Media Advisory: June 6, 2016, Criminal Justice Reform Conference

BOISE – Registration for the June 6, 2016, Criminal Justice Reform conference at Concordia University School of Law is nearly full.  Top criminal justice scholars, major Idaho practitioners and policy makers and Idaho judges will convene to address reforms targeting some of the most pressing problems in our criminal justice system.  Many participants in the conference will be available for interviews, and some may be available upon request in advance of the conference.  Speakers and presenters will be:

1. Raul Labrador, Idaho’s First District Congressman, an attorney, and, in the U.S. House of Representatives, a co-author of the bipartisan Sentencing Reform Act of 2015.

2. Jonathan Wroblewski, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice and former U.S. Department of Justice representative to the United States Sentencing Commission.Mr. Wroblewski is an expert in federal sentencing guidelines, the processes used to amend them and the impact on the federal criminal justice system on recent changes to federal drug sentencing guidelines.

3. B. Lynn Winmill, Chief U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Idaho since 1999.

4. Candy W. Dale, U.S. Magistrate Judge, District of Idaho, co-founder and one of the presiding judges for Idaho’s federal re-entry court, START Court.

5. Timothy Hansen, District Court Judge, Fourth Judicial District, Ada County, Idaho, presiding Judge over Ada County’s Veterans Court.

6. Kevin Kempf, Director, Idaho Department of Correction.

7. Gabriel “Jack” Chin, Martin Luther King, Jr., Professor of Law, University of California, Davis School of Law. Professor Chin is one of the nation’s most respected experts on criminal justice and race and the law. The U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged his article on collateral consequences of criminal convictions as “the principal scholarly article on the subject.”

8. E. Lea Johnston, Professor, University of Florida Levin College of Law, Assistant Director, Criminal Justice Center. Professor Johnston is one of the nation’s leading experts on mental health and criminal law. Her work examines, among other things, the theoretical underpinnings of mental health courts, and the proper sentencing standards for offenders with significant mental disorders.

9. J.J. Prescott, Professor, University of Michigan Law School, co-director, Empirical Legal Studies Center.Professor Prescott and his partners are developing and implementing web-based case resolution technologies designed to allow judges and litigants to resolve issues and cases more accurately and conveniently.

10. Alex Kreit, Associate Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Professor Kreit is a nationally recognized expert on controlled substances law, in particular the regulation and legalization of marijuana.

11. Kari Hong, Assistant Professor, Boston College Law School. Professor Hong is an expert in immigration law, criminal law, and family law. Her scholarship analyzes how criminal convictions can lead to deportation and the intersection between family law and immigration law.

12. Andrew Chongseh Kim, Assistant Professor, Concordia University School of Law. Professor Kim studies federal sentencing patterns revealing, inter alia, significant disparities in sentences defendants receive based on race, gender, and whether the defendant pleads guilty.

13. Samuel R. Rubin, Executive Director, Federal Defender Services of Idaho.

14. Wendy J. Olson, U.S. Attorney, District of Idaho.

15. Jeffrey Thomason, Chief U.S. Probation Officer, District of Idaho.

16. Tom Hiller, Perkins Coie law firm, Seattle, and former Federal Defender, Western District of Washington.

17. Maria E. Andrade, Andrade Legal, Boise attorney specializing in immigration law.

18. Amy Baron-Evans, Federal Public and Community Defenders.

19. Melissa Winberg, Federal Defender Services of Idaho.

20. Scott Bandy, Ada County deputy prosecuting attorney.

21. Alan Trimming, Ada County public defender’s office.

Media members wishing to interview speakers should contact Becky Early at the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the contact information above.  Some media availability will depend on individual speaker schedule.

The conference sessions will address sentencing reform, collateral consequences of criminal convictions and alternative courts.  Attendees at the conference will be members of the legal and law enforcement communities, as well as policy makers and students.

The Conference on Criminal Justice Reform is hosted by Concordia University School of Law, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho, and the Federal Defender Services of Idaho.  The Conference is sponsored by Bublitz Law, P.C., the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and Concordia University School of Law.  For additional information, contact Anne Comstock, Concordia University School of Law, 208-639-5402.