Law Day, sponsored by the Pre-Law Institute in February, provided opportunities for our students to meet inspiring speakers and role models while learning about the intricacies of attending law school and its application process. We appreciate the participation of the following alumni as panelists for this event: Ben Agata BA/MA'08; Victoria L. Brown-Douglas, BS'84, JD; Mohammad Faridi BA'04, JD; Shauna-Kay Gooden BA/MPA'04; Luz Gonzalez BA'06; Anthony Lamberti BS'78, JD; Andre Lindsay BA'79, JD; Amy Mangione BA'04, JD; Rafael Muniz BA'05; Melinda Molina BS'98, JD; and Tom Ridges BA'95, JD. We also extend congratulations to the 2009 Law Day Alumni honoree and speaker, Larry Cunningham BS'97, JD.

                          Jerylle Kemp, Director of Alumni Relations

"What Works" for Successful Prisoner Reentry
In testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, President Jeremy Travis noted the scope of the reentry phenomenon, the connection between reentry and public safety and summarized recent research findings that demonstrate effective reentry programs. With more than 700,000 people leaving state and federal prisons each year and an estimated 13 million individuals leaving the nation's jails, "the net effect of these realities is profound," Travis said. "A majority of these individuals come from a small number of communities in urban America; these communities, already struggling with poor schools, poor health care, and weak labor markets, are now shouldering the burden of reintegrating record numbers of returning prisoners." Pointing out that the nexus between reentry and public safety is recidivism, Travis said, "Because our crime rates have fallen to historic low levels, and because the size of the reentry population has risen to historic high levels, the percentage of all arrests in a jurisdiction that can be attributed to individuals recently released from prison has grown steadily." Travis pointed out that there is an emerging body of research about the effectiveness of some reentry programs and urged committee members to fund programs of "proven effectiveness" and "rigorous research demonstration projects that will test new ideas and expand the body of knowledge to include more effective interventions." He also suggested that "Congress should encourage states to develop certification processes to ensure that all state-funded reentry programs are evidence-based." For the full text of his testimony, click here.


John Jay Takes ACJS Conference by Storm
Sixty of John Jay's faculty members, staff and students presented their research in Boston last month for the four-day annual meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). "Once again John Jay had more presenters at the ACJS conference than any other college or university in the country," said James Levine, Dean of Research. "This is yet another manifestation of our ever-expanding research agendas and our prominence in the world of criminal justice scholarship." (To meet one of John Jay's undergraduate's who presented her thesis at the conference, see the Student Highlights section below.)

Graduating senior Amanda Ingle of the John Jay's Honors Program was one of the sixty John Jay participants who attended the annual conference of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in Boston last month. Ingle was there to present her thesis, "Changing Norms: The Effect of Positive Peer Culture Programs on the Recidivism of Juvenile Delinquents." "I would not have done that if I weren't in the Honors Program," she says. Ingle was accepted into the Program as a freshman and relocated from Pennsylvania to attend. "I liked that the professors at John Jay were doing world renowned research. I was reading about them and often saw them on the news." Without any friends or family in the area when she started, Ingle says the transition to New York City was "incredibly smooth" because of the people in the Honors Program. "The faculty and staff have become like my family-away-from-home. They are my 'go to' people whenever I need guidance with academic or personal issues. I've met friends that I hope will be life-long friends. I have been extremely impressed with the mission of the Honors Program which encapsulates the larger mission of the school, which is to promote student/faculty partnerships in doing research. I don't see friends at other colleges doing the types of things that students at John Jay are doing. It's not just about classroom experience; it's also about real world experience." Professors Candace McCoy and Todd Clear served as mentors for her senior thesis.