Kate Black, Reprieve Fellow 2008-9
 Kate Black will receive her law degree from the University of Denver. During her studies she has interned with the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender and the Gulf Region Advocacy Centre, and clerked for a federal judge. Kate will be using her one year Reprieve Fellowship at Texas Defender Services to challenge the use of experts in death penalty trials who purport to be able to predict the "future dangerousness" of a defendant, Minority Report style. Such experts are called on by the prosecution to speculate about whether a particular defendant is likely to commit crimes in the future, thus making a case that it safer for society for the defendant to be executed than sentenced to life. Jurors typically believe that whether they should impose a death sentence hinges on this issue. It is clear that the use of such evidence is a significant contributor to Texas' high rate of imposition of death sentences, and Kate intends to challenge such testimony through trial and post conviction litigation and broader policy advocacy and outreach to professionals in the medical and psychological community.
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