Maryland Law: Part Two of "Rethinking Crime and Punishment in America" Series scheduled for March 8

Part Two of "Rethinking Crime and Punishment in America: Report from the ABA Justice Kennedy Commission" on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy challenged the American Bar Association to study the criminal justice system and to "help start a new public discussion about the prison system." Justice Kennedy concluded that "[o]ur resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too long."

Prisoner Re-entry is the topic for the second panel discussion in this series. Participants will examine the importance of rehabilitation as a punishment goal, of collateral consequences of convictions, and of preparing prisoners for release, which increases the likelihood of successful community reentry and decreases the chance of re-incarceration. Invited to attend are:

Steven Saltzburg
Chair for the Kennedy Commission and Professor of Law, George Washington School of Law

Tomi Hiers
Executive Assistant to the Deputy Secretary for Operations, Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correction Services

Mike Thompson
Director, Criminal Justice Program for the Council on State Governments

Rada Moss
Director for The Maryland Re-Entry Partnership.

Closing remarks will be given by Michael Pinard, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Maryland School of Law.

The forum will be moderated by the Honorable Andre Davis, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and will take place in the Ceremonial Moot Court Room at the University of Maryland School of Law, 500 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

This Forum is part of a three panel series entitled "Rethinking Crime and Punishment in America: Report from the ABA Justice Kennedy Commission" that presents the findings of the ABA's Kennedy Commission, a year long, comprehensive examination of the US criminal justice system. It is sponsored by The Open Society Institute Baltimore, University of Maryland School of Law, American Bar Association and the Maryland State Bar Association.

Please RSVP to Justin Schaberg at OSI-Baltimore at 410-234-1092 ext. 213 or at [email protected] by March 6, 2006.