Thursday, September 6, 2018 (New York, NY) – With a focus on fairness in prosecution, John Jay President Karol V. Mason and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced the appointment of Lucy Lang as Executive Director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution (IIP) at John Jay College. The IIP (@iip_johnjay) is a groundbreaking partnership between the Manhattan District Attorney and New York’s preeminent college of criminal justice. Founded in 2016 to support the development of the next generation of ideas and thought leaders in the field of prosecution, the IIP brings together prosecutors, academics, law enforcement officials, and community leaders to examine and develop practical solutions to the critical issues facing the criminal justice system in the 21st century, including how to ensure public safety and accountability while at the same time improving fairness in the system.
“Given prosecutors’ equal obligation to safety and to fairness, they are uniquely situated to lead the reforms so desperately needed in the American criminal justice system,” said President Mason. “That’s why we are so proud to have Ms. Lang joining John Jay to lead the IIP in undertaking this vital work at a critical moment in our history.”
Executive Director Lang has been a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney for 12 years, serving most recently as Special Counsel for Policy and Projects and Executive Director of the DA’s in-house think tank, the Manhattan DA Academy. In addition to her breadth of experience as a prosecutor, which includes multi-year wiretapping investigations, complex gang and murder trials, and appellate practice, Lang has run Manhattan’s Intelligence Driven Prosecution Symposium and pioneered a first-of-its-kind college in prison class in which incarcerated students study criminal justice alongside prosecutors.
“In her 12 years with the Manhattan DA’s Office, beginning as a line Assistant District Attorney and rising to Executive Director of the Manhattan DA Academy, Lucy has exhibited all of the qualities of a 21st-century model prosecutor: skillfulness, fearlessness, and fairness inside the courtroom, as well as forward thinking, compassion, and professionalism in her work with crime survivors, advocates, and justice policy experts,” said district Attorney Vance. “In particular, Lucy has positioned our Manhattan DA Academy as a national leader in the development of best prosecutorial practices and innovative justice reform partnerships. I wish Lucy the very best in her role with the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution, as IIP works to promote data-driven strategies and innovative thinking during this exciting time for our profession.”
“I am honored to have this opportunity to build on my years as a prosecutor by expanding the IIP’s ability to serve as a resource to law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve around the country,” said Executive Director Lang. “Through information sharing, transparency, and thoughtful deliberation, together we will elevate policies that ensure fairness and accountability for all parties who encounter and who work within the criminal justice system.”
Lang is a graduate of Swarthmore College, where she serves on the Board of Managers, and Columbia Law School, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Gender and Law and serves as a Lecturer-in-Law. Lang was named a 2015 Rising Star by the New York Law Journal, was a 2017 Presidential Leadership Scholar, and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Over the past two years, the IIP has regularly convened elected prosecutors from across the country, developed trainings for line prosecutors and leadership, and generated papers and best practices geared to bridge the divide between theory and implementation in prosecution.
The IIP will continue to build upon the leadership of District Attorney Vance to continue his leadership in developing innovative, data-driven prosecution strategies that are being replicated throughout the country.
An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York is a Hispanic Serving Institution and Minority Serving Institution offering a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. John Jay is home to faculty and research centers at the forefront of advancing criminal and social justice reform. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College engages the theme of justice and explores fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law.
The IIP will continued to be guided by an Advisory Board – co-chaired by DA Vance and President Mason – comprising national leaders in criminal justice reform, including:
Lenore Anderson
Executive Director, Californians for Safety and Justice
Roy Austin
Partner, Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis LLP
Paul Butler
Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
John Chisholm
District Attorney, Milwaukee County
Mai Fernandez
Executive Director, National Center for Victims of Crime
George Gascon
District Attorney, City and County of San Francisco
Nancy Gertner
Senior Lecturer, Harvard Law School
Mike Green
Executive Deputy Commissioner, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services
Jackie Lacey
District Attorney, Los Angeles County
Anne Milgram
Distinguished Scholar in Residence, New York University School of Law
A.C. Roper
Deputy Chief of the U.S. Army Reserve
Kathy Fernandez Rundle
State’s Attorney, Miami Dade
Kim Foxx
State’s Attorney, Cook County, IL
Dan Satterberg
Prosecuting Attorney, King County (Seattle)
Carter Stewart
Managing Director, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation
Ronald Wright
Professor of Criminal Law, Wake Forest University School of Law
Follow the IIP on Twitter @IIP_JohnJay and Instagram @iip_johnjay
