Should We Ever Sentence Juveniles As Adults?: A Look At Juvenile Justice
On Tuesday May 10th, 2016, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice will be hosting a panel discussion on juvenile justice. Details below:
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Room: Wasserstein Hall, Milstein 2036 East B, Harvard Law School
Debate: Teens Leading the Way (TLTW)
Panel:
Karter Kane Reed – Community college grad and homeowner
Judge Leslie Harris – Recipient of numerous honors and outspoken advocate for youth
Naoka Carey – Executive Director of Citizens for Juvenile Justice
Dr. Robert Kinscherff – PhD, JD, Senior Fellow: CLBB (MGH)/Petrie Flom (HLS), and William James College
Moderator, Jean Trounstine, Author of Boy With a Knife
Free and open to the public. Please RSVP at charleshamiltonhouston.org.
FREE HER Justice Advocacy Conference
Harvard Law School (August 2015)
On Wednesday August 5th, 2015, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice and Families for Justice as Healing will be sponsoring the FREE HER Justice Advocacy Conference at Harvard Law School. The conference will join together formerly incarcerated women and allies from across the country to share strategies for criminal justice restructuring, from the voices of those most impacted.
Panel on Justice that Transforms: Emotional, Social, and Mental Health
Bipartisan Summit for Criminal Justice Reform, Washington D.C. (March 2015)
This summit brought together Americans from politically disparate backgrounds to discuss how to reduce America’s incarcerated population and how to fix America’s broken criminal justice system. This panel, among many at the conference, was on emotional, social, and mental health in prisons. The moderator of the panel was Kaia Stern, Director of Prison Studies Project. Panelists included Secretary John Wetzel, Secretary of Corrections, Pennsylvania; Dr. Craig Haney, Professor of Psychology, University of California Santa Cruz, Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration; Shaka Senghor, Director of Innovation, #cut50 and MIT Media Labs Fellow; Craig DeRoche, Executive Director, Justice Fellowship; Asha Bandele, Director of Advocacy Grants at Drug Policy Alliance. Watch a video of the panel here.
Dying While Back and Brown
Harvard Law School (March 2015)
A dance performance first commissioned by the San Francisco Equal Justice Society, Dying While Black and Brown focuses on capital punishment and the disproportionate numbers of incarcerated people of color. The piece was created by Zaccho Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director Joanna Haigood in collaboration with renowned jazz composer Marcus Shelby. It was created in response to the Equal Justice Society’s campaign to restore 14th Amendment protections for victims of discrimination including those on death row. Choreography and Direction by Joanna Haigood; Music by Marcus Shelby; Performed by Antoine Hunter, Rashad Pridgen, Travis Santell Rowland and Matthew Wickett of the Zaccho Dance Theatre in San Francisco, CA. Post-performance discussion included Diann Rust-Tierney, Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Juvenile in Justice: A photo exhibit and talk with photographer Richard Ross
Harvard Law School (March 2014)
Juvenile in Justice is a project that documents the placement and treatment of young people in American jails and prisons. A selection of those soul-stirring photographers were displayed in Harvard Law School from March-April, 2014.
The Central Park Five: Film Screening & Discussion
Harvard Law School (March 2013)
Hosted by the Houston Institute/W.E.B. Du Bois Institute Film Series, this film screening of The Central Park Five was followed by a post-screening discussion moderated by Professor Charles Ogletree, with filmmaker Ken Burns and Central Park Five members Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson.
The House I Live In: Film Screening and Discussion
Boston, MA (February 2013)
The special screening of The House I Live In, a documentary on the Drug War, was followed by a discussion with Director Eugene Jarecki and Professor Charles Ogletree.
The New Jim Crow: A Discussion with Author, Michelle Alexander
Harvard Law School (April 2012)
This event, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, featured Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.
From Attica to Abolition: An Evening to Honor Edwin “Eddie” Ellis
Harvard Law School (November 2011)
Hosted by Charles Ogletree, Jr. (Director of Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice), speakers included Soffiyah Elijah (Correctional Association of New York), Kaia Stern (Prison Studies Project), Christopher Stone (Harvard Kennedy School of Government), and Edwin “Eddie” Ellis (Center for NuLeadership on Urban Solutions). Event included excerpts from the film The Last Graduation: The Rise and Fall of College Programs in Prison.
