FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 2, 2000 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 RUBIN 'HURRICANE' CARTER TO SPEAK AT DRAKE UNIVERSITY TUESDAY Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, human rights activist and former professional boxer, will speak at Drake University on Tuesday, March 7, as part of Drake's continuing celebration of African-American History Month. Carter's speech, which is free and open to the public, will start at 8 p.m. in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue. Carter, the subject of "The Hurricane" movie, will discuss his rise in the boxing arena and his fall due to the injustices of the legal system. A question-and-answer session will follow the speech. Carter's professional boxing career began in 1961, and his fast and furious style instantly made him a crowd favorite. Five years later, while preparing for a World Championship fight, Carter was arrested for triple homicide. Although steadfastly maintaining his innocence, Carter was convicted and sentenced to three life terms, narrowly escaping the electric chair. In 1974, upon publication of his autobiography ("The 16th Round: From Number 1 to Number 45472") and the recantations of the state's two key witnesses (criminals, who admitted they had lied at the trial), Carter's case attracted international attention. He became a civil-rights cause celebre and was immortalized in the Bob Dylan song, "Hurricane." A new trial ensued, but the injustice was repeated. Carter never gave up, however, and was released from prison in 1985. In February 1988, the 22-year-old indictment against him was officially dismissed. The World Boxing Council later awarded Carter the World Championship Belt at its 30th convention in Las Vegas. Carter now serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Human Rights (Atlanta), the Alliance for Prison Justice (Boston) and the Association in Defense of the Wrongfully Convicted (Toronto, Canada). He has testified before the U.S. Congress on the need for preserving federal review of state court convictions, and has lectured at several universities including Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. For more information about Carter's speech at Drake, call the Drake Student Life Center at (515) 271-3711. ### Note to News Media: Rubin "Hurricane" Carter will hold a news conference at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, in the Student Lounge of Olmsted Center.