Interview with Lanette Grate, founder of UCA Demand Justice Panel
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What do you teach at UCA?
I teach Comp. I and II (College Writing)
How long have you been teaching?
I began teaching high school in Indianapolis in 1978. I taught off and on while having kids in the 1980's and
worked in the testing and research dept. for Grand Rapids Public Schools until starting my Master's work at
Western Michigan University in 1995. I've been teaching at the college level since 2001 when I became a
doctoral associate at Western Michigan Un. where I got my Master's and am finishing my Ph.D I've been
teaching at UCA since 2002.
As an instructor, what methods have you utilized in introducing students to this case?
I've been introducing the case since 2003 in my Comp. II classes which are more research oriented. They view
both documentaries. They interview people to gage how much Arkansans know about this case. They write a
persuasive paper arguing for either guilt or innocence as if they were a member of both juries. Then, they choose
some aspect of the case that interests them and they do a research paper. Last year my classes organized the
Dan Stidham presentation on April 6.
In general, what are the reactions you have witnessed to this case from your students?
The overwhelming response is amazement that this case exists and they knew nothing about it. I've written a
paper about the process the students seem to go through from grappling with adult authorities they've been
taught to trust, such as the police and judges, being unjust to denial that they can do anything about it to active
involvement.
What about this case do you think has invoked the strongest response from your students?
First, that it happened right here in Arkansas and they know nothing about it. That amazes them. One
assignment is to interview their parents. The parents usually repeat the myths of the case and know little if
anything about the facts. The occasional parent who thinks a misjustice occurred usually shrugs and says, it's too
bad, but what can you do? you can't beat the system. Second, is the obvious mishandling of the case by
"authority" figures. The more the students research the more they discover wrongful conviction is not an
anomoly, it's an American illness in the criminal justice system. Those that get involved begin to feel a need to
"do something."
What prompted you to form the Demand Justice UCA Panel?
Seeing the response of my students to this case, I've long felt that they are an untapped resource in the
community in social justice issues. They have heart and energy and intellect. They want to help but other than
writing a paper for my class there didn't seem to be any other avenue to channel their energy. The idea for the
Panel came from Mara Leveritt and is based on a historic panel formed during the 1957 Central High School
crisis. A panel of several Arkansas women, culturally and religiously diverse, formed and spoke to various groups
around the state to raise awareness for racial harmony and desegregation. Mara suggested forming a panel of
college students, travelling around the state to college, high school and church groups to raise awareness about
the case.
Can you explain how the panel works?
The panel consists of volunteers. Right now six of my former students, four sophomores, one junior, and one
grad student have volunteered to form the panel. We had our first presentation Thursday, Oct. 26 as part of the
Honor's College High Tables Series of Presentations in Farris Hall. We showed the first documentary, then
followed it with a panel discussion, a Question and Answer session. The audience had many questions for the
panel such as did the three convicted have alibis? have they exhausted all their state appeals? what was
Damien's mental condition at the time of the murders and had he been hospitalized? where is Mark Byers now?
what was his background? is he suspect? etc. The panel also can present a presentation without showing the
documentary. The presentation consists of a synopsis of the case followed by a Q and A session with the panel
and lasts about two hours.
Have you faced any opposition from UCA administrators throughout the course of establishing the panel?
No, not at all. My chairman, David Harvey and Dean Rolland Potter both approved my grant proposal. The panel
proposal subsequently won the grant--a UCA Foundation Grant which we will use as seed money to get the panel
up and running. The UCA Foundation committee, on deciding to award the grant to the panel, said: "Sometimes
you just have to fund controversy." I would only quibble with the word "controversy"--an injustice that needs
correction is not a controversy, it's an injustice that needs correction. But, this whole case turns on rhetoric after
all.
Are there currently any plans for statewide appearances by the panel?
Yes, next semester and the following year. We have several more presentations booked at UCA to give us more
experience, but we plan to begin traveling around the state in the spring. If anyone is interested in booking the
panel contact me at Lanetteg@uca.edu or (501) 450-5604.
What do you see as the number 1 goal of the Demand Justice UCA Panel?
The panel's main goal is to offer an organized and thoughtful opportunity for young people to discuss a case of
local and national interest that very few know anything about. The case raises important questions about
Arkansas culture and the Arkansas criminal justice system. These young people are the future of Arkansas--will
they want to live and work in a state that convicts innocent citizens due to its own cultural paranoia? As long as
the panel members keep directing the attention to the facts of the case, the results, justice, (which is really our
number 1 goal) will follow in its own time.
Injustice is everywhere around us and this particular case is a clear cut example that young people can identify
with. The case raises serious questions about the implications of allowing stereotype based "testimony" to form
the basis of judicial decisions. The WM3 case illustrates the power of sterotypes to create and condemn people
based on hysteria rather than evidence. The case also shows how institutional structures of authority (the
criminal justice system) confer a legitamacy on such stereotypes at the expense of actually rendering justice. The
panel is a form of nonviolent direct action that hopes to create creative tension in a state that has consistently
refused to confront this obvious injustice dealt to three of its citizens. The Nobel Prize winning Polish poet Milosz
said that the course of the avalanche depends on the stones over which it rolls--we are hoping that the panel may
contribute to reversing the avalanche of injustice this case represents in our state.
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