Jersey Justice: Expert Panel to Discuss Criminal Justice Reform

The Honorable James E. McGreevey, former Governor of New Jersey; The Honorable Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey; and The Honorable Madeline Cox Arleo, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey will confront the challenges of criminal justice reform at a free public forum at Montclair State’s Conference Center on Thursday, December 4, at 7:30 p.m.  

Drawing on their own first-hand knowledge of the complex issues challenging New Jersey’s criminal justice system, the panel of distinguished experts will offer common sense solutions for reform. Professor Jessica Henry, chair of the Montclair State Department of Justice Studies will moderate the discussion and invite questions from the audience.

According to Henry, each panelist will bring their own vision and experiences to the table. “Judge Cox Arleo will talk about her time on the bench overseeing a novel reentry court, designed to help people who have recently left prison, while Governor McGreevey will discuss his new reentry venture in Jersey City, and U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman will be talking about the ‘Smart of Crime’ initiatives.”

The Montclair State Department of Justice Studies, whose faculty and students study concepts and theories of justice, and the School of Communication and Media have collaborated on the forum. “At the School of Communication and Media we have a wide variety of interests including presenting quality public affairs programming for the University and our larger community. The state of the New Jersey justice system is just such an issue,” says School of Communication and Media Director Merrill Brown.  

“We are able to create an important streaming broadcast of the event, involve the larger public across the state through social media, and hopefully help spur debate through education about a critical topic,” notes Brown. The event can be accessed at montclair.edu/webcast and on Twitter at #NJJUSTICE.

“Our collaboration with Professor Henry, her groundbreaking scholarship and the Justice Studies program is particularly exciting,” says Brown. “We are very happy to have joined with her group in putting the December 4 program together.”

Presented by The Montclair State University Department of Justice Studies, the Montclair State University School of Communication and Media and with the generous support of James Leitner and Charles Rosen, the panel discussion is free and open to the public. Those wishing to attend may register at http://bit.ly/MSUpanel.