The first months of the Trump administration have confirmed that criminal justice will remain a contentious issue for the foreseeable future. Trump’s “law and order” rhetoric on the campaign trail has led to significant changes in federal criminal justice policy. At the state and local levels, lawmakers are struggling with the opioid epidemic, overincarceration, and how to work with new federal enforcement goals.
In the current environment, how should legislators tackle the most serious and enduring criminal justice issues? What policies should be implemented? What should officials’ priorities be? To answer these and other questions, experts from courtrooms, universities, law enforcement agencies, and think tanks gathered at the Cato Institute for its third annual criminal justice conference, Criminal Justice at a Crossroads.
| 9:00AM — 9:15AM |
Opening Remarks
Clark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice, Cato Institute
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| 9:15AM — 10:25AM |
Panel 1: Law Enforcement and the Communities They Serve
Chief Ron Davis (ret.), East Palo Alto, California Police Department and principal consultant, 21st Century Policing Strategies LLC
Chief J. Thomas Manger, Montgomery County, Maryland and president of the Major Cities Chiefs Association
Sgt. Renée J. Mitchell, American Society of Evidence-Based Policing
Moderated by Jonathan Blanks, Research Associate in Cato’s Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute
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| 10:25AM — 10:40AM |
Break
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| 10:40AM — 11:05AM |
Flash Talk
Hon. Steven S. Alm, Judge (ret.), First Circuit Court of Hawai’i, creator of HOPE Probation
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| 11:05AM — 12:15PM |
Panel 2: The Defendant in Court
Hon. Jed Rakoff, Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Scott Greenfield, criminal defense attorney and editor of Simple Justice
Suja Thomas, professor of law at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Moderated by Trevor Burrus, Research Fellow, Cato Institute
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| 12:15PM — 1:15PM |
Lunch
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| 1:15PM — 2:00PM |
Flash Talk
Alyssa Rosenberg, opinion writer, Washington Post
Amy Bach, Executive Director and President of Measures for Justice
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| 2:00PM — 3:10PM |
Panel 3: Criminal Justice and the Border
Dara Lind, senior reporter, Vox.com
Laura Donohue, professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center
Jay Ahern, principal and security services practice leader at The Chertoff Group and former acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Moderated by Matthew Feeney, Policy Analyst, Cato Institute
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| 3:10PM — 3:30PM |
Break
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| 3:30PM — 3:45PM |
Flash Talk
William R. Kelly, professor of sociology and director of the Center for Criminology and Criminal Justice Research at the University of Texas at Austin
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| 3:45PM — 4:55PM |
Panel 4: The Drug War and the Opioid Crisis: Approaches and Remedies
Leo Beletsky, professor, School of Law & Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University
Jeffrey Miron, director of economic studies at the Cato Institute and senior lecturer on economics and director of undergraduate studies at Harvard University
Zachary Bolitho, Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General
Moderated by Mike Riggs, reporter, Reason
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| 4:55PM — 5:00PM |
Break
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| 5:00PM — 5:30PM |
Keynote
Kevin Sharp Nashville Managing Partner, Sanford Heisler Sharp, and former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
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| 5:30PM — 5:40PM |
Closing Remarks
Clark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice, Cato Institute
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| 5:40PM — 6:40PM |
Reception
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