Using These Materials
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Access to this collection is restricted because it is unprocessed. Portions of the collection may contain recent administrative records and/or personally identifiable information. Please contact an archivist for more information.
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Summary
- Abstract:
- This collection contains a substaintial amount of material on the death penalty in New York State created or collected by Dr. James Acker. It also consists of Dr. Acker's research materials and other initatives involving capital punishment which he was involved in while teaching at the University at Albany School of Criminal Justice.
- Extent:
- 19 cubic ft.
- Language:
- English .
- Preferred citation:
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, James Acker Papers, 1989-2013. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Acker Papers).
Background
- Scope and Content:
Collection consists of a significant amount of material on the death penalty in New York State. This includes general historical materials, files on innocents executed, clemency decisions for individuals sentenced to death, and materials focusing on the legislative session beginning in 1995 when the New York death penalty statute was being designed and debated. The collection also contains contemporaneous newspaper research for James Acker's book about the Scottsboro Boys case that began in the early 1930s and progressed for years thereafter, materials pertaining to the formation and work of the Capital Punishment Research Initiative (CPRI), which Charlie Lanier and Acker created in the 1990s at the School of Criminal Justice, and advocacy organizations.
Other types of materials in the papers include correspondence, other case files, course materials, notes, court documents, research, and reports.
- Biographical / Historical:
James R. Acker retired from teaching at the University at Albany School of Criminal Justice in 2020 after more than three decades. His research and scholarly interests include capital punishment, constitutional law, wrongful convictions, law and social science, and criminal procedure.
Dr. Acker received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University, his JD from Duke University, and his master's degree and PhD from the University at Albany. Dr. Acker became a full professor in 1999 and a distinguished teaching professor in 2004. He received numerous awards for his teaching and service to the University. Prior to pursuing a career in academia, he was in private practice for several years.
Dr. Acker has published more than a dozen books and more than 100 articles and book chapters. He is a frequent moderator, panelist, and speaker from national scholarly conference to local forums. Dr. Acker has also provided testimony on the death penalty for the New York State Assembly.
In 2005, Dr. Acker helped establish the National Death Penalty Archive, a national repository of manuscript collections devoted solely to capital punishment, at the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives.
- Acquisition information:
- James Acker donated all materials in this collection to the M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives in July 2020 .
- Processing information:
The collection is currently unprocessed.
- Arrangement:
The collection is currently unprocessed. Individual items may be difficult to locate.
- Physical location:
- The materials are located onsite in the department.
Subjects
- Subjects:
- Death Penalty
- Places:
- Acker, James R., 1951-
Capital punishment--New York (State)
Contents
Access
Using These Materials
- ACCESS:
- The archives are open to the public and anyone is welcome to visit and view the collections.
- RESTRICTIONS:
-
Access to this collection is restricted because it is unprocessed. Portions of the collection may contain recent administrative records and/or personally identifiable information. Please contact an archivist for more information.
- TERMS OF ACCESS:
-
This page may contain links to digital objects. Access to these images and the technical capacity to download them does not imply permission for re-use. Digital objects may be used freely for personal reference use, referred to, or linked to from other web sites.
Researchers do not have permission to publish or disseminate material from these collections without permission from an archivist and/or the copyright holder.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright. Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and/or by the copyright or neighboring-rights laws of other nations. More information about U.S. Copyright is provided by the Copyright Office. Additionally, re-use may be restricted by terms of University Libraries gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks.
The Department of Special Collections and Archives is eager to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified so that appropriate information may be provided in the future.
- PREFERRED CITATION:
-
Preferred citation for this material is as follows:
Identification of specific item, series, box, folder, James Acker Papers, 1989-2013. M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University at Albany, State University of New York (hereafter referred to as the Acker Papers).