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By Guest Columnist Alan Flurry
ATHENS - The University of Georgia Griffin Campus continues a commitment to providing a forum for the discussion of timely and critical issues in criminal justice with its 2nd annual CJ Day @ UGA on Friday, November 14, 2014, from 8 am to 1 pm at the UGA Griffin Campus Student Learning Center. The mini-conference features presenters from all areas of law enforcement, including a keynote address by the Hon. Judge Steven Teske on Georgia’s new criminal justice reform initiatives, their history and their promise, with an emphasis on juvenile justice. Registration is free but seating is limited. The full list of speakers and registration information are available at www.ugacjday.com.
The theme of this year’s conference, After Mass Incarceration: Charting a Path to the Future, provides an opportunity for professionals from varied areas of criminal justice -- law enforcement, law and the courts, corrections, and the faith community -- to convene and discuss these reforms and their impact on our communities and to suggest alternatives to incarceration.
“State budgets are straining and recidivism rates have been virtually unaffected after decades of prison population growth, as the national conversation about crime and punishment has shifted,” said Elizabeth Watts Warren, a lecturer in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Department of Sociology on the UGA-Griffin campus. “Georgia has been at the forefront of that conversation, enacting sweeping criminal justice reforms in 2012 that appear to be paying off as Georgia’s prison population has declined each year since the reforms were implemented.”
Additional presentations explore new directions in prosecutions (especially drug offenses), evidence-based strategies to reduce recidivism, innovative practices for strengthening inmates’ parental ties, and the toll of human trafficking on communities, as well as forensics and the need for broadly trained criminal justice professionals. Students, faculty, criminal justice professionals, community members, and civic leaders alike will find something valuable in all of these presentations. Please join in the conversation with us.
On UGA's Griffin campus, the interdisciplinary studies bachelor's degree with concentrations in sociology or psychology prepares graduates for a range of careers, including many fields within criminal justice. Thus, this conference will also be an opportunity for attendees interested in pursuing a career in criminal justice to become acquainted with what UGA-Griffin Campus has to offer.
"This is a great opportunity for people—from those already working in criminal justice fields to prospective students—to come to our campus to learn about issues affecting their communities and about careers that have a meaningful impact on the lives of others," said Faye Chatman, program coordinator for the Franklin College at UGA-Griffin.