Under Siege: Marginalized Communities and the Criminal Justice System

Marginalized, disproportionately low-income communities, including communities of color, sexual minorities and transgender people, have a fraught relationship with the criminal justice system. Overcriminalization and overincarceration, the inevitable consequences of our current criminal justice policies, rob marginalized communities of financial and human capital, and exacerbate these communities’ lack of political and economic power. Over- and under-policing (in which police aggressively police communities for minor crimes while failing to prevent or investigate major, violent crimes) fail to adequately address threats of violence, both at the hands of criminals and the police. What measures best empower these communities to achieve the political and economic influence to ensure self-determination and prevent continued mistreatment by the criminal justice system?

Speakers

Kanya Bennett, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office (moderator)
Paul Butler, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Lauren-Brooke Eisen, Senior Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice
William Otis, Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
Remington Gregg, Legislative Counsel, Human Rights Campaign