The Culver Public Policy Center partnered with the Iowa Brown & Black Presidential Forum to sponsor the Criminal Justice Reform Workshop on November 9, 2015. Mary Campos and Wayne Ford, Co-Founders and Co-Chairs of the Brown & Black Forum, focused on criminal justice reform as a key issue to be addressed by presidential candidates campaigning in Iowa.
The workshop addressed a range of reforms to criminal justice systems at the federal, state, and local levels with the goal of beginning to develop a consensus about which reforms are the most promising.
Program schedule
Welcome and introductory remarks
Seth S. Andersen, Director, John C. Culver Public Policy Center, Simpson College
Wayne Ford, Co-Founder & Co-Chair, Iowa Brown & Black Forum
Mary E. Campos, Co-Founder & Co-Chair, Iowa Brown & Black Forum
Federal criminal justice reform: Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act
Carter Burwell, Counsel to Chairman Grassley, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
Prospects for criminal justice reform in Iowa
Moderator: Seth S. Andersen
Hon. Ako Abdul-Samad, Iowa House of Representatives
Betty C. Andrews, President, Iowa-Nebraska NAACP State Area Conferences of Branches
Dr. Ahmadu Baba-Singhri, Grandview University, Criminal Justice Department
Erica Johnson, Advocacy Director, ACLU of Iowa
Hon. Helen Miller, Iowa House of Representatives
Tom Newkirk, civil rights attorney, Newkirk & Zwagerman
Restorative justice and conflict resolution programs
Moderator: Professor Carolyn Dallinger, Chair, Sociology & Criminal Justice, Simpson College
Jennifer Hahn, Youth Justice Initiative
Harvey Harrison, AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) -- 2nd Chance victim-offender reconciliation program
Ellen Taylor, AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy) – Middle School Mediation program
Innovative re-entry programs for recently released prisoners
Moderator: Professor Denise Leifker, Sociology & Criminal Justice, Simpson College
Jerry Bartruff, Director, Iowa Department of Corrections
Joel Potter, Probation/Parole Officer, 5th Judicial District, Department of Correctional Services
Nancy Robinson, Assistant Director, Field Services, 5th Judicial District, Department of Correctional Services