September 11, 2006
Thomas Jefferson Alumnus Named to Presidential Committee
SAN DIEGO - William Edwards, a 1991 graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, has been appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.
Edwards, who is a Deputy Public Defender with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, specializes in the representation of people with intellectual disabilities who are charged with crimes involving the death penalty. In the past Edwards has worked pro bono on capital cases in the southern states involving clients with intellectual disabilities.
On the presidential committee, Edwards will be working with twenty other appointees advising the president on policy and governmental issues concerning people with intellectual disabilities. Edwards was the co-author of the 2002 study “People with Mental Retardation are Dying, Legally: At Least 44 Have Been Executed,” which documented the executions of people with intellectual disabilities in the United States. The study, along with an earlier version published in 1997, was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Atkins v. Virginia.
“I find it very encouraging that those of us serving on the committee will be able to combine our talents and abilities to look at the issue of people with intellectual disabilities with a new perspective,” said Edwards. “Hopefully we will make a collective difference in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities – that’s why I’m honored to be appointed.”
Helping people with intellectual disabilities has been an interest of Edwards since he was a student at Thomas Jefferson, and he credits the law school with helping to inspire him. “The school did a good job making sure people were prepared to go out and find their area of specialization and make a difference,” said Edwards. He also credits 1984 Thomas Jefferson alumnus Kerry Steigerwalt, for whom he clerked during law school, with helping him decide to work on the legal issues of the intellectually disabled.
“I am pleased to see that Thomas Jefferson graduates are gaining leadership positions nationally,” said Thomas Jefferson Dean Rudy Hasl. “The School has been successful at training very effective advocates who approach the representation of clients with competence and passion. Mr. Edwards’ representation of defendants with intellectual disabilities has made him a knowledgeable and valuable member of the president’s committee.”
Edwards will be sworn in on September 14 in Washington, D.C., before his first official meeting with the committee.