SF Public Defender's Justice Summit: Race & Reform

Law enforcement leaders, advocates for equal justice and reform, and police brutality victims will come together for a frank and provocative discussion at the Public Defender’s 2015 Justice Summit on April 29 at San Francisco Main Library.

The summit, RACE & REFORM, will be held in the library’s Koret Auditorium from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The event is free, but seating is limited. All attendees must register at sfjusticesummit.com.

The Justice Summit is the premier criminal justice conference on the West Coast. It comes on the heels of accusations involving police officers sending bigoted text messages and sheriff’s deputies forcing jail inmates to fight. The summit is being held amid new revelations that nearly half of San Francisco arrests are of African Americans, who comprise only 6 percent of the city.

“The Justice Summit will give citizens a chance to go beyond the scandals and toward solutions as we discuss implicit bias, racial disparities, and how to fulfill the promise of justice for all,” said San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who has hosted the summit for more than a decade.

Michael Roosevelt, an expert in implicit/unconscious bias who has trained thousands of attorneys, judges and police officers, will give the keynote address.

Panel I, The Human Cost of Casual Bias, will include several victims of police abuse as well as Roosevelt and De’Anthony Jones, youth advocate. The panel will be moderated by San Francisco State University Journalism Professor Yumi Wilson.

Panel II, Accountability and Change, will focus on solutions to the racial disparities in the criminal justice system, changing the culture of law enforcement, and the importance of keeping statistics. Panelists include San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi; San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón; San Francisco Police Sgt. Yulanda Williams of Officers for Justice; and Federal Public Defender Galia Phillips.

The San Francisco Public Defender’s Justice Summit is co-sponsored by the Bar Association of San Francisco. BASF Executive Director Yolanda Jackson will provide opening remarks at the event. Attorneys attending the event will earn 2.5 MCLE credits.

To register to attend this free event and for information on additional speakers, please go to sfjusticesummit.com