John Jay College Of Criminal Justice | The City University of New York

   

Friday, October 15, 2010, New York, NY – Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman today announced the establishment of the New York State Permanent Sentencing Commission and named Professor Martin F. Horn as the commission’s executive director. The Commission will be located at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, where it will draw upon the College’s expertise and resources.

The newly created commission is charged with conducting a comprehensive and ongoing evaluation of sentencing laws and practices and recommending reforms to improve the quality and effectiveness of statewide sentencing policy.

“I would like to thank Chief Judge Lippman for selecting Professor Horn as executive director of the Commission and choosing John Jay as its home. This honor recognizes the expertise of John Jay’s faculty and reaffirms the College’s leadership position in criminal justice matters,” said Jeremy Travis, President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The commission will be led by co-chairs Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., New York County District Attorney, and Judge Barry Kamins, the administrative judge of State Supreme Court, Kings County, Criminal Term. The Commission will include representatives from throughout the criminal justice community, including criminal defense attorneys, judges, legislators, policymakers, academics, victim advocates and other stakeholders.

“I am honored to serve DA Vance and Judge Kamins in this important effort. New York’s sentencing scheme is a patchwork of provisions added over time with serious consequences for defendants, victims, and the community. The privilege of time afforded by Chief Judge Lippman’s creation of a permanent commission is an opportunity to preserve New York’s success in making our communities safer and improve the quality of justice at the same time,” said Professor Horn.

Horn joined the John Jay faculty in the fall of 2009 as Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Law & Police Science. He served as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction and Department of Probation from 2003 to 2009. As a result of his leadership, the City dramatically changed the way the family court system responds to juvenile delinquents, replacing destructive institutionalization with community based supervision demonstrated to obtain better outcomes

Prior to his appointment as Commissioner of the Department of Correction and the Department of Probation, he served as a member of Governor Tom Ridge’s Senior Staff as Secretary of Administration for the State of Pennsylvania. From March 1995 until January 2000, he served as Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Corrections. Horn earlier served as executive director and chief operating officer for the New York State Division of Parole, was assistant commissioner of corrections for New York State and Superintendent of Hudson Correctional Facility, and was an assistant professor of criminal justice at State University College in Utica, New York from 1975 to 1977. He began his career as a New York State Parole Officer in 1969.

Horn earned a bachelor's degree in government from Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1969, and a master's degree in criminal justice from John Jay College, City University of New York, in 1974. Horn is Co-Chair of the Correction Committee of the American Bar Association and the 2005 recipient of the Michael Francke Award from the Association of State Correctional Administrators.

About John Jay College of Criminal Justice: An international leader in educating for justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York offers a rich liberal arts and professional studies curriculum to upwards of 15,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, the College approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing conversation about fundamental human desires for fairness, equality and the rule of law. For more information, visit www.jjay.cuny.edu.