Videos

The World Affairs Council of Philadelphia hosted a panel discussion at the Eastern State Penitentiary about mass incarcerations and reforming the criminal justice system. The penitentiary was…

Professor Paul Butler talked Chokehold: Policing Black Men, his book on the American criminal justice system and its impact on African-American men.

Professor Paul Butler, a former Department of Justice federal prosecutor, talked about the FBI’s probe of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s emails during her tenure as…

Shaka Senghor talked about his book Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death and Redemption in an American Prison, in which he discusses his 19 years in prison and his life since his release. He was…

Paul Butler talked about the police-involved shooting deaths that week of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota. He responded to telephone…

A day-long conference was held examining historical and current perspectives of surveillance of the black community.  Presentations and panel discussions were held: “Predictive Policing - and Sentencing,” with Andrew Ferguson, Kristi Lane Scott,…

A day-long conference was held examining historical and current perspectives of surveillance of the black community.  Presentations were held: “Stop and Frisk: Surveillance on the Street” by Kristin Henning; “The Promise and…

A day-long conference was held examining historical and current perspectives of surveillance of black communities. Speakers included Pulitzer Prize-winner David Levering-Lewis talking about the history of surveillance of African Americans for signs of subversion from slavery to…

A day-long conference was held on government surveillance of black communities and its effects on black Americans. Freddy Martinez presented “Stingrays: A Primer” about wiretapping technology. In “Martin…

April Ryan moderated a discussion on race in the media, politics, and American culture. Panelists talked about the rise in race-related incidents, their origins and possible solutions. She was…

Professor Paul Butler talked about President Obama’s proposed reforms to the criminal justice system.

Paul Butler, Eleanor Clift, and Armstrong Williams talked about the status of race relations in the United States in the wake of the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in…

Professor Paul Butler talked about his book, “Let’s Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice.” He talked about his life as a federal prosecutor and his decision to leave the job after being…

Paul Butler talked about his book, Let’s Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice, in which he details how ordinary citizens interact with the justice system, and examines the system’s overall…

Authors discussed their books about the changes in views of citizenship, equality, and democracy in the era of Barack Obama’s election to president. They responded to questions from members of the audience. The…

Two legal experts talked about race and the justice system. Paul Butler argued that the criminal justice system is inherently flawed and punishes African-Americans and Latinos…

Participants focused on the disparity in crack cocaine sentences to powder cocaine sentences, and ways to change the 100 to 1 ratio. Panelists examined some of the consequences of the crack…

Paul Butler talked about his book Let’s Get Free: A Hip Hop Theory of Justice (New Press; May 12, 2009). In his book he argues that the American criminal justice system is fundamentally broken…

Paul Butler