April 29 marks 20 years since a jury in Simi Valley, Calif., acquitted four Los Angeles police officers who were caught on tape beating Rodney King after he led them on a high-speed chase. The jury's decision on April 29, 1992, touched off days of rioting that left 53 dead and $1 billion in damage. Legal RamificationsSara Sun BealeCharles L. B. Lowndes Professor of Law, Duke Universityhttp://www.law.duke.edu/fac/beale Principal academic interests include the federal government's role in the criminal justice system, the laws defining federal crimes, and various issues of criminal procedure, including prosecutorial discretion. She is also interested in studying the factors that shape public attitudes regarding crime and how those attitudes ultimately translate into legislative changes in criminal laws and procedures. Guy-Uriel CharlesProfessor of law, Duke Universityhttp://www.law.duke.edu/fac/charles Founding director of the Duke Law Center on Law, Race and Politics. Specializes in constitutional law, civil procedure, law and politics, and race. Co-founder of the Colored Demos blog, www.coloreddemos.blogspot.com/.Neil VidmarRussell M. Robinson II Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology, Duke University http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/vidmar/ A social psychologist by training, Vidmar is a leading expert on jury behavior and outcomes. In addition to many articles, Vidmar is the author, with Valerie P. Hans, of "American Juries: The Verdict" (2007) and "Judging the Jury" (1986). Visual ImpactTom RankinDirector of Duke University's Center for Documentary Studies, professor of the practice of art and documentary studies, and director of the Master of Fine Arts in Experimental and Documentary Artshttp://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/AAH/tsr2 A photographer, filmmaker and folklorist, Rankin has been documenting and interpreting American culture for more than 20 years. His books include "Faulkner's World: The Photographs of Martin J. Dain" (1997) and "Local Heroes Changing America: Indivisible" (2000).
