Panel Discussion - Decarcerate Brooklyn: What Closing Rikers Means for Our Borough

Reception to Follow

RSVP Online

About the Discussion
Please join us for a discussion with elected officials, reform advocates, and Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice about what closing Rikers Island means for Brooklyn. Following an advocate-driven campaign to #CLOSERikers and a report recommending closure from the independent Lippmann Commission, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that the city intends to close the Rikers Island Jail Complex. How will this action affect criminal justice and public safety in Brooklyn? Will closing Rikers require building a new jail, renovating an existing one, or something else? How can Brooklyn focus on healing and rebuilding communities impacted by mass incarceration? Please join us to discuss these and other issues affecting our borough.

Speakers
Jill Harris, Policy and Strategy Counsel, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Rogelio Headley, Community Leader, VOCAL-NY
Stephen Levin, New York City Council Member, 33rd District, Brooklyn
Tina Luongo '02, Attorney-in-Charge of Criminal Practice, the Legal Aid Society
Darren Mack, JustLeadership USA Member and #CLOSErikers campaign leader

Moderator:
Jocelyn Simonson, Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School

Sponsored by the Center for Criminal Justice
The Center for Criminal Justice was launched by Brooklyn Law School in 2016 as a dynamic center that builds on the existing strengths of the school’s nationally recognized criminal law faculty and places the Law School at the center of critical conversations, education, and sharing of expertise on the most vital issues and topics in criminal justice law and policy today.