WEBINARS

Featured Webinar

Misdemeanor Injustice

Rethinking Prosecutorial Approaches in Misdemeanor Cases

Thursday, December 5th, 2024 at 12:00 PM ET

Our December webinar will focus on improving prosecutorial approaches in misdemeanor cases. Our webinar will include a panel of esteemed experts and practitioners whose work has shaped reforms to misdemeanor prosecutions nationwide. Joining our discussion are:

  • Eli Savit, Prosecuting Attorney, Washtenaw County, MI

  • Alexandra Natapoff, Lee S. Kreindler Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

  • Mitha Nandagopalan, Staff Attorney, Strategic Litigation, The Innocence Project

  • Rachel Marshall (moderator), Executive Director, IIP

Misdemeanors are the most common entry point into the criminal legal system for many people, as misdemeanor cases make up over 80% of all prosecutions. Yet too often discussion on reform focuses solely on felony cases and ignores the significance of misdemeanor cases on the lives of accused persons and victims. Local prosecutors wield an enormous amount of influence over an individual’s trajectory in the justice system through how they approach misdemeanor cases. From decisions about prosecuting nonviolent misdemeanors, to implementing rehabilitative responses to low-level offenses, prosecutors have a tremendous opportunity to be forward-thinking in shaping a more equitable and transparent criminal justice system through their approaches to misdemeanor offenses.

Our conversation will equip prosecutors with actionable strategies around misdemeanors to implement in their own jurisdictions.

Recent Webinars

Rethinking Approaches to Juvenile Sex Crimes

Dalia Racine, District Attorney, Douglas County, GA Apryl Alexander, Metrolina Distinguished Scholar in Health and Public Policy and Associate Professor, Department of Health Management and Policy, UNC Charlotte Nicole Pittman, Executive Director, Just Beginnings Collaborative Rachel Marshall (moderator), Executive Director, IIP

Event page available here.

How Prosecutors Can Protect the Vote

Joshua Barnett, Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office Orion Danjuma, Counsel, Free and Fair Elections, Protect Democracy Tyler Mann, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, DeKalb County (GA) DA’s Office Rachel Marshall, IIP Executive Director

Event page available here.

Grounding Police Accountability in Community Engagement

Lisa Madigan, Former Illinois Attorney General Samuel Sinyangwe, Founder, Mapping Police Violence Victoria Davis, Founder, Sisters of Justice Jonathan Darche, Executive Director, NYC Civilian Complaint Review Board. Caroline Nobo, Research Scholar in Law, Executive Director, Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School Rachel Marshall, IIP Executive Director

Event page available here.

Not Above the Law: Prosecuting Police Misconduct

Keith Ellison, Attorney General (MN) Diana Becton, District Attorney, Contra Costa County, CA Michelle Monterrosa, Co-Founder, The Sean Monterrosa Project
Seth Stoughton, Professor of Law, University of Southern California Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available here.

The Power of Data: Prosecutorial Approaches to Remedying Racial Disparities

Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County (MN) Attorney Steve Descano, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Fairfax County, VA Director Allison C. Pierre, Founder and CEO, Innovative Prosecution Consulting
Alex Chohlas - Wood, Professor, NYU Steinhardt School Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available here.

Dismantling Pretext Stops: Police and Prosecutors Driving Public Safety

John Choi, Ramsey County (MN) Attorney Mike Lee, Executive Director, ACLU Pennsylvania Max Carter-Oberstone, Vice President, San Francisco Police Commission
Stephen Rushin, Judge Hubert Louis Will Professor of Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law

Event page available here.

The Myth of the Perfect Victim: Barriers to Prosecuting Sexual Assault

Jean Peters Baker, Prosecutor, Jackson County, MO Deborah Tuerkheimer, Professor of Law, Northwestern University Anita Teekah, Chief of Advocacy, LatinoJustice
Michelle Dempsey, Professor of Law, Villanova University

Event page available here.

