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The National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts (NCREFC) is pleased to announce its 2020 Symposium on Racial Equity. The Symposium, which includes four distinct live webinars, will take place across two days -- Friday, October 16, 2020 and Friday, November 13, 2020. The National Consortium is pleased to be able to offer this Symposium that is poised to consider critically important issues in the context of advancing racial equity and equal justice under the law. These webinars, which are open to the public, are offered free of charge; however, attendees are required to register in advance. The general program is as follows.
Friday, October 16, 2020
12:00 PM - 1:45 PM EST
Session A: Examining Barriers to Civic Engagement for People with Felony Convictions
Moderator:
Hon. Scott M. Bernstein, Administrative Judge, 11th Circuit Family Division, Florida; Board of Directors, NCREFC
Panelists:
Whitley Carpenter, Esq., Staff Attorney, Forward Justice, North Carolina
Aaron Greene, Esq., Associate Counsel, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, New Jersey
Hon. Milton Lee, Associate Judge, Superior Court, District of Columbia; Chair of District of Columbia Courts Jury Committee
Alexander Shalom, Esq., Senior Supervising Attorney and Director of Supreme Court Advocacy, ACLU, New Jersey
Click to View Session Recording
This webinar brings together a range of stakeholders working on behalf of people with felony convictions to restore their right to vote and participate in jury service. Panelists will examine a series of legislative initiatives designed to restore the right to vote for people with felony convictions and the range of underlying social justice and race equity issues that drive this movement.
2:15 PM - 4:00 PM EST
Session B: Ensuring Equal Access to Justice Through the Courts: A Leadership Roundtable with Chief Justices
Moderator:
Hon. Susan F. Maven, J.S.C., Judge, Superior Court, New Jersey; President/Moderator, NCREFC
Panelists:
Hon. Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, Chief Judge, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Hon. Richard Blake, Chief Judge, Hoopa Valley Tribe Court, California
Hon. George Williams Draper III, Chief Justice, Missouri
Hon. Nathan L. Hecht, Chief Justice, Texas
Hon. Raquel Montoya-Lewis, Justice, Washington
Hon. Stuart Rabner, Chief Justice, New Jersey
Click to View Session Recording
This webinar brings the conversation on race equity to the courts and the work on the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. This moderated discussion includes chief justices from courts around the country including the tribal courts, each of whom has a longstanding history of working to eliminate systemic barriers to justice through the courts for people of color and other historically marginalized constituencies.
Friday, November 13, 2020
12:00 PM - 1:45 PM EST
Session C: Reimagining Policing
Panelists:
Keenan Keller, Senior Democratic Counsel for the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, District of Columbia
Dominique Johnson, Senior Director of Community Engagement, Policing Equity, California
Christy E. Lopez, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, District of Columbia
Captain Sonia Pruitt, Law Enforcement Action Partnership, Maryland
Greear Webb, Policing Transformation Activist, North Carolina
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Click to View Session Recording
This webinar brings together a range of stakeholders to discuss the historic and increasingly contentious relationship between law enforcement and communities of color. Panelists will consider tangible ways to reimagine policing to ensure public safety while also acknowledging the legacies of racism enshrined in modern police practices.
2:15 PM - 4:00 PM EST
Session D: Symbols of the Confederacy and White Supremacy: Removing Monuments to Hate in the Public Square
Panelists:
Orville Vernon Burton, Professor, Clemson University, South Carolina
Dreama Caldwell, Community Advocate, North Carolina
Hampton Dellinger, Partner, Boies, Schiller, Flexner, District of Columbia
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Click to View Session Recording
Gaston Complaint
Public Statement Summarizing Confederate Monument
Are confederate statues tributes to historical figures or monuments to a hate-driven movement? The panelists for this webinar will examine the social, political, and historical significances of monuments honoring figures such as confederate generals; the sociopolitical contexts in which these emerged; the impact that placement of these statues have on people of color seeking justice through the courts; and identification of the ways in which to pursue removal of confederate monuments from public spaces.
If you have questions or need further information, please contact the Symposium Planning Chair Caryn L. Hines, Esq., at clynnhines@aol.com or NCSC Association Liaison Nikiesha Cosby at ncosby@ncsc.org.