Events

October 3, 2022 — In an event designed to accompany Bryan Stevenson's visit to campus, the Wilson Center hosted a screening of The Visiting Room, a short film about the experiences of people serving life sentences at Angola Prison in Louisiana. Following the film, Ben Finholt, Director of the Just Sentencing Project at the Wilson Center for Science and Justice, moderated a discussion among Randall Jenkins, April Barber Scales, and Anthony Willis, three people formerly serving life sentences, about their experiences both in prison and upon release.

September 23, 2022 — Chris Fabricant is the Director of Strategic Litigation at the Innocence Project. His book, Junk Science and the American Legal System, presents an insider's journey into the heart of a broken, racist system of justice and the role junk science plays in maintaining the status quo. Professor Brandon Garrett, Director of the Wilson Center moderated this conversation and Q&A with Fabricant about his work. 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.

April 7, 2022 — 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.

February 16, 2022 — 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. 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.

February 10, 2022 — 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. Join the Wilson Center for Science and Justice for a discussion with George Wilkerson, who is currently serving on death row in North Carolina, and Tessie Castillo, an international journalist specializing in criminal justice, drug policy, and social issues. The two were co-authors of the book, Crimson Letters, Voices from Death Row, which is a collection of personal essays from four incarcerated men, including Wilkerson.

January 26, 2022 — 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.

January 12, 2022 — 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. In this panel discussion, Judge Leifman and Justin Volpe from his program will present their approach to diversion. Dr. Marvin Swartz moderates.

November 16, 2021 — 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. Their book, The Behavioral Code: The Hidden Ways the Law Makes Us Better or Worse, is Freakonomics for the law-the revolutionary behavioral science insights into how the law fails to reduce misbehavior. This conversation was moderated by Jennifer Teitcher. 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.