Understanding Successful Diversion Strategies: A Case Study from Vermont

Sarah Fair George, State’s Attorney, Chittenden County, VT Jess Kirby, Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform Tom Dalton, Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform
Meghan E. Nayak, Vera Institute of Justice

Event page available here.

Overcoming Obstacles: Insights from Black Women Prosecutors

Kim Foxx, Cook County, IL State’s Attorney Dalia Racine, Douglas County, GA District Attorney Jamila Hodge, Executive Director, Equal Justice USA
Angela J. Davis, Distinguished Professor of Law, American University

Event page available here.

Defending Workers: Wage Theft Enforcement for Prosecutors

Alvin Bragg, Manhattan, NY District Attorney José Garza, Travis County, TX District Attorney Terri Gerstein, Director, NYU Wagner Labor Initiative
Scott Stillman, Founder and Managing Attorney, Law Office of Scott Stillman
Charlie Uruchima, Program Coordinator, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH)
Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available here.

Protecting Local Democracy: Defending Attacks on Prosecutors

Sherry Boston, District Attorney, Dekalb County, GA Monique Worrell, State Attorney, Ninth Judicial Circuit, FL Carissa Byrne Hessick, Distinguished Professor, UNC School of Law, Director, Prosecutors and Politics Project
Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available here.

Restorative Justice in Action: New Approaches in the Most Serious Cases

Satana Deberry, District Attorney, Durham County, NC Seema Gajwani, Special Counsel for Juvenile Justice Reform, Chief of the Restorative Justice Program Section, Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia Alissa Ackerman-Acklin, Co-Founder, Ampersands Restorative Justice, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, California State University, Fullerton
Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available here.

Guns and Enforcement: Police and Prosecutor Roundtable on Gun Violence

Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY
Sherry Boston, District Attorney, Dekalb County, GA
José Garza,
District Attorney, Travis County, TX Todd Schmaderer, Chief of Police, Omaha, NE Lakeidra Chavis, Staff Writer, Marshall Project
Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Ending Cash Bail: Lessons from Illinois

Kim Foxx, State’s Attorney, Cook County, IL
Briana Payton, Senior Policy Analyst, Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts
Sharlyn Grace,
Senior Policy Advisor, Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender
Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available
here.

Reproductive Justice: A Guide for Prosecutors

Shannon Taylor, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Henrico County, VA
Kimberly Mutcherson, Professor of Law, Rutgers Law School
Dr. Kristyn Brandi,
OBGYN Physician & Darney Landy Fellow, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available
here.

The Future of Prosecutorial Discretion

Angela J. Davis, Distinguished Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law
Mark Dupree, District Attorney, Wyandotte County, Kansas
George
Gascón, District Attorney, Los Angeles County, California
David Sklansky, Professor of Law, Stanford Law School | Faculty Co-Director, Stanford Criminal Justice Center

Rachel Marshall, Executive Director, IIP

Event page available
here.

Wrongful Convictions of Women

Valena Beety, Professor of Law and Deputy Director of the Academy for Justice, Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Marissa Boyers Bluestine, Assistant Director, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Sunny Eaton, Director, Conviction Review Unit, Nashville District Attorney’s Office
Alissa Marque Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

Excerpts from Valena Beety’s book Manifesting Justice: Wrongly Convicted Women Reclaim Their Rights.

Probation, Parole, & Prosecution

Fiona Doherty, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, Yale Law School
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY
Lawrence Krasner, District Attorney, Philadelphia, PA
Patrick Rodriguez, Co-Executive Director, Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison
Vincent Schiraldi, Senior Fellow, Columbia Justice Lab
Michael Jacobson, Executive Director, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

Inside Criminal Justice

Dr. Geraldine Downey, Director, Center for Justice; Robert Johnston Niven Professor of Humane Letters in Psychology, Columbia University
Gabriel Hippolyte, Assistant District Attorney, Major Economic Crimes Bureau, New York County District Attorney's Office
Denise Roman, Former Inside Criminal Justice Student
Luis Morales, Executive Director, Manhattan D.A. Academy, New York County District Attorney’s Office

More information about Inside Criminal Justice
here.