Locked Up, Locked Out
Bruce Western, Reason (July 2011)
In this recent article, Western poses the question: “Do prisons make us safer?” He discusses three fundamental effects of mass incarceration: the poor employment prospects of formerly incarcerated people, the negative social, financial, and behavioral outcomes among children of incarcerated parents, and the reduction of the penal system’s capacity to control crime due to the pervasiveness of incarceration in under-resourced communities.
Race & Justice: The Wire Speaker Series
Harvard Law School (April 2011)
Discussion on the challenges of race, crime, and justice in America’s urban cities, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. Featured speaker was Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, New Jersey.
Race & Justice: The Wire Speaker Series
Harvard Law School (April 2011)
Discussion on the challenges of race, crime, and justice in America’s urban cities, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. Speakers included David Simon (The Wire co-creator and writer), Jamie Hector (“Mario Stanfield”), Andre Royo (“Bubbles”), Sonja Sohn (“Kima Greggs”), Jim True-Frost (“Roland Prez Pryzbyewski”), Michael K. Williams (“Omar Little”), Fran & Donnie Andrews (real life inspiration for characters from The Wire and The Corner).
Race & Justice: The Wire Speaker Series
Harvard Law School (April 2011)
Discussion on the challenges of race, crime, and justice in America’s urban cities, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. Speakers included Dr. Marshall Prentice (Zion Baptist Church, Baltimore), Major Melvin Russell (Baltimore City Police Department), Sonja Sohn (“Kima Greggs” from The Wire) and Liz Torres Brown (ReWired for Change). There was also a performance by the Boston Renaissance Boys Choir.
Race & Justice: The Wire Speaker Series
Harvard Law School (March 2011)
Discussion on the challenges of race, crime, and justice in America’s urban cities, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. Speakers included Kasim Reed (Mayor of Atlanta), Jason Weinstein (Deputy Assistant Attorney General), Anthony Williams (Former Mayor of Washington D.C.) and R. Gil Kerlikowske (Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Race & Justice: The Wire Speaker Series
Harvard Law School (March 2011)
Discussion on the challenges of race, crime, and justice in America’s urban cities, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice. Speakers included Major Neill Franklin (Executive Director of LEAP), Rev. Dr. Frank M. Reid III (Bethel AME Church in Baltimore), Kurt Schmoke (Former Mayor of Baltimore), and Professor Chris Stone (Harvard Kennedy School). A separate session included representatives from Mothers for Justice and Equality (Boston, MA) and Youth and Police in Partnership (Children’s Services of Roxbury, MA).
Decriminalizing Poverty
Bruce Western, The Nation (December 2010)
Incarceration rates in the U.S. have skyrocketed since the 1980s. Western examines our nation’s drug policies and the effects of the drug war on young men with little schooling, as well as the impact on their families and communities. He urges us to look beyond America’s alleged drug problem to the real challenge of our nation — poverty.
Dead Man Walking: An Afternoon Encounter with Capital Punishment in America
Harvard University (December 2010)
This afternoon encounter with capital punishment in America included engagement with this critical topic through a theatrical reading of excerpts from Dead Man Walking, followed by a conversation featuring panelists and the MCADP annual awards ceremony honoring actor/author Tim Robbins. Panelists included Sister Helen Prejean (Congregation of St. Joseph), Kaia Stern (Prison Studies Project), Margaret Burnham (Northeaster University School of Law), Michael Klinger (Harvard Divinity School), Delbert Tibbs (Witness to Innocence), Katherine Lowenstein (Murder Victims Families for Human Rights), and Susan Abraham (Harvard Divinity School).
The Wire: An Evening with the Cast of the Wire
Harvard Law School (November 2010)
As a prelude to the Harvard Law School class on The Wire, Professor Charles Ogletree hosted several actors from the award winning HBO series. Actors included Michael K. Williams (Omar Little), Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield), Donnie Andrews (real-life inspiration for Omar character), and Sonja Sohn (Kima Greggs). The event was co-sponsored by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice, and the Harvard University Institute of Politics.
