AUTHOR AND LAWYER, JEFF BENEDICT, TO SPEAK OCTOBER 27 ABOUT “FORENSICS IN HISTORY AND CASINOS IN CONNECTICUT”

Noted journalist, lawyer and author, Jeff Benedict, will speak on Thursday, October 27, on two unrelated but fascinating topics. His talk is titled "Forensics in History and Casinos in Connecticut: Two Detective Stories.” Although they are two disparate topics, Benedict, through his intensive research, does a masterful job, relating the two along with reaching several convincing conclusions.

Jeff Benedict is an award-winning investigative journalist, a lawyer, and the author of six books. He is a contributing writer for the Los Angeles Times and Sports Illustrated. His latest book – OUT OF BOUNDS: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence and Crime, published in 2004, reached the Amazon best seller's list within one week. He holds a J.D., an M.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in History. He is also a political strategist and a consultant to law firms, private companies and business organizations. In 2002, Benedict was a candidate for U.S. Congress from Connecticut.

Benedict is also the president of the Connecticut Alliance Against Casino Expansion, a non-profit corporation that he formed with business, civic and religious leaders from around Connecticut. In 2003 Benedict partnered with Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to lead an effort to enact landmark legislation to stop casino expansion in the state. In 2004 Congress called Benedict to testify before a committee investigating the influence of money and lobbyists on the U.S. Interior Department's decisions to grant tribal recognition status to groups backed by casino moguls. Benedict's testimony revealed that Donald Trump and others have pumped tens of millions of dollars into the process.

Benedict's books include the bestseller Pros and Cons: The Criminals Who Play in the NFL. The subject of an HBO documentary on crime in sports, it generated a firestorm of controversy. As a result of the book, the NFL adopted new policies governing criminal conduct by its players.

In 2000 Benedict published Without Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the World's Largest Casino This book was the subject of a 60 Minutes segment and prompted calls for a Congressional investigation into the legitimacy of the Mashantucket Pequot tribe and its land boundaries. Without Reservation is currently being made into a movie.

In April 2003 Benedict wrote No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America's Oldest Skeletons. It chronicles the life of a top government scientist, Dr. Doug Owsley, who is engaged in the landmark lawsuit over Kennewick Man, the oldest intact skeleton ever found in North America. The book was the subject of an ABC News 20/20 profile and was the basis of a Discovery Channel documentary that aired in July 2003. Subsequently, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the federal government erred in denying scientists access to Kennewick Man and has ordered the government to release the skeleton for study.

Benedict has also written two books on violence against women. Public Heroes, Private Felons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women (Northeastern University Press1997) and Athletes and Acquaintance Rape (Sage Publications, 1998) both developed out of groundbreaking research that Benedict conducted while serving as the research director at Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Society. Benedict designed and published the first national studies into the prevalence rates of athletes to abuse women, as well as studies on the arrest and conviction rates of athletes who commit crimes against women. The results of these studies appeared in the Sociology of Sport Journal (1997) and the Journal of Sport & Social Issues (1995).

Benedict has served as an expert witness on behalf of domestic violence and sexual assault victims, as well as an advisor and consultant to lawyers representing victims of violence. During law school Benedict was an assistant to the chief prosecutor in the child victims unit in the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in Boston.

Benedict is also a frequent essayist. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Village Voice, Hartford Courant, Chronicle of Higher Education and ESPN's on-line magazine. He has appeared as an expert on ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, HBO, ESPN and Court TV. He and his wife have three children and they live in Connecticut.