(Black PR Wire) WASHINGTON, -- The Howard Law Journal at Howard University School of Law will host the 16th Annual Wiley A. Branton Symposium on Tuesday, Oct. 29 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. in the Moot Court Room. In honor of the law school's sesquicentennial, the annual conference will include a series of conversations themed around the law school's next 150 years and shaping a civil rights agenda for the 21st century. This event is free and open to the public.

"The law school is looking forward to hosting our annual Wiley Branton Symposium," says Howard Law School Dean Danielle Holley-Walker. "Each year this is a centerpiece of the intellectual life of Howard's Law School. We are especially pleased that this year's theme, focused on the future of the civil rights agenda, directly ties into the theme of the law school's sesquicentennial celebration, The Next 150. This year's symposium will bring together nationally recognized legal academics and practitioners to consider this important theme at a critical time in our nation's history."

NYU Law Professor Melissa Murray will serve as the featured speaker in a keynote conversation moderated by Dean Holley-Walker. Murray's research focuses on the legal regulation of sex and sexuality and encompasses topics like marriage and its alternatives, the marriage equality debate, the legal recognition of caregiving, and reproductive rights and justice. She is an author of "Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice," the first casebook to cover the field of reproductive rights and justice. She has been published in the New York Times, Newsweek, the San Francisco Chronicle, Vanity Fair, and the Huffington Post, and has offered commentary for numerous media outlets, including NPR, MSNBC, and PBS.

The conference will feature three panel discussions with expert panelists and speakers throughout the day. The program includes a discussion titled, "A New Model for Black Reparations" with featured speaker Roy Brooks, professor of law at the University of San Diego. Brooks is a teacher and writer in the areas of civil procedure, civil rights, employment discrimination and critical theory.

Additional speakers and panelists will include:

Welcome and Introduction, Dean Danielle Holley-Walker

A Reflection on Civil Rights Agendas of the Past, Dean Carla Pratt, Professor Derek Black, Professor Harold McDougall, moderated by Dean Danielle Conway

Framing the Next Civil Rights Agenda, Professor Nicol Turner-Lee, Dean Danielle Conway, Professor Sheila Foster, Professor Rhonda Sharpe, moderated by Professor Justin Hansford

Keynote Conversation, Dean Danielle Holley-Walker, Professor Melissa Murray

"A New Model for Black Reparations?": Reflections on the Debate, Professor Roy Brooks, Professor Carlton Waterhouse, Professor Eric Miller, Professor Adjoa Aiyetoro

The Branton Symposium is held annually with sponsorship from Sidley Austin LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, to honor Howard University School of Law's former dean, civil rights activist and Sidley partner, the late Wiley A. Branton. Click here to register for this free event.