The Black Law Students Association of Samford University's Cumberland School of Law will participate in a nationwide event that focuses attention on the death penalty Thursday, Oct. 19.

BLSA members will gather to view the debut showing of a documentary, "After Innocence," to be shown on Showtime cable television network. Around the nation, other BLSA chapters will also meet to view and discuss the film.

The Sundance Film Festival award-winning documentary tells the dramatic and compelling story of exonerated men who were wrongfully imprisoned for decades and then released after DNA evidence proved their innocence.

According to Cumberland BLSA member Eddie Koen, the viewing is an opportunity to engage in a thought-provoking look at issues associated with the wrongfully convicted. Koen is chair of BLSA's national death penalty moratorium effort.

The law students will gather at 7 p.m. at a private home to view the show, which airs at 7:30 p.m.

James Cochran, who spent 18 years on Alabama's death row before being re-tried and released, will discuss his experiences in the Alabama penal system. A representative of a murder victim's family will also speak.

The local event is co-sponsored by BLSA chapters at Cumberland and University of Alabama Law School, and members of the Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty organization.