And justice for all:
Creating a safe and inclusive community

7th Annual YWCA Racial Justice Summit in partnership with Seeking Tolerance And Justice Over Hate (STAJOH) October 16th and 17th, 2008 Sheraton Hotel

Workshops Include: 

Perspectives on Profiling

The Simon Wiesenthal Center presents this cutting edge training that is an interactive virtual learning experience. The virtual experience stops at numerous intervals to solicit input, emphasize learning points, ask questions, summarize knowledge, and provide a record of previous events and offer positive and negative feedback. Unique to this training is the ability to see the outcome of these choices and evaluate their consequences.

The Real Cost of Prisons on Women & Children

This workshop provides a political/economic analysis of the direct and indirect costs of incarcerating women, including: race/class/gender/locality and the war on drugs; the effect of drug laws and policies on women and children; far-reaching consequences of the incarceration of women; the demonization of women who use drugs; the impact on children and the disruption of family life; and consequences regarding welfare, housing, healthcare, foodstamps. and alternatives such as harm reduction strategies, trauma-informed, gender specific drug treatment models.

Returning Prisoner Re-entry Simulation

Madison-area Urban Ministry (MUM) shares its re-entry video, “Today’s Prisoners, Tomorrow’s Neighbors” which follows the re-entry of a formerly incarcerated young man who returns to Dane County.  The Simulation provides you with an eye opening opportunity to “walk in the shoes” of a former prisoner and to see the kinds of challenges people face when they return home from prison. With an emphasis upon the victim's story, MUM promotes the idea of Restorative Justice in which the whole community is healed.

Racial Justice Dialogues for Criminal Justice Professionals

Racial Justice Dialogues is an innovative, interactive anti-racism legal education course created by the Past Presidents Advisory Council of the Ohio State Bar Foundation. Developed for the Ohio State Bar Foundation by the YWCA of Columbus, in partnership with the Ohio Judicial College and University of Toledo's Criminal Justice Studies Department, Racial Justice Dialogues was tested in a group of 16 judges in October 2005 through a program sponsored by the Ohio Judicial College.

Keynote Presenters Include: 

Marc Mauer is the Executive Director of The Sentencing Project, a national non-profit organization engaged in research and advocacy on criminal justice policy. Mr. Mauer has written extensively and testified before Congress and other legislative bodies. His critically acclaimed book, Race to Incarcerate, was named a semifinalist for the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, and he is the co-editor of Invisible Punishment, a collection of essays that examine the social costs of incarceration. Mr. Mauer frequently lectures before a broad range of national and international audiences, appears regularly on television and radio networks, and is an adjunct faculty member at George Washington University. Mr. Mauer is the recipient of the Donald Cressey Award for contributions to criminal justice research and the Alfred Lindesmith Award for drug policy scholarship.

Amanda Petteruti is a Research and Publications Associate with the Justice Policy Institute with approximately seven years of combined experience in education and criminal justice policy. Petteruti co-authored The Vortex: The Concentrated Racial Impact of Drug Imprisonment and the Characteristics of Punitive Counties and the Justice Policy Institute’s Public Safety Policy Brief series.

Pamela Oliver will discuss local and statewide racial disparities. Oliver is a Professor of Sociology at UW Madison, and is well-known for her work on collective action and social movements. She has done a detailed analysis of racial disparities in imprisonment and arrest in Wisconsin.

Katherine Cramer-Walsh is a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and she recently published Talking about Race: Community Dialogue and the Politics of Difference. Her keynote will be followed by facilitated discussion and action planning.

Ken Streit received his JD from Northwestern University in 1974.   He was a staff attorney at Legal Action of Wisconsin working on disability issues and then came to Madison as the first attorney for Disability Rights of Wisconsin in 1977.  He began work as policy advisor to Secretary of Department of Health and Social Services in 1983 on issues of juvenile delinquency, prisons and probation, education and child welfare.  In 1990, he began with UW Law School's Remington Center clinical program which provides legal services to state prisoners while providing clinical education to law students.  He served as court-appointed co-monitor for implementing the settlement agreement on the Boscobel prison litigation.  He currently teaches legal ethics and juvenile justice administration.  He researches sentencing practices, prison outcomes, racial differences in corrections and effective non-secure community corrections programs.

Summit Fees

• One Day Attendance = $75
• Two Day Attendance = $100

Hotel Information

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Sheraton Hotel.  Please visit their website to reserve a room.

Conference Brochure

Download a copy of the Racial Justice Summit Brochure.

Agenda

October 16