Conferences & Symposia

Children at Risk: Examining the Nexus Between Race, the Juvenile Justice System, and Public Education

Children at Risk:
Examining the Nexus Between Race, the Juvenile Justice System, and Public Education

The University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class Fall Symposium, made possible by the generous support of the Pearl and Lawrence I. Gerber Memorial Fund.

Featuring The Gerber Lecture, a keynote address presented by James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute and longtime legal advocate for incarcerated youth.

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
500 W. Baltimore St.
Baltimore, MD 21201

Friday, November 9, 2012
8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Please join us on Friday, November 9, 2012, for our annual Fall Symposium, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a light breakfast in the atrium, followed by welcoming words in the Ceremonial Courtroom. The first of four panels will begin at 9:00 a.m. The Gerber Lecture will take place in Westminster Hall at noon, and will include a luncheon.

Speakers include:

• Mr. James Bell, Founder and Executive Director of the W. Haywood Burns Institute
• Ms. Monique Dixon, Director of Open Society Institute (OSI)-Baltimore's Criminal and Juvenile Justice Program, Maryland Law Class of '96
• Mr. David Domenici, Co-Founder of the Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools and Director of the Center for Educational Excellence in Alternative Settings at the University of Maryland, College Park
• Professor Randy Hertz, Vice Dean and Director of Clinical and Advocacy Programs at New York University School of Law
• Ms. Samantha Mellerson, Chief Program Officer of the Family League of Baltimore
• Professor Sandra Simkins, Chair for Clinical Programs and Co-Director of the Children’s Justice Clinic at Rutgers-Camden School of Law
• Mr. William Simpson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Open Door Community Development Corporation
• Professor Leslie Turner Percival, Visiting Assistant Professor at University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
• Professor Robin Walker Sterling, Clinical Professor at University of Denver Sturm College of Law

This fall, our symposium will address issues such as racial disparity in the juvenile justice and public education systems, the school to prison pipeline, incarcerated juveniles’ access to counsel and education, the practice of automatically prosecuting youth as adults, and the impact on communities of incarcerating youth of color. Our first panel will discuss racial disparity and differential treatment in the juvenile and criminal justice systems, with a focus on the factors that cause these systemic distortions and potential solutions to the problem of racial disparity. Our second panel will analyze incarcerated juveniles’ access to education and examine why it is essential that juveniles have access to lawyers while they are incarcerated, as well as other issues. Our third panel will focus on the impact of the juvenile justice system on our communities by addressing issues such as the automatic prosecution of youth as adults.

• Conference Schedule
• University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class