The George Washington Law Review, along with co-sponsor Roger A. Fairfax, Jr., Jeffrey and Martha Kohn Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research Professor of Law at The George Washington University Law School, announces its Fall 2017 Symposium, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society: 50 Years Later.
This Symposium marks the 50th Anniversary of the report by President Lyndon Johnson’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, “The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society.” Led by Attorney General Nicholas deB. Katzenbach, the Commission compiled comprehensive data on crime in the United States, discussed the salient issues confronting the criminal justice system, and provided recommendations to address these problems.
Now, 50 years later, our society continues to face many of the same obstacles to an effective and fair criminal justice system. At a time when there is bipartisan consensus that criminal justice reform is necessary, revisiting “The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society” will provide insights into how to address those questions. Inspired by the focus of the report, the Symposium will examine the essential issues of courts and procedure, technology, policing, corrections and sentencing, prosecution, the War on Drugs, and juvenile justice. The focus will be the future of the criminal justice system and what steps can be taken to achieve reform. This Symposium is particularly timely given the recent bipartisan legislation proposing a new National Criminal Justice Reform Commission modeled on the Johnson Commission.
Agenda
Thursday, October 26
4-4:45 pm: Keynote Address: Chief Judge Patti B. Saris, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts & former Chair of U.S. Sentencing Commission (2010-2016)
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
4:45-6 pm: Experiences and Perspectives on the 1967 President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
Moderator: Alan Morrison, Lerner Family Associate Dean for Public Interest and Public Service Law & Professorial Lecturer in Law, George Washington University Law School
- Judge Patricia Wald, former Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit & former Commissioner of the President’s Commission on Crime in the District of Columbia and Advisor to the 1967 Commission
- Elizabeth Bartholet, Professor of Law, Faculty Director, Child Advocacy Program, Harvard Law School & 1967 Commission Staff Member
- Sheldon Krantz, Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center & 1967 Commission Staff Member
- Susan Schapiro, 1967 Commission Staff Member
Friday, October 27
8-8:45 am: Breakfast (Art Gallery Lobby, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
8:45-9 am: Opening Remarks: Roger A. Fairfax, Jr., Jeffrey and Martha Kohn Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research Professor, George Washington University Law School & Director, GW Criminal Law Initiative
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
9-9:30 am: Keynote Address: Congressman Bobby Scott, U.S. House of Representatives, Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and the Workforce & former Ranking Member of the Task Force on Over-Criminalization (113th Congress)
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
9:30-10:30 am: Police Violence and the Fourth Amendment
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
Moderator: Roger A. Fairfax, Jr., Jeffrey and Martha Kohn Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Research Professor, George Washington University Law School & Director, GW Criminal Law Initiative
- Devon Carbado, The Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law & Associate Vice Chancellor, BruinX
- Nancy Leong, Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
- Song Richardson, Interim Dean and Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law
10:30-10:45 am: Break (Art Gallery Lobby, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
10:45-11:45 am: Policing of Vulnerable Groups
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
Moderator: Renée Hutchins, Jacob A. France Professor of Public Interest Law & Co-Director, Clinical Law Program, University of Maryland Carey School of Law
- Kristin Henning, Agnes N. Williams Research Professor of Law, Associate Dean for Clinics, Centers and Institutes & Director, Juvenile Justice Clinic, Georgetown University Law Center
- Erik Luna, Amelia D. Lewis Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
- Tracey Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law, Yale Law School & Founding Director, The Justice Collaboratory
11:45 am-12:15 pm: Keynote Address: Congressman Jamie Raskin, U.S. House of Representatives, Vice-Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee & Co-Sponsor, National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2017
(Jack Morton Auditorium, Media & Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW)
12:15-1:30 pm: Lunch (Faculty Conference Center, 2000 H Street NW)
1:30-2:45 pm: Looking Forward: Criminal Justice Policy and Reform
(Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, 2000 H Street NW) (note change of location)
Moderator: Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Edward Chung, Vice President for Criminal Justice Reform, Center for American Progress
- Brandon Garrett, White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs & Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law
- Paul Marcus, Haynes Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School
- Nkechi Taifa, Advocacy Director for Criminal Justice, Open Society Foundations
2:45-3 pm: Break (Kelly Lounge, 2000 H Street NW)
3-4:15 pm: Prosecutorial Power
(Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, 2000 H Street NW)
Moderator: Cynthia Lee, Charles Kennedy Poe Research Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School
- Angela Davis, Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
- Adam Gershowitz, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development & Professor of Law, William & Mary Law School
- Daniel Richman, Paul J. Kellner Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
- Ronald Wright, Needham Yancey Gulley Professor of Criminal Law, Wake Forest University School of Law
4:30-6:30 pm: Closing Reception Co-Sponsored by The GW Criminal Law Initiative
(Tasher Great Room, 2000 H Street NW)
The GW Criminal Law Initiative is designed to illuminate career pathways in criminal law and policy for GW Law students and alumni, and to promote academic inquiry, professional engagement, and scholarly research on cutting-edge criminal law issues.