Professor Paul Marcus to Deliver Dreyfous Lecture, Monday, March 31, 2008, at 5:00 p.m.

Professor Paul Marcus will deliver this year’s Dreyfous Lecture entitled, “Capital Punishment, A Comparative Perspective”. The George Abel and Mathilde Schwab Dreyfous Lecture in Civil Liberties and Human Rights will take place on March 31, 2008, at 5:00 p.m. in Room 110 of Tulane Law School’s John Giffen Weinmann Hall. A reception will follow in the Berkett Multipurpose Room.

Please R.S.V.P. to Ellen Brierre, Alumni Relations, by March 26th @ (504) 865-5920 or ebrierre@tulane.edu.

PROFESSOR PAUL MARCUS  Paul Marcus is the Haynes Professor of Law at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, and was recently named the College’s first Kelly Chair for Teaching Excellence. He writes and teaches in the fields of criminal justice and intellectual property. He is the author of a number of books and many scholarly articles in these areas. Formerly the Law Dean at the University of Arizona and the Acting Dean at William and Mary, Professor Marcus has lectured throughout the United States and in many other nations, and has been a visiting Professor in Brazil, Australia and Switzerland. For several years he served as Co-Reporter to the National Right to Counsel Committee.

GEORGE ABEL DREYFOUS Tulane Law School's lecture series on civil liberties was established in 1965, initially in the memory of George Abel Dreyfous. Founder of the Louisiana Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, Mr. Dreyfous was a Southern pioneer and leader in the field of civil liberties. Mr. Dreyfous received his undergraduate degree from Tulane University and his LLB from Harvard Law School. He served in the Army in World War I and in the Navy in World War II. He died in 1961.

Mr. Dreyfous represented the third generation of his family to practice law in New Orleans. His career was one marked by success in his chosen profession and was enriched by humanitarian service. He was concerned with the right of every citizen to enjoy the protection of the Bill of Rights and to receive fair and equal treatment from the government. He did not hesitate to represent a client because of the unpopularity of the person or cause. He was imbued with a sense of justice and the relevance of civil liberties to justice in a democratic form of government.

In the hope that some of the spirit and sense of professional responsibility of George Abel Dreyfous may be shared with students of the law, his family made a generous gift to Tulane Law School in his honor which makes these lectures possible.

MATHILDE MENDELSOHN SCHWAB DREYFOUS  Mathilde Dreyfous was born in Baton Rouge and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. She moved to New Orleans after marrying George Dreyfous in 1947. Ms. Dreyfous was a tireless community volunteer and activist who worked closely with her husband in encouraging an end to segregation and discrimination against African-Americans. She participated fully with George Dreyfous in his work forming the Louisiana Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union in 1956 and in the activities of that affiliate for the ensuing five years.

Among her many associations, Ms. Dreyfous was very involved in the New Orleans League of Women Voters, where she served as membership chair from 1948-1950, research chair and second vice president of the Louisiana League and President of the New Orleans League from 1952-1955. She was also the first Louisianan to serve on the National Board of the League. Ms. Dreyfous gave generously of her time and considerable abilities to many other groups, including the Traveler's Aid, the Charter Advisory Committee of the City of New Orleans, the Citizen's Advisory Committee on Housing Improvement and Slum Prevention, the Committee of Relations with Participating Organizations of the United Fund, and the Urban League.

In light of her own substantial commitment to civil liberties and her enormous contributions to the community, in 2003 the title of the lectureship series was changed to honor both George and Mathilde Dreyfous.