SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Albert E. (Buzz) Scherr, professor of law and chair of the International Criminal Law and Justice Programs at the University of New Hampshire, will discuss DNA collection and genetic privacy and law on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at Wofford College.
Scherr’s 6:30 p.m. lecture, titled “Paparazzi, Genealogists, Divorce Lawyers, Cops…: Genetic Privacy and DNA Collection,” will be held in McMillan Theater in the Campus Life Building. It is free and open to the public.
The lecture will be followed by a panel discussion on the same topic. The panelists include the Hon. Mark Hayes of the South Carolina Circuit Court, 7th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Barry Barnette and Clay Allen, a 7th Judicial Circuit public defender.
The program will center on the collection of DNA, which has become the rage these days. Lawyers do it; police do it; employers do it; and crazed fans do it, but what do the Constitution, statutes and case law say about this developing practice?
Scherr is a nationally recognized authority on forensic DNA evidence. Since 1990, he has served as the lead attorney in numerous pretrial hearings in homicide, robbery and sexual assault cases to determine the admissibility of forensic DNA evidence. He also has experience as a trial and appellate lawyer for more than 20 years.
Scherr teaches courses in criminal procedure, evidence, expert witnesses and scientific evidence, genetics and the law and trial advocacy. He also directs the Trial Advocacy Program at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. He has lectured to judges and lawyers on a variety of evidence issues and nationally on a variety of genetics and law issues.
The event is sponsored by the Spartanburg Bar Association and the Wofford College Department of Philosophy and the Edward K. Hardin Pre-Law Society at Wofford.