Click here to view the recording of this program.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge welcomes the community to its next virtual Lunch with the League at Noon, Tuesday, May 4 when University of Tennessee Lecturer Hemant Sharma will speak on “The History of the Death Penalty in Tennessee.”

Sharma authored, along with John M. Scheb, Head of the Political Science Department of the University of Tennessee/Knoxville, and others the 2013 study “Race and the Death Penalty: An Empirical Assessment of First Degree Murder Convictions in Tennessee after Gregg v. Georgia.” Published in the Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender and Social Justice, the study analyzed 1,068 first-degree murder convictions in the state following the 1976 Supreme Court decision which ended the four-year Court moratorium on the death penalty across the nation.  

Holding a B.A. in English from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Tennessee, Sharma currently serves as a Lecturer in the University of Tennessee’s  Political Science Department. He has co-authored two textbooks with Department Head John Scheb and has published numerous peer reviewed articles. He also serves as Director of Soccer Operations for the university’s women’s soccer team.

Lunch with the League welcomes League members and nonmembers alike to this informative presentation. Members will automatically receive a link to the live presentation. Nonmembers should contact lwvoakridge [at] gmail.com to request the link. A couple of days after the presentation, the recorded presentation may be viewed on the League’s website (https://my.lwv.org/tennessee/oak-ridge). 

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is a nonpartisan political organization for men and women. It encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.