The play was a courtroom drama based on "passing" and multiple permutations of racial identity.
Among the artists who have received commissions are Shirin Neshat, whose new work, "Overruled," will present live actors and projections in a courtroom scene based on "The Last Word," a 2003 video project by the artist.
Designs for the courtrooms were partly based on the courtrooms of the Bordeaux Law Courts in France.
Although the court is based in Brooklyn, where he served for two decades, he spent more time presiding in courtrooms in Uniondale and Central Islip.
(Under the so-called Daubert standard, established by the Supreme Court, scientific evidence can only be admitted in the courtroom if it is based on methods generally accepted by the scientific community).
But an ongoing reanalysis of old cases by the U.S. Justice Department found that analysts have often overstated their case in the courtroom; several people convicted based on a hair sample were later found to be innocent.
The center never speaks about evidence before it is introduced or speculates about the timing because plans can and often do shift based on courtroom events and schedules, said Jen Nessel, a spokeswoman for the organization.
John DeLuca, the president of the Wine Institute, a trade group that deals with legislation and consumer issues affecting the wine industry, said that the decision seemed to be based mostly on courtroom technicalities.
Part history, part tract, part sociological portrait, part courtroom drama, "Defending the Light," based on the Earl Conrad novel "Seward for the Defense," proves never less than interesting and thought-provoking, even though its cargo of combined relevance, injustice, controlled rage and questions about responsibility falls shy of theatrical combustion.
