Webinar Archive:  Ending Mass Incarceration (EMI) Series

Webinar Date:  November 14, 2017

 

Description

Leading experts from The Sentencing Project, a nonprofit organization that has worked for a fair and effective U.S. criminal justice system for over 30 years, discuss initiatives in more than 20 states that are designed to address the criminal justice system’s high rate of contact with people of color.  In the wake of the tragedies in Ferguson and other cities, excessive police contact has been identified as a major cause of the disproportionate rate of fatal police encounters for African Americans and Latinos, though policing is just one of parts of the justice system that leads to disadvantages for people of color relative to white people.  The webinar identifies four key features of the criminal justice system that produce racially unequal outcomes beyond the conditions of socioeconomic inequality that contribute to higher rates of some crimes in marginalized communities, and showcases initiatives to abate these sources of inequity in adult and juvenile justice systems around the country.

 

About the Presenters

Marc Mauer is one of the country’s leading experts on sentencing policy, race and the criminal justice system.  He has directed programs on criminal justice policy reform for more than 30 years and serves as Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, a national non-profit organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice policy.  Mr. Mauer has written extensively and testified before Congress and other legislative bodies.  His critically acclaimed book, Race to Incarcerate, was named a semifinalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, and he is the co-editor of Invisible Punishment, a collection of essays that examine the social costs of incarceration.

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Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D., is a research analyst at The Sentencing Project who conducts and synthesizes research on criminal justice policies.  She analyzes racial disparities in the justice system, public opinion about punishment, and the scope of reform efforts.  Her writing has been featured in major newspapers around the country and she regularly presents to audiences of advocates, criminal justice professionals, and students.  Dr. Ghandnoosh earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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Suggested Participants

Anyone interested in learning more about inequities in the criminal legal systems and efforts to interrupt the sources of these inequities will benefit from this webinar. This may include community- and system-based advocates, criminal justice professionals, and other practitioners

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Click here to access recording.  The PowerPoint (and any other documents from the webinar) is available by clicking here.

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This project is supported by Grant No. 2016-TA-AX-KO53 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication / program / exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the  Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.

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