Speaking Engagements
Praise for Jerry’s powerful and thought-provoking message:
- “Jerry is exceptional! I’ve seen his work, actually outstanding! Thanks so much for getting him!”
- “As a lawyer specializing in forensics, thank you for the fascinating talk.”
- “This has been inspiring and educational. Thanks for a brilliant talk. Keep doing what you are doing, people need you!”
- “Thank you for such an insightful talk. Your inspiring words of encouragement for other to strive for justice will most certainly have a ripple effect.”
- “Fascinating insight from a genuinely nice and funny man! It’s so important that these conversations continue so the wrongly accused are not forgotten and the police are held accountable.”
- “Thank you for your high quality talk. Your conviction for true justice and your heart of pure integrity shine through all you say and do.”
- “So grateful for the opportunity to hear Mr. Buting talk. What an amazing person: humble and passionate about true justice. Thank goodness there are people like him in the world.”
Upcoming Events
October 26, 2023, 9:00 a.m., Portland, Maine
Keynote Speaker at “Strengthening the Sixth in Maine: Trial Case Training,” NACDL Justice For All Initiative.
List of Past Talks – International and U.S.
Jerry Buting has enjoyed a more than 40 year career as a criminal defense attorney and gained international fame following the airing of Netflix’s highly successful, compelling documentary Making a Murderer, which exposed the institutional failures within the American Criminal Justice System to an international audience. The Steven Avery case profiled in the documentary reaffirmed major flaws that Jerry has encountered with many other cases throughout his career.
Since the launch of his book “Illusion of Justice: Inside Making a Murderer and America’s Broken System” (Harper 2017) Jerry has continued the conversation with worldwide audiences. He explores themes found in his book and other broad-reaching topics, thereby challenging his audiences with provocative discussions on the flaws inherent in the U.S. and many other justice systems. His goal is to educate the public, legal professionals and other policy makers to effect long-overdue criminal justice reform.
Some of the broad reaching topics Jerry discusses include:
- Making a Murderer and its far-reaching global impact
- The challenges of handling a high-profile case
- How extensive pretrial media coverage and discussions on social media effect the process of jury selection
- America’s flawed justice system from police investigation through trial
- The desperate condition of indigent defense in America, through which 90% of accused citizens receive constitutionally guaranteed assistance of counsel
- When and why some people falsely confess
- Why some innocent people plead guilty to crimes they did not commit
- The difficulty of seeking justice for the wrongfully convicted and the barriers to reversal of a conviction even for the innocent
- Increasingly common scandals and errors uncovered in America’s crime labs
- Why DNA evidence has become controversial in criminal cases and what it means to the innocent
- The impact of courts’ reliance on many forensic tests that are scientifically unfounded
- Why law enforcement and prosecutorial misconduct is not punished more severely to deter abuses in the justice system
- Mass incarceration in America, its causes and remedies
- Why we have a system that largely subsists on prosecuting members of underclasses
- The roles race, ethnicity and immigration status play in the judicial system
