Responding to Systemic Racism in Policing.

Monday, July 27, 2020 from 4:00 PM – 5:00

Following George Floyd’s murder at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, the eyes of the world are on Minnesota. Will Minnesota rise to the occasion? How do we fix systemic racism in policing? Today, the DFL Lawyers are announcing a four-part series on race and police reform to help us gain the knowledge we need to try to answer these questions.

We will open our series on July 27, 2020 at 4:00 pm CDT. Guided by Professors Michele Goodwin and Mary Ponomarenko, and Representative Jamie Becker-Finn, we will lay the critical groundwork for the series. We will discuss the history of race and policing. We will introduce the terminology, the issues, the theory, and the various competing policy perspectives. What reforms have been attempted previously – which have been successful, which have failed, and why? From the police and criminal justice reform measures proposed at the Minnesota legislature by the People of Color and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus, to the movement in Minneapolis to “abolish” the police, what are the current proposed solutions, and why?

We will continue the series in the coming months with panels focused on (2) Reforming Policing Culture, Policies, and Practices; (3) Judicial responses to Racism in Policing, and (4) Alternatives to Policing. If you have specific topics you would like to see addressed, or if you know someone who you believe would be a good fit for one of our panels, please let us know.

Our Panelists:

Michele Goodwin is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine with appointments at the School of Law; Program in Public Health; Department of Criminology, Law, & Society; Department of Gender and Sexuality Studies; and Center for Psychology and Law Her podcast, “On the Issues with Michele Goodwin,” is available at msmagazine.com, including the inaugural episode, “Policing in America: A tale of Race, Sex and Violence.” Previously, Professor Goodwin was the Everett Fraser Professor at the University of Minnesota, with appointments in the Law School, Medical School, and School of Public.
Health.

Maria Ponomarenko is an Associate Professor of Law at University of Minnesota Law School. Professor Ponomarenko teaches and writes in the areas administrative law, constitutional law, and criminal procedure. Professor Ponomarenko is co-founder and counsel at the Policing Project, a non-profit based at the NYU School of Law that works in tandem with policing agencies and community groups to promote more effective police governance. She also is an Associate Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Principles of the Law: Policing project.

Jamie Becker-Finn Represents District 42B in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Representative Becker-Finn is a member of the Legislature’s People of Color and Indigenous (POCI), which in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder has proposed a series of police & criminal justice reform measures, see https://www.dfl.org/dfl-party-police-criminal-justice-reform-plan/

Our panel will be moderated by civil rights and employment attorney Abou Amara, Jr., Teske Katz Kitzer & Rochel, and Jamie Long, who represents District 61B in the Minnesota House of Representatives and serves as a committee member of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division.

Please join us for this critical discussion on race and police reform. Instructions for viewing this online event will be sent by email after you register.
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