Foster Care, Youth Justice, & the Criminal Legal

Victoria Davis, Founder, Sisters of Justice
Susan Mangold, Chief Executive Officer, Juvenile Law Center
Carol Siemon, Prosecuting Attorney, Ingham County, MI
Shawanna Vaughn, Founder, Silent Cry Inc.
I-sha-le Watson, Youth Advocate, Juvenile Law Center
ShanaKay Salmon, Public Engagement Manager, IIP

More information and resources
here.

Beyond Big Cities

Christopher Donelan, Sheriff, Franklin County, MA
Deborah Gonzalez, District Attorney, Western Judicial Circuit, GA
Maybell Romero, Associate Professor of Law, Tulane University
Alissa Marque Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

More information about Beyond Big Cities here.

Prosecution, Drug Use & Public Health

Sherry Boston, District Attorney, Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, DeKalb County, GA
David Cloud, Research Director, Amend at UCSF School of Medicine
Dan Satterberg, Prosecuting Attorney, King County, WA
Andre Ward, Associate Vice President of the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy, The Fortune Society
Alissa Marque Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

More information about our Public Health Initiative here.

Sexual Assault Prosecution: Criminal Justice Reform in the #MeToo Era

Lara Bazelon, Defense Attorney, Professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law
Michelle Dempsey, Harold Reuschlein Scholar Chair and Professor of Law at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Kim Foxx, State’s Attorney, County, IL
Jeannie Suk Gersen, John H. Watson, Jr. Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Prosecutors, Brady & Police Disclosure Lists

Harold Medina, Chief of Police, Albuquerque Police Department
Ross Miller, Assistant Director, Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice
Raúl Torrez, District Attorney, Bernalillo County, NM
Alissa Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

More information about our Tracking Police Misconduct Guide here.

Uplifting the Voices of Formerly Incarcerated Women & Trans Women

ShanaKay Salmon, Public Engagement Manager, IIP
Grace DeTrevarah, LGBT Liaison & Senior Reentry Peer & Health Facilitator, The Osborne Association
Topeka Sam, Founder & Executive Director of The Ladies of Hope Ministries

Law Schools, Racial Justice, and Prosecution

Blanche Bong CookAssociate Professor of Law, University of Kentucky
Alafair S. BurkeProfessor of Law, Hofstra University
Renee Gregory, Chief Diversity Officer, Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office
Audrey MooreFirst Assistant District Attorney, Manhattan District Attorney's Office
Bennett CapersDirector, Center on Race, Law & Justice at Fordham Law School

More information and resources here.

Wrongful Conviction Series: Supporting The Original Crime Victim Throughout An Exoneration

Andrea Harrison, Crime Survivor Advocate
Katie Monroe, Executive Director, Healing Justice
Jennifer Thompson, Board President, Healing Justice
Moderated by Alissa Marque Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

More information and resources here.

Wrongful Conviction Series: Conviction Integrity Units: Perspectives On Best Practices

Cynthia Garza, Chief, Conviction Integrity Unit, Dallas County District Attorney's Office, TX
Risa Gerson, Chief, Conviction Integrity Unit, Bronx County District Attorney's Office, NY
Valerie Newman, Director, Conviction Integrity Unit, Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, MI
Barry Scheck, Co-Founder, the Innocence Project
Shelley Thibodeau, Director, Conviction Integrity Review Unit, Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, FL
Alissa Marque Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

More information and resources here.

Wrongful Conviction Series: Deconstructing A Wrongful Conviction

Mark Denny, Exoneree
Jennifer Dysart, Associate Professor of Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Nina Morrison, Senior Litigation Counsel, the Innocence Project
Lisa Perlman, Chief of the Sealing Unit, Post Conviction Justice Bureau, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Debo Adegbile, Partner & Chair, Anti-Discrimination Practice, WilmerHale LLP

More information and resources here.

