in North Carolina whom she met while volunteering at Central Prison in Raleigh in 2014. Castillo is a writer and public speaker on criminal justice, drug policy, prison reform and racial equity issues. Her work challenges audiences to confront their stereotypes, in particular about incarcerated people and people who use drugs. tessie@tessiecastillo.com, www.tessiecastillo.com
Peter Kuhns, Psy.D., is Director of Clinical Services and Programs for Juvenile Justice, a section of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. He has spent the past 17 years working as a psychologist with both adjudicated juveniles at Juvenile Justice and then with incarcerated adults at Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., where he both oversaw the clinical operations of the prison and provided direct therapy services to the general population, restrictive housing, and death row units. In 2017 he returned to Juvenile Justice and accepted his current position in 2020.
Tessie Castillo is a journalist and author from Durham, North Carolina. She co-wrote her first book, Crimson Letters: Voices from Death Row, with four men serving death sentences in North Carolina whom she met while volunteering at Central Prison in Raleigh in 2014. Castillo is a writer and public speaker on criminal justice, drug policy, prison reform and racial equity issues. Her work challenges audiences to confront their stereotypes, in particular about incarcerated people and people who use drugs. tessie@tessiecastillo.com, www.tessiecastillo.com
Peter Kuhns, Psy.D., is Director of Clinical Services and Programs for Juvenile Justice, a section of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. He has spent the past 17 years working as a psychologist with both adjudicated juveniles at Juvenile Justice and then with incarcerated adults at Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., where he both oversaw the clinical operations of the prison and provided direct therapy services to the general population, restrictive housing, and death row units. In 2017 he returned to Juvenile Justice and accepted his current position in 2020.
Thursday, April 29: Sister Helen Prejean, leading American activist and author of Dead Man Walking (1993), The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions (2004). and River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey (2019)
Sister Helen Prejean is a leading American activist known around the world for her tireless work against the death penalty. She has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on capital punishment and in shaping the Catholic Church’s vigorous opposition to all executions. She divides her time between educating the public, campaigning against the death penalty, counseling individual death row prisoners, and working with murder victims’ family members.
hprejean@sisterhelen.org, 504-948-6557, www.sisterhelen.org
Sister Helen Prejean is a leading American activist known around the world for her tireless work against the death penalty. She has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on capital punishment and in shaping the Catholic Church’s vigorous opposition to all executions. She divides her time between educating the public, campaigning against the death penalty, counseling individual death row prisoners, and working with murder victims’ family members.
hprejean@sisterhelen.org, 504-948-6557, www.sisterhelen.org
