Columbia, S.C. –Justice 360 is hosting a Virtual Summit on Race and Justice in South Carolina, taking place over Zoom, from October 12-15, 2020. The Summit is free to everyone and is designed as an informative and educational look into the criminal justice system, its systemic flaws, and pathways for moving forward.
“Even in the midst of COVID-19 where in-person gatherings are not possible, we felt we had a responsibility to continue the conversation about racial bias within the criminal justice system and raise awareness about our work in this unprecedented time.” She added, “In the wake of George Floyd’s murder we’ve seen this movement—a call to fundamentally change the structures of our criminal justice system- coming to the forefront of conversation. This movement and the momentum building around it are incredibly important to us and the work we do,” said Lindsey Vann, Executive Director, Justice 360.
The Virtual Summit will bring together many minds both inside and outside of South Carolina to bring awareness to the issues that Justice 360 sees in the work they do. The opening speaker is South Carolina’s Issac Bailey, author of the critically acclaimed book “My Brother Moochie”, which discusses the effect of the criminal justice system on black families. The Summit will close on Thursday, Oct. 15 with remarks will Henderson Hill, Senior Counsel at the ACLU, who is currently representing North Carolina death-row prisoners in the Racial Justice Act litigation challenging their death sentences as resulting from racial discrimination.
Other sessions speakers include minds from the Cornell Law School Death Penalty Project, Every Black Girl, M.O.R.E. Justice, JustLeadershipUSA, ACLU SC, Nelson Mullins, Root & Rebound, and other criminal defense attorneys, law makers, advocates, educators, and professionals who are working for racial justice in South Carolina.
“Racial disparities are pervasive and much of our work focuses on identifying and addressing these disparities in our clients’ individual cases and the system as a whole,” said Vann. “Without facing racial inequities, we cannot have a fair and just system.”
The FREE virtual event will feature topics including: The Death Penalty and the Legacy of Lynching and Racial Disparity in South Carolina, Juvenile Sentencing—the school to prison pipeline and death-in-prison sentencing for children, Criminal Justice Reform in South Carolina, and How to Advocate for Real Change. The event will culminate in a panel discussion on criminal justice, including the topics of policing, indigent criminal defense, and reentry.
The goal of the event is to provide useful information on the impact of racial bias in the criminal justice system, start a conversation on next steps to create a more just and fair system, and raise awareness about capital punishment and juvenile sentencing in South Carolina.
Registration is FREE and available to anyone interested in attending. More information, registration, and a detailed schedule visit Justice360sc.org.
###
Justice 360 is a 501(c)(3) South Carolina non-profit organization working to reform policies and practices in capital and juvenile life without parole proceedings. For more information visit Justice360sc.org
