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Panel will discuss people's rights during traffic stops

BY CALEB HALE

Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:25 AM CDT

CARBONDALE -- Seeing the red and blue lights of a police squad car in your rearview mirror is intimidating, especially if you're not quite sure what rights you have as a citizen with interacting with an officer of the law.

Panelists are set to discuss these types of situations Thursday evening at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, when they present "Police-Citizen Interaction:  Know Your Rights."  The event is at 7:30 p.m. in room 204 of the Hiram H. Lesar Law School Building.  Admission is free.

Panel members James Garofalo, professor of SIUC's Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections; Cyril Robinson, professor emeritus of the center; William Schroeder, SIU School of Law professor; Ed Dorsey, local NAACP attorney; and Todd Sigler, director of the SIUC Department of Public Safety, will address appropriate reactions and obligations by citizens and police in traffic stop and arrest situations.

The event is being sponsored by the law school, SIUC Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections, the Southern Illinois ACLU chapter and the Equal Justice Works.