CrimFest! 2019 Brings Criminal Law Scholars to Brooklyn Law School

CrimFest! 2019, a criminal law conference held July 15 and 16 at Brooklyn Law School, drew more than 130 attendees, the largest gathering since the annual conference started in 2009. The two-day open gathering allows scholars interested in criminal law, criminal procedure, and related criminal justice topics to meet and workshop papers in progress. Junior faculty and fellows are particularly encouraged to participate and take advantage of the opportunity to network with others in the field.

Founded by Dan Markel of Florida State University College of Law, who passed away in 2014, the conference is now primarily organized by Carissa Hessick of University of North Carolina School of Law. Professor Alice Ristroph worked with Hessick to coordinate this year’s event at the Law School.

The Law School’s faculty was well-represented at the event. A lunchtime plenary session, Abolition and Legal Scholarship, was moderated by Professor Jocelyn Simonson, with introductions by Dean Michael Cahill and Hessick on the first day of the gathering. In addition, 27 panels featured more than 100 presentations on topics such as crime definitions, policing, race and gender issues, constitutional criminal procedure, and criminal law theory. Professors Ristroph, Simonson, Miriam Baer, Bennett Capers, Cynthia Godsoe, and Adam Kolber all presented works in progress. Cahill, Capers, Godsoe, and Ristroph also moderated panels.

“We were thrilled to host the largest CrimFest gathering to date,” said Cahill. “CrimFest has always been a forum for thorough and candid discussion of the most vital contemporary criminal law issues and scholarship, and an opportunity for both junior and mid-career faculty from around the country to engage with each other in an informal but rigorous setting. Dan Markel was a dear friend and treasured colleague to me and many others, and we are proud to honor his memory by continuing this part of his legacy.”

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