American University Law Review Hosts Symposium, "The Impact of Race on Youth [In]Justice"
On Friday, February 4, 2022, the American University Law Review hosted its annual symposium titled “The Impact of Race on Youth [in]Justice.” Each year the Law Review dedicates its annual symposium to exploring a burgeoning area in the legal field, and several events in recent history have brought to the forefront the issue of race and racism in the legal profession. Almost every sector of the law has and continues to confront racism, but children are uniquely disadvantaged as dependents. Friday’s symposium sought to explore those questions and shed light on how racism has infiltrated the legal rights of children.
The first panel of the day featured D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine along with Professor Kristin Henning of Georgetown University Law Center and Professor Kim Taylor-Thompson of New York University School of Law. This conversation, titled “Effective Transformations in the Juvenile Legal System,” was moderated by WCL Professor Binny Miller. These experts spoke on critical issues including policing in schools, charging children as adults, and the importance of restorative justice. Significantly, AG Racine spoke about how his office is the only prosecutor’s office in the country that houses a restorative justice program, a program he strongly believes could benefit all young people, regardless of the alleged crime.
Donnell Drinks, the Leadership Development and Engagement Coordinator at the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, gave the symposium's keynote address. Donnell was arrested at seventeen and was subsequently sentenced to the death penalty, which was later reduced to a life sentence. He spent over 27 years in prison and was released in July 2018. Since his release, Donnell has employed the skills he gained while incarcerated in his Philadelphia community and has taken on roles such as a mentor, anti-violence advocate, and re-entry specialist. Donnell’s remarks were incredibly powerful and moved the audience.
The third panel addressed Special Immigrant Juvenile Status applications in the United States and the adverse effect and implication that such a backlog has on impacted youth. This panel featured several experts, including Dalia Castillo Granados of the Children’s Immigration Law Academy, Randi Mandelbaum of Rutgers Law, Adrian Alvarez of St. John’s University School of Law, and Teresa Lee of Kids in Need of Defense, and was moderated by WCL Professor Jayesh Rathod.
The final panel of the day featured critical conversations about the family regulation system and the tensions between power, control, and freedom that are inherent without that system. This panel featured Jane Spinak of Columbia Law School, Kara Finck of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Jessica Dixon Weaver of SMU Dedman School of Law, and Nancy Polikoff of WCL, and was moderated by WCL Professor Ann Shalleck.