Coming Together to Dismantle the Cradle to Prison Pipeline in Massachusetts:
A Half-Day Summit of Community, Faith, and Policy Leaders
Panel Discussion, Harvard Law School (April 2010)
Panelists included Reverend Jeff Brown (Boston TenPoint Coalition), Julio Hernandez (ROCA, Inc.), Adriana Leo (Community Action, Inc.), Tammy Tai (Hyams Foundation), Jane Tewksbury (Department of Youth Services). The moderator was Christina Cole (Harvard Kennedy School Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management) and the Keynote Presenter was Marian Wright Edelman (Children’s Defense Fund).
Lyrics from Lockdown
Performance by Byronn Bain (March 2010)
A poetry performance written and performed by Byronn Bain, directed by Mei Ann Teo and produced by Shilo Kuriakose, which was presented by Harvard Black Law Students Association, MassIMPACT, and MIT. This true story begins when Brooklyn’s own Nuyorican Grand Slam Poetry Champion Byronn Bain is wrongly imprisoned in New York City–while studying law at Harvard. Weaving together the critical and comedic voices of his Caribbean immigrant family and a poet sentenced to death row at 17 years old, this dynamic solo performance takes no prisoners as Bain tackles America’s unresolved contradictions with a virtuosic sense of humor and lyricism linking the storytelling traditions of the African Diaspora and urban America.
The Shadow of the Cross: Growing Up in the Civil Rights Movement
Talk by Wylene Branton Wood, Harvard Divinity School (February 2010)
Organized by Harambee: Students of African Descent at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) and sponsored by HDS Diversity Fund and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, this event featured Wylene Branton Wood. Wylene spoke about her formative experiences growing up amidst the civil rights movement as the daughter of Wylie Branton, civil rights leader and chief counsel of the “Little Rock Nine” case. She discussed the historical ambiguity of the cross for many African Americans still facing institutional racism in today’s America.
The Guiding Lights Weekend: Closing the Opportunity Gap
Seattle, WA (January 2010)
The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute partnered with the Guiding Lights Network to co-produce the “Guiding Lights Weekend: Closing the Opportunity Gap.” This conference brought together a wide range of participants, including educators, researchers, advocates, practitioners, parents, and students. This interactive conference aimed to: Generate new collaborations, promote imaginative solutions, and create the collective will for change; Support professionals and volunteers who are working on opportunity issues; Present useful research that may not be very well known to the attention of educators, practitioners, policymakers, parents and others in useful and accessible formats; Identify and highlight successful programs that are currently being implemented in Seattle, Puget Sound, and Washington State addressing the opportunity gap; Connect these efforts and individuals to others working across the country;Consider solutions in policy, practice, and litigation arenas; at the school, district, region, state and federal levels.
Can I Get a Witness? Troy Davis and the Quest for Justice
Panel Discussion, Harvard Law School (September 2009)
This panel discussion, hosted by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, featured Martina Correia (Anti-Death Penalty Activist and sister of Troy Davis), Jason Ewart (Counsel of Record for Troy Davis), and Kathleen Behan (Amicus Counsel in the Troy Davis Case). The panel was moderated by Charles J. Ogletree, Jr.
Reentry: Reversing Mass Imprisonment
Bruce Western, Boston Review (July/August 2008)
Western reviews the crisis of mass incarceration in America, and particularly, what this means for the 730,000 people who are released from prison each year. He argues that intervention among formerly incarcerated people should be immediate, comprehensive, and provide transitional employment. Western writes that we can shift away from mass incarceration in two ways: by expanding support for the reentry of people from prisons into society, and by scaling down the size of the prison population. Furthermore, in order to truly address mass imprisonment in the U.S., this challenge needs to become a permanent fixture in both public conversation and the policy arena.
Testimony Before the Joint Economic Committee
Bruce Western (October 4, 2007)
Bruce Western presents to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress on trends in mass incarceration, the invisible disadvantage that the imprisonment system creates, and the labor market after prison. He puts forth three policy recommendations to Congress: 1) to re-examine the collateral consequences associated with a criminal record, such as restrictions on benefits and welfare, 2) to support prisoner re-entry programs that provide comprehensive services, particularly transitional employment, and 3) to establish criminal justice social-impact panels in local jurisdictions that evaluate the socio-economic disparities linked to incarceration.