Brooklyn Law School to host event on mass incarceration and participatory defense

September 23, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

Brooklyn Law School, located at 250 Joralemon St., will host the event "Protect Your People: Challenging Mass Incarceration Together" on Sept. 25 as part of the Brooklyn Book Festival. Attendees can visit the school during the festival for this important discussion on participatory defense. Wikimedia photo by Ajay Suresh

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As part of the Brooklyn Book Festival’s Bookend Events, Brooklyn Law School will host an engaging discussion on Wednesday, Sept. 25, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., titled “Protect Your People: Challenging Mass Incarceration Together.”

The event, held at 250 Joralemon St., will celebrate the release of “Protect Your People: How Ordinary Families Are Using Participatory Defense to Challenge Mass Incarceration,” a new book by Raj Jayadev, a MacArthur “genius” fellow and co-founder of the participatory defense movement.

The event will feature Jayadev alongside local participatory defense leaders Heather Lewis, executive director of the Reuniting Family Bail Fund, and Justine “Taz” Moore, director of training at the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls. The panel will be moderated by Jocelyn Simonson, a professor at Brooklyn Law School and author of “Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration.”

The focus of the event will be participatory defense, a grassroots movement where families and communities collectively intervene in criminal cases to impact outcomes, challenge mass incarceration, and shift power in the criminal justice system.

Participatory defense has been a powerful tool in cases across the country, allowing ordinary people to engage with the legal process, tell their own stories, and advocate for justice in ways that have led to life-altering results for defendants.

The panel will discuss the innovative storytelling techniques and collective strategies used by these groups to challenge the criminal justice system and reduce sentences or, in some cases, prevent incarceration altogether.

Jayadev’s book highlights how families are increasingly stepping in to advocate for their loved ones and reshape how criminal defense operates at a community level. Heather Lewis and Justine Moore will share their insights as key figures in this work, bringing their perspectives as organizers who have worked directly with families impacted by the criminal justice system.

This event is hosted by Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice and offers an opportunity for those interested in criminal justice reform, community advocacy, and the role of families in challenging systemic incarceration.