Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America

Join us for an evening to discuss the themes raised in Yale legal scholar and former public defender James Forman Jr.’s new book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Professor Forman is visiting at Stanford Law School this academic year.

Drawing on his experience as a public defender and focusing on Washington, DC, Forman writes about individuals trapped in terrible dilemmas – from the young men and women he defended to officials struggling to cope with an impossible situation. The result is an original view of our justice system that includes a discussion of the role African-American leaders played in the legal changes that led to higher incarceration rates and a call to move beyond the non-violent drug offender statistical myth.

The evening will include an engaged and robust debate on the role the black community played in escalating the war on crime, and a discussion of recent efforts to address mass incarceration and reform aggressive police tactics.

Click here to order James Forman Jr.'s new book Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Books will also be available for purchase on site.

Can't make it in person? Follow Stanford Law School on Facebook to watch the event on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/StanfordLawSchool/