Tina Brown Live Media and John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Present the Second Annual
AMERICAN JUSTICE SUMMIT
With Support from the Ford Foundation
Summit to Focus on Daunting Challenges for Justice Reform, 21st Century Policing, Election2016 and Strategies for Changing Gun Culture in America
NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S.Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara, Anna Deavere Smith, and Rosie Perez to headline the program on Friday, January 29th, 2016
VICE News joins as media partner
***
New York, NY (December 16, 2015) – Tina Brown Live Media, in association with John Jay College ofCriminal Justice and the Ford Foundation today announced the second annual American Justice Summit. The Summit will feature panels, conversations and performances that explore the urgent need for American justice and prison system reform. Gun control and gun culture, juvenile incarceration, immigrant detention, and the state of policing in America are some of the issues to be addressed. The American Justice Summit will take place on Friday, January 29th, 2016, 9am - 5pm, in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 524 West 59th Street, New York, NY.
“We launched the American Justice Summit to heighten awareness of America’s broken criminal justice system,” says Tina Brown, Founder and CEO of Tina Brown Live Media. “There is a pressing need for reform and new thinking. This year’s summit will focus the most knowledgeable minds on deaths in police custody, gun violence, and the treatment of mentally ill people in our criminal justice system among other urgent issues.”
The Summit will bring together the organizations and individuals who are inciting justice reform at both the policy and grassroots level and leading creative, cost-effective solutions to remedy the personal, social, and financial inequities of America’s justice system.
The Marshall Project, a not-for-profit, non-partisan news organization devoted to coverage of the criminal justice system, and VICE News will return as media partners for the Summit. VICE will also live stream the Summit on vicenews.com. The Summit will convene with knowledge partner JustLeadershipUSA, a non-profit organization that invests in those who have been directly affected by crime and incarceration to drive policy reform.
The day-long program will include: a panel with Gun Control Activist and mother of Aurora victim Sandra Phillips, criminologist David Kennedy, and Evangelical Reverend Robert Schenck on how to change gun culture in America; testimony from the family of Sandra Bland; a joint interview with NYC Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara on the future of policing, public safety and privacy; conversation with former Attorney General Eric Holder; actress, philanthropist and Artistic Board Member, Urban Arts Partnership Rosie Perez with former Mayor of Atlanta and founder of Purpose Build Communities Shirley Franklin, and JustLeadershipUSA founder and president Glenn Martin, on rebuilding communities after endemic cycles of poverty, crime and incarceration; actor, playwright and activist Anna Deavere Smith and founder of Missouri Innovative Concept Academy Judge Jimmie Edwards will offer insightful information on the school to prison pipeline; and among others joining us are Craig Haney, the Honorable Steve Leifman of the 11th Circuit Court in Miami, Mrs. Venida Browder, and Jörg Jesse, Director General of Prison and Probation, Northeastern Germany.
“At a time when bipartisan efforts for reforming the criminal justice system are fervent, we at John Jay College are proud to partner once again with TBLM for this important event. The second annual American Justice Summit will convene thought leaders, legislators, victims, and social activists to present powerful narratives, generate urgent change, and call the nation to action." Said Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.“
The American Justice Summit has in short order become an essential dialogue on matters of critical import to our democracy,” said Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation. “To challenge inequality we must be willing to engage in an honest, and at times uncomfortable, conversation on the systems and structures which perpetuate indignity, injustice, and inequality.”
“If the criminal justice system wasn't such a national disgrace we wouldn't need the American JusticeSummit,” says Neil Barsky, founder of The Marshall Project. “But the system is broken, and we need to inject a sense of urgency about reform. The Summit is one of many steps needed to begin that process.”
"Criminal justice reform continues to be one of the most important topics we cover, for our audience and journalists alike," said Jason Mojica, Editor-in-Chief of VICE News. "Serving as the media partner for the American Justice Summit is a natural fit for VICE News and a valuable opportunity to advance the conversation beyond the partisan politics that too often stand in the way of rational reform. VICE Media made history this past July when founder Shane Smith visited Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno with President Obama -- the first sitting President to visit a federal prison -- as part of VICE's HBO documentary Fixing The System. VICE has covered the criminal justice system and mass incarceration extensively for years, but took a particularly in-depth look this past year with Fixing The System, The Prison Issue of VICE Magazine, and America Incarcerated, a month long takeover of VICE Media's ten digital channels. The American Justice Summit is generously supported by leadership sponsors the Ford Foundation and John Jay College of Criminal Justice; supporting sponsor Thompson Reuters; and partners JustLeadershipUSA, The Marshall Project and VICE News.
For video clips of interviews with guest speakers from the first American Justice Summit in 2014, click here.
For more information about the first American Justice Summit in 2014, click here.
ABOUT TINA BROWN LIVE MEDIA
Tina Brown Live Media was established in 2014 to produce summits, salons, flash forums, and debates. The first of these events was the American Justice Summit, presented November 10, 2014, in partnership with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Tina Brown Live Media also produces Women in the World, founded in 2009, to givea platform to global women on the front lines—activists, artists, CEOs, peacemakers, entrepreneurs, and firebrand dissidents who have saved or enriched lives and shattered glass ceilings in every sector. It has become the premier showcase for women of impact—and for the men who champion them—by presenting vivid journalistic narratives, stirring videos, and provocative discussions. In 2015, Women in the World became a joint venture with The New York Times and launched a new digital home on nytimes.com. For more details on the Summit, please visit tinabrownmedia.com.
ABOUT JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE/GERALD W. LYNCH THEATER
John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, an international leader in educating for justice, offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu. Since opening its doors in 1988, the Gerald W. Lynch Theater has been an invaluable cultural resource for JohnJay College and the larger New York City community. The Theater is dedicated to the creation and presentation of performing arts programming of all disciplines with a special focus on how the artistic imagination can shed light onthe many perceptions of justice in our society. The Theater is also a member of CUNY Stages, a consortium of 16 performing arts centers located on CUNY campuses across New York City. For more information, and to view a schedule of events, please visit www.jjay.cuny.edu/theater.
ABOUT THE FORD FOUNDATION
The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than 75 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
ABOUT THE MARSHALL PROJECT
The Marshall Project is a nonprofit news organization that focuses on the American criminal justice system. Our mission is to create and sustain a sense of urgency about criminal justice in America. We aim at all times for accuracy, fairness, and impartiality. Our repertoire includes deep investigative projects, narratives and profiles that put a human face on criminal justice, explanatory and contextual pieces, along with guest commentary and voices from inside the system. And we partner with a diverse array of media organizations to amplify our message.
ABOUT VICE NEWS
VICE News is an award-winning digital news channel catering to a global youth audience that features hundreds of hours of provocative, immersive news programming from around the world. Operating in 35 countries with a vast network of contributors, VICE News is committed to uncovering the under reported stories around the world using an immersive style of storytelling and pioneering journalism techniques including live streaming and an innovative partnership with Skype. VICE News offers in-depth video and editorial content, including international reporting, recurring franchises, short-form and feature-length documentaries, Vine and Instagram, and live-streaming from some of the most pressing news events of our time.
Press Contacts:
Linda Lipman
Hiltzik Strategies
(212) 792-9331
llipman@hstrategies.com
Nora Wolinsky
Hiltzik Strategies
(212) 430-5057
nwolinsky@hstrategies.com
