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Los Angeles & San Francisco District Attorneys to Speak at John Jay’s Center on Media, Crime and Justice Symposium on California’s Three Strikes Law

Los Angeles, California, April 26, 2011 --- Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley, San Francisco D.A. George Gascón, California Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, and Connie Rice of the Advancement Project are among the distinguished speakers attending a symposium on California's Three Strikes law next month sponsored by John Jay College of Criminal Justice College Center on Media, Crime and Justice.

The May 2-3 symposium, which is being held in anticipation of a possible referendum on the law in 2012, will feature discussions on the impact of California's three strikes law on public safety, the state's budget, prison overcrowding, and on minority communities; as well as how to best deal with historically high incarceration rates at a time of California's fiscal crisis.

The on-the-record event, which will bring together California journalists, legislators, policymakers, scholars and practitioners for a unique and candid exchange on the law, will take place at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles. Other speakers and panelists will include Erwin Chemerinsky, the Dean of UC Irvine School of Law, who argued the unconstitutionality of California's three strikes law before the U.S. Supreme Court; former California State Senators Tom Hayden and Gloria Romero; Ronald L. Brown, the (Chief) Public Defender of Los Angeles County; and Jeannie Woodford, the former Director of the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation.

For a complete list of speakers and an agenda for the event, entitled "The Future of California's Three Strikes Law: Reform, Repeal or the Status Quo? How Can the Media Stay Ahead of the Story?", an agenda, please visit: www.jjay.cuny.edu.cmcj

Twenty-three California journalists from print, online and broadcast outlets have been awarded fellowships to attend the conference. The unique fellowships, organized by John Jay's Center on Media, Crime and Justice (CMCJ), are aimed at encouraging and promoting top-quality journalism on criminal justice issues.

The Fellows were selected from a wide pool of California reporters with an interest in Three Strikes and related topics.

The 2011 Fellows are listed below.

The award-winners will receive stipends and travel and lodging expenses that enable them to attend the conference and related events.

Overall support for the conference and fellowships comes from The Public Welfare Foundation. Additional co-sponsors for the symposium are the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office and the San Francisco District Attorney's office. These organizations did not participate in the review or selection of the fellows.

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 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 135 nations. In teaching, scholarship and research, its faculty approaches justice as an applied art and science in service to society and as an ongoing.

The Center on Media, Crime and Justice, established at John Jay College in 2006, is the nation's only practice- and research-oriented think tank devoted to encouraging and developing high-quality reporting on criminal justice, and to promoting better-informed public debate on the complex 21st century challenges of law enforcement, public security and justice in a globalized urban society. For more information, visit http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/cmcj or www.thecrimereport.org

 

2011 Fellows (in Alphabetical Order)


  • Carlos Aviles, LA Opinion
  • Bill Boyarsky, Truthdig.org
  • Terry Collins, Maynard Institute
  • Rose Davis, Indian Voices
  • John Diaz, San Francisco Chronicle
  • Celeste Fremon, WitnessLA.com
  • Andy Furillo, Sacramento Bee
  • Ryan Gabrielson, California Watch
  • Erick Galindo, Pasadena Star-News
  • Tracey Kaplan, San Jose Mercury News
  • Mina Kim, KQED-FM San Francisco
  • Marisa Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle
  • C.J. Lin, Los Angeles Daily News
  • Tracy Manzer, Long Beach Press Telegram
  • Alan Minsky, KPFK-FM, Los Angeles
  • Judy Muller, Town Hall Journal, KPCC-FM
  • Julia Reynolds, Monterey County Herald
  • Paul Rosynsky, Oakland Tribune
  • Scott Shafer, The California Report, KQED-FM
  • Mary Slosson, NeonTommy.Com
  • Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee
  • Frank Stoltze, KPCC-FM, Los Angeles
  • Chris Vogel, LA Weekly