Wayne Law schedules symposium on drug policy

This year’s Wayne Law Review Symposium will bring together judges, scholars and practitioners on Friday, March 24, to discuss  “The Changing Face of the War on Drugs: Mass Incarceration, Overcriminalization, and Evolving Drug Policy.”

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Denise Page Hood, Eastern District of Michigan, will deliver the keynote address.

The symposium, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., is made possible through the support of the Cohn Family Endowed Fund.

Organizers note that recent national attention given to increased opioid addiction, pain management and the criminal legal system has incentivized the legal community to re-examine the war on drugs and other matters such as aggressive policing, prosecutorial discretion, excessive bail and all of the collateral consequences of such practices.

Blanche Cook, assistant professor at Wayne Law, will moderate a panel discussion on “Contextuality and a Historical Approach: Mass Incarceration, the War on Drugs, and Evolving Drug Policy,” at 9:30 a.m.
Panelists will include:

• Jelani Jefferson Exum, professor of law, University of Toledo College of Law.
• Toussaint Losier, assistant professor, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
• Glenn E. Martin, founder and president, JustLeadershipUSA.
• Priscilla Ocen, associate professor of law, Loyola Law School.
• Mark Osler, professor and Robert and Marion Short distinguished chair in law, University of St. Thomas School of Law.

Kristen Barnes, associate professor of law, University of Akron School of Law, will moderate a panel on “Intersectionality: An Intersectional Approach to Mass Incarceration, the War on Drugs, and Evolving Drug Policy,” at 11 a.m. Panelists will include:

• Donna Coker, professor of law, University of Miami School of Law.
• Taja-Nia Henderson, professor of law, Rutgers Law School.
• Tamara Lawson, professor of law and associate dean for faculty development, St. Thomas University School of Law.
• Teri McMurtry-Chubb, associate professor of law, Mercer University School of Law.
• Melynda J. Price, Robert E. Harding Jr. associate professor of law, University of Kentucky College of Law

Dr. Nazgol Ghandnoosh, research analyst, The Sentencing Project, will moderate a panel discussion on “Transformative Change and Intersectional Policy Solutions,” at 1:45 p.m. Panelists will include:

• Marcia Cooke, judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
• Saul Green, senior counsel, Miller Canfield.
• Rev. Vivian Nixon, executive director, College and Community Fellowship.
• Shaakirrah Sanders, associate professor of law, University of Idaho College of Law.
• Heather Thompson, professor of history, University of Michigan.

Nicole Sappingfield, symposium editor, Wayne Law Review, will provide closing remarks at 3:45 p.m. A networking reception will follow.

The symposium will take place in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium at Wayne State University Law School, 471 W. Palmer St.

The event, free and open to the public, includes a continental breakfast and lunch.

Registration is requested by Friday, March 17, at law.wayne.edu/lawreview2017.