The Complexities of the Black Prosecutor

Satana Deberry, District Attorney, Durham, NC
Mark Dupree, District Attorney, Wyandotte County, KS
Monique Worrell, State's Attorney, 9th Judicial District, FL
Erika Gilliam Booker, President, National Black Prosecutors Association

Prosecuting White Supremacy: A Case Study 

Presentation by:
Nathan S. Williams,
Assistant United States Attorney,
Chief, Criminal Division
United States Attorney’s Office, District of South Carolina

Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops Documentary

Joe Smarro, Founder & CEO, SolutionPoint+
Shawanna Vaughn, Founder, Silent Cry Inc.
Jeff Coots, Director, From Punishment to Public Health Initiative

More information here.

Human Trafficking Series: Next Steps In The Anti-Trafficking Movement

Cristian Eduardo, Survivor, Leader at Sanctuary for Families, member of ECPAT-USA's Survivors' Council, and Engineer
Lauren Hersh, National Director, World Without Exploitation
Selina Higgins, Executive Director, NYC Administration for Children’s Services’ (ACS) Office of Child Trafficking Prevention & Policy (OCTPP)
Chris Stark, Writer, Organizer, & Researcher
Anita Teekah, Senior Director of the Anti-Trafficking Program, Safe Horizon
Michelle Mason, Fmr. Operations & Policy Associate, IIP
Opening and Closing Remarks by Amber Rivero, Student Council President/Researcher/Anti-Trafficking Advocate, John Jay College

More information and resources here.

Human Trafficking Series: Prosecution And Sex Trafficking: Criminalization Of Survivorship

Kim Dadou Brown, Leading Member, Coalition for Women Prisoners.
Ross Kramer
, DirectorIncarcerated Survivors of Gender Violence, Sanctuary for Families
Dr. Chitra RaghavanProfessor of Psychology, Deputy Director,The Forensic Mental Health Counseling Program
Ryan WallStaff Attorney, Exploitation Intervention Project, The Legal Aid Society
David WeissDeputy Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Michelle Mason, Fmr. Operations & Policy Associate, IIP

More information and resources here.

Human Trafficking Series: Intersectionality And Trafficking: Centering Race, Gender, & Sexuality In The Racial Justice Movement

Christina Dawkins, Social Justice Consultant & Founder, A4Abolition
Dr. Coralanne Griffith-Hunte, Psychologist & Founder, Created for Greatness Leadership Group Inc.
Dr. Kevin Nadal, Professor/Author/Psychologist/Activist, John Jay College
Amber Rivero, Student Council President/Researcher/Anti-Trafficking Advocate, John Jay College

More information and resources here.

Human Trafficking Series: The Landscape Of The Criminal Justice System And Sex Trafficking: Centering Marginalized Voices

Jamila Cha-Jua- Lee, Court Attorney Referee, NYS Unified Court System
Lt. Amy Caponga, Human Trafficking Team, NYPD Detective Bureau
Anila Duro, Adjunct Professor and Doctoral Candidate, John Jay College and Graduate Center
Tonya Stafford, Human Trafficking Survivor/Anti Trafficking Advocate & Founder, It’s Going To Be Okay
David Weiss, Deputy Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Amber Rivero, Student Council President/Researcher/Anti-Trafficking Advocate, John Jay College

More information and resources here.

Sentence Review

Hillary Blout, Founder & Executive Director, For the People
Jeff Rosen, District Attorney, Santa Clara, CA
David Singleton, Executive Director, The Ohio Justice & Policy Center
Nathaniel Williams, Founder & Executive Director, Choices for Freedom
Alissa Marque Heydari, Deputy Director, IIP

Prosecutors and Crime Survivors

Lenore Anderson, President, Alliance for Safety and Justice
Dr. LaDonna Butler,
Senior Program Manager, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice
David Guizar
, California Regional Manager, Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice
Jean Peters Baker
, County Prosecutor, Kansas City. MO
Alissa Marque Heydari
, Deputy Director, Institute for Innovation in Prosecution

Executive Session Paper on Prosecutors and Crime Survivors here.

Prosecutor-Led Diversion  

Martesha Johnson, Chief Public Defender, Nashville Defenders
Beth McCann, District Attorney, Denver, CO
Kent Mendoza, Policy Coordinator, Anti-Recidivism Coalition
Courtney Oliva, Executive Director, NYU’s Center for the Administration of Criminal Law
Michael Kahn, Fmr Interim Director, IIP

Paper on Prosecutor-Led Diversion here.

Prosecutors and Prison Conditions

Daryl Atkinson, Co-Founder, Forward Justice
Diana Becton, District Attorney, Contra Costa, CA
Jill Habig, Founder & President, The Public Rights Project
Stanley Richards, Executive Vice President, The Fortune Society
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP

Prosecutors and Innovative Responses to Violence

Sherry Boston, District Attorney, DeKalb County, GA
Wesley Caines, Chief of Staff, The Bronx Defenders
Alec Karakatsanis, Founder, Civil Rights Corps
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP
Tyler Nims, Executive Director, A More Just NYC

Executive Session paper on Prosecutors and Responses to Violence here.

The Future of Prosecution

Chesa Boudin, District Attorney, San Francisco, CA
Paul Butler, Law Professor, Georgetown Law School
Sarah George, State’s Attorney, Chittenden County, VT
Stephanie Morales, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Portsmouth, VA
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP

The LGBTQ+ Community and The Legal System 

Katie Doran, Advisor to the Manhattan District Attorney for LGBTQ Issues
Arcelia Hurtado, Managing Attorney for Training, Culture, Diversity & Inclusion, San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
Vanity Reid-Deterville, Advocate
Johnathan Terry, Fmr Special Assistant & Policy Advisor, IIP

More information and resources here.

Juneteenth Discussion: Prosecution & Racial Justice in America

James Forman Jr., Author & Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Kim Foxx, State’s Attorney, Cook County, IL
Karol Mason, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Johnny Perez, Program Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP

More information and resources here.

Coming Home to COVID: Lessons for the Future of Re-Entry from Prison

Sharon Richardson, Founder & President, Reentry Rocks
Jumaane Williams, New York City Public Advocate
Elizabeth Gaynes, President & CEO, Osborne Association
Sam Rivera, Executive Director, OnPoint
Ryan Lawes, Inside Criminal Justice
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP

More information and resources here.

Forum on Police Use of Force

Valerie Bell, Mother of Sean Bell
Jacquelyn Carter, President, Alliance for Safe Traffic Stops
Valerie Castile, Mother of Philando Castile
John Choi, County Attorney, Ramsey County, MN
Victoria Davis, Sister of Delrawn Small
Stephanie Morales, Commonwealth Attorney, Portsmouth, VA
Jonathan ParhamFormer Police Chief, Linden, NJ
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP

More information and resources here.

Restorative Justice: Imagining a New Future for Criminal Law in New York City

Shailly Agnihotri, Founder, The Restorative Center
Eli Almonte-Perez, Integral Justice Practitioner
Aisha Greene, Chief of Alternatives to Incarceration, Bronx District Attorney's Office
Vivianne Guevara, Director of Mitigation and Client Services, The Federal Defenders of New York
Jinsoo & Julia Kim, Crime Survivor Advocates
Amaury Rosario, Integral Justice Practitioner
Larry Williams, Director, Integral Justice; Founder, Justice Refined
Hillary Packer, Senior Associate, Department of Restorative Practices, Center for Court Innovation
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, Institute for Innovation in Prosecution

More information and resources here.

Domestic Violence in NYC During COVID-19

Jennifer DeCarli, Assistant Commissioner, Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender Based Violence
Jane Doe, Survivor Leader
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Brooklyn, NY
Lucy Lang, Fmr Director, IIP
Dorchen Leidholdt, Director, Sanctuary for Families

More information and resources here.