High Crimes: Punishing America's Drug Offenders

WHEN: November 7, 2008, 8 am - 2 pm
WHERE: New England Law, Cherry Room, 154 Stuart Street, Boston, Mass.

The New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement presents its Fall symposium, "High Crimes: Punishing America's Drug Offenders," on Friday, November 7 at 9 am. (Breakfast will be served beginning at 8:00 a.m.) This year's symposium is timely, given recent Supreme Court decisions, the presidential election, and the new congressional session.

Since the 1970s, the societal impacts of drug use have increasingly captured the attention of the public. Congress and state legislatures have enacted a multitude of laws to combat and punish our nation's drug offenders. The symposium aims to facilitate a dialogue on the legal landscape facing drug offenders and on the pressures the government encounters when dealing with drug offenses.

The first panel will discuss the use of drug courts as an alternative to traditional forms of narcotics jurisprudence, including their history, policy, and ramifications on crime and the community. Participants on this panel include the following:

• The Honorable Kevin S. Burke, Hennepin District Court Judge, Minnesota
• Jay Clark, Co-chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Task Force on Problem-Solving Courts
• The Honorable Diana L. Maldonado, Chelsea District Court Judge, Massachusetts
• Gerald P. Stewart, Assistant District Attorney, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
• The Honorable Leo T. Sorokin, United States Magistrate Judge, District of Massachusetts

The second panel will explore the traditional forms of punishing drug offenders, specifically mandatory minimum sentencing and its attendant controversies and policy justifications. The panelists include:

• Professor Douglas A. Berman, William B. Saxbe Designated Professor of Law, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University
• Mary Price, Vice-President and General Counsel of Families Against Mandatory Minimums
• Heidi Brieger, Chief of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Unit, United States Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
• David W. White, Jr., Past President, Massachusetts Bar Association

The panels will be followed by a discussion period. The symposium is open to the public.

RSVP by email or phone: (617) 422-7238. For more information, please contact Adonia Simpson.