Will This Prisoner Die in Solitary Confinement or in His Dream House?

By Hannah Levintova, Mother Jones
July 8, 2013

New Orleans artist Jackie Sumell has made a career out of building a house for a client who may never live there. There are a few other hitches: He can’t pay her. He’s not great at visualizing big spaces. His demands are at once idiosyncratic and utterly ordinary: a bear rug and mirrored ceilings, a garden and a pool. He’s very slow on correspondence. But for Sumell, it’s deeply rewarding work, emotionally if not financially. “I have an amazing life because of this project,” she says. Sumell’s client is Herman Wallace, a member of the inmate crew known as the Angola 3 who has been held in solitary confinement for 41 years and counting, for a conviction based on highly questionable evidence. (That included witness testimony from jailhouse informants who had been promised special privileges, including two who have since recanted and one who was legally blind.) More …

Role Call – Consensual Resolution Review Panel

The AIBC is seeking architects and members of the public for its newly-established Consensual Resolution Review Panel. The panel reviews and considers whether to approve agreements under the AIBC’s consensual resolution process as established under the Architects Act and AIBC bylaws. Consensual resolution is an alternative approach to resolving disciplinary matters that would otherwise proceed to a formal disciplinary inquiry. The panel meets as is necessary for the performance of its functions, including meetings by teleconference, video conference or otherwise electronically.  The general qualifications and experience criteria for appointments to the panel are as follows:

For Architects

• Member (Architect AIBC) in good standing (mandatory).
• Understanding and appreciation of AIBC’s core regulatory mandate, including disciplinary and consensual resolution provisions in the Architects Act and bylaws.
• Ability to review and consider proposed consensual resolution agreements in the context of confidentiality expectations; objective professionalism; and the public interest in the regulation of the profession of architecture.
• AIBC or related experience (i.e. committee, board, panel, council) in the areas of investigations, discipline, consensual resolution or professional conduct/discipline generally.

For Public Members

• Experience with and understanding of the disciplinary process and disciplinary resolution aspects of professional regulation.
• Understanding and appreciation of AIBC’s core regulatory mandate, including disciplinary and consensual resolution provisions in the Architects Act and bylaws.
• Current or past registration with a professional body and/or government or industry experience with professional regulation an asset.
• Experience in dispute resolution and/or tribunal experience an asset.
• An ability to review and consider proposed consensual resolution agreements in the context of confidentiality expectations; objective professionalism; and the public interest in the regulation of the profession of architecture.

Those interested are invited to forward a letter of interest, with a brief summary of professional background or c.v., to Illegal Practice & Professional Conduct Coordinator Jackie Buchan at jbuchan@aibc.ca.