Marquette University Law School’s Public Service Conference to highlight community justice in Wisconsin

Join top policymakers, academics and community representatives as they explore the future of community justice and its implications for Wisconsin at “The Future of Community Justice in Wisconsin,” presented by Marquette University Law School Friday, Feb. 20, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Alumni Memorial Union, 1442 W. Wisconsin Avenue.

In the past two years, policymakers and community leaders in Wisconsin have devoted attention to a range of important challenges facing the state’s criminal justice system, including race-based disparities, budgetary pressures, an increase in the state's prison population, the dearth of treatment options, and the desire to engage affected communities in crime-prevention initiatives. The conference will bring together criminal justice experts to explore the role of community justice councils in engaging communities, developing effective intervention strategies, promoting cooperation across jurisdictional lines, facilitating creative problem-solving, and reducing race-based disparities in the treatment of similar cases.

The conference will feature a keynote address entitled, “Building Communities with Justice,” delivered by one of the nation’s leading criminal justice experts: Jeremy Travis, president of The City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Travis is the author of “But They All Came Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry.” Before his appointment at John Jay College, Travis served as a senior fellow at the Justice Policy Center of the Urban Institute, where he focused on prisoner reentry into society, crime in a community context, sentencing policies and international crime. From 1994 to 2000, Travis directed the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Department of Justice.

The conference’s morning session will feature expert panels discussing the challenges facing the state’s criminal justice system. Breakout sessions on specific topics will take place during the afternoon session. A complete schedule of the day’s events can be found online.