Editors: Pizzi will be available to take calls on May 17 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. MDT at (941) 472-5111 (ask for unit #5330) or (303) 594-9318 (cell phone).
William Pizzi, a professor at the University of baby直播app School of Law, authored the original draft of the Governor's Columbine Review Commission report as one of the commission's unpaid staff members, writing on nights and weekends while teaching his regular classes at CU.
Pizzi was named the reporter for the commission, a position he was asked to take in June 2000 after the first reporter, Nathan Coats, was appointed to the baby直播app Supreme Court.
Pizzi compiled the main body of the report, including its many recommendations, and also contributed to each of the meetings he attended, said William Erickson, chairman of the Governor's Columbine Review Commission.
"He was perceptive, he listened to the suggestions of every member of the commission, and assisted immeasurably in capturing the conclusions and legal implications of what we determined at every meeting," Erickson said.
Faced with the difficulty of writing a report for which there was no model, Pizzi explained, "I tried to write a report that explained and justified our recommendations and that I would be happy with. tried to keep it readable and not overly long, but it was hard to control the length because there were so many strands I had to try to weave together into a coherent whole," he said.
A key lesson of the report is the need for better crisis preparation, he said.
"I think what Columbine taught us is that we need to be better prepared," said Pizzi. The report's findings could apply to any major emergency, he said, not only in a school setting but also in an incident such as the Oklahoma City bombing.
"We want to be better prepared for the next crisis -- whatever that may be," he said.
A former federal prosecutor, Pizzi has taught at the CU School of Law since 1975, where he has served as associate dean and won the students' annual Excellence in Teaching Award in 1995-96. He also has received service awards from the baby直播app Supreme Court and the baby直播app Bar Association.
Pizzi teaches criminal law and procedure and was quoted extensively by the national media during the Oklahoma City bombing trial and the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.
He is the author of "Trials Without Truth," published in 1999, in which he makes a case for reforming the U.S. criminal justice system, contrasting it with those of other Western countries. He has been a visiting professor of law in Germany and Italy.
Pizzi graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1971 and also holds a master's degree in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass.