Q&A with Jamie Lau, Clinical Professor, Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic

The onset of the #BlackLivesMatter Era has opened scrutiny over what exactly should be police's goals and responsibilities in today's society. Can the police be trusted guardians of security and justice simultaneously? What are the pathways toward institutional change, whatever that may look like? And how are police departments themselves strategically navigating these efforts? This discussion engaged those questions with the authors of three new books:

The recent high-profile murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others have brought renewed attention to the dangers of police misconduct and the resulting harm to Black and Brown people and communities, in particular. How do we ensure public safety for all, including those harmed by or at risk of harm by police misconduct? And how can we effectively hold police accountable for that misconduct?

Jocelyn Simonson is a Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School and author of Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People are Dismantling Mass Incarceration. Simonson's scholarship explores bottom-up interventions in the criminal legal system, such as bail funds, copwatching, courtwatching, and participatory defense, asking how these real-life interventions should inform our conceptions of the design of criminal justice institutions, the discourse of constitutional rights, and the meaning of democratic justice. This Q&A and discussion was moderated by Professor Brandon Garrett.

Kristin Henning is the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law. She previously worked for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, where she was Lead Attorney for the Juvenile Unit. Henning discussed her book The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth with Professor Crystal Grant, Director of the Children’s Law Clinic. Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice and the Children’s Law Clinic.

Judging Forensics: A Conversation with Federal Judges on Forensic Evidence, Judicial Gatekeeping, and Rule 702

In recognition of National Second Chance Month, panelists Tyrone Baker, Scallarneize Holloman, and Randall Jenkins, shared their stories of life after incarceration and how they navigated the process of re-entry. The panel was moderated by Brian Scott, Executive Director of Our Journey, a non-profit that helps formerly incarcerated people bridge the gap from prison to freedom.

Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law and the Durham County District Attorney's Office.

Maggie Lederer, J.D. Candidate at Duke University School of Law will discuss her recent paper "Not So Civil Commitment: A Proposal for Statutory Reform Grounded in Procedural Justice." Marvin Swartz, Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Director, Duke AHEC Program and Faculty Member, Wilson Center for Science and Justice as well as Mark Botts, Associate Professor of Public Law and Government at the UNC School of Government will offer comments followed by an audience Q&A.

Novel Justice is a book event series sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Jeffrey Bellin is the Cabell Research Professor and Mills E. Godwin, Jr., Professor of Law at William and Mary Law School.

Join us for a discussion on policing and gun violence featuring Sanford Professor Emeritus Philip J. Cook and Durham Chief of Police Patrice Andrews. The discussion will cover Professor Cook's new book, Policing Gun Violence, as well as a detailed report that Professor Cook produced - at the invitation of Chief Andrews - regarding fatal and non-fatal shootings in Durham. Questions raised include: How can police departments find the right balance between over- and under-policing of high-violence areas?

Novel Justice is a book event series sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Christopher Slobogin is the Milton Underwood Professor of Law at Vanderbilt Law School and the director of Vanderbilt Law School’s Criminal Justice Program. His book, Virtual Searches: Regulating the Covert World of Technological Policing, develops a useful typology for sorting through the bewildering array of old, new, and soon-to-arrive policing techniques.

Novel Justice is a book event series sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Daniel Medwed is a University Distinguished Professor of Law and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University School of Law. His book, Barred: Why the Innocent Can't Get Out of Prison, explores the range of procedural barriers that so often prevent innocent prisoners from obtaining exoneration.

Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice.

Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Dr. Jessica Simes is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Boston University. Her work contributes to sociological research on racial inequality, mass incarceration, the conditions of prison confinement, and the social structure of cities. Her book, Punishing Places: The Geography of Mass Incarceration, applies a unique spatial analysis to mass incarceration in the United States.

Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Tony Messenger is the metro columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His book, Profit and Punishment: How America Criminalizes the Poor in the Name of Justice, is a call to arms, shining a light on a two-tiered system invisible to most Americans. Join us for a conversation and Q&A with Messenger about his work. Wilson Center Director Brandon Garrett will moderate.

Virginia is the most recent state to abolish the death penalty, but capital punishment is still authorized in 27 states, by the federal government and the U.S. military. There are numerous studies and advocates to point to why the death penalty should be abolished nationwide, but the people who are sentenced to death are the ones who can speak best about the true impact of such punishment.

North Carolina Department of Justice Deputy General Counsel Daniel Mosteller and Senior Policy Counsel Steven Mange join the Wilson Center for Science and Justice to discuss the state of national litigation about opioids. In 2021 NC Attorney General Josh Stein announced a $26 billion settlement with opioid distributors and a manufacturer. Dr. Marvin Swartz moderates.
Sponsored by the Wilson Center for Science & Justice.

For over a decade, Judge Leifman, Associate Administrative Judge in the Miami-Dade County Court, 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, has worked with stakeholders to reform how the criminal legal system interacts with individuals with mental illnesses. With his colleagues he has developed a unique diversion model, the "Miami Model," that is a model for reducing violence, unnecessary arrests, and inappropriate incarceration among persons with mental illness. The model encourages recovery, reduces stigma, and gives individuals hope.

Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Benjamin van Rooij writes about why people obey or break the law. Adam Fine, Ph.D., is a professor of criminology and criminal justice as well as law & behavioral sciences at Arizona State University.

Journalism is one of the most powerful mediums in storytelling, education and shining a light on systemic injustices. Criminal justice reporting, in particular, can be crucial to bridging a gap between those who have experienced the system and those who have not. Journalists covering this beat educate the masses about complex legal systems and processes, and often bring to the forefront underrepresented issues. Join us for a roundtable discussion with renowned journalists who cover the criminal legal system.

Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Carissa Hessick is the Ransdell Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, where she also serves as the director of the Prosecutors and Politics Project.

Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were intellectually disabled teenagers (brothers) when they were coerced into confessing to a murder they didn't commit and sentenced to death. They spent 31 years in prison before DNA testing proved their innocence, and by the time of their release in 2014, Henry had served the longest death row sentence in North Carolina.

Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. David Sklansky is the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center.

Wilson Center for Science and Justice hosts an expert panel discussion about frontline programs for individuals returning from incarceration and how they can support re-entry with healthcare and peer support. This event will focus on meeting program clients' behavioral health needs.

The Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law hosts a roundtable discussion about people with mental illnesses who are criminally accused and found incompetent to proceed in the criminal legal system. Topics include how competency restoration poses a challenge and costly management problem for state mental health and criminal legal systems; alternative pathways to community reentry for this population; the ethical-legal aspects; how mental health authorities and policymakers in different states are (or aren't) dealing with it, and what should be done. Panelists are Dr.

Novel Justice is a book event series hosted by the Wilson Center for Science and Justice. We invite authors to discuss recently published criminal justice books and to engage in Q&A with faculty and students. Aya Gruber is Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School. Her book, The Feminist War on Crime: the Unexpected Role of Women's Liberation in Mass Incarceration, documents the failure of the state to combat sexual and domestic violence through law and punishment. Join us for a conversation and Q&A with Gruber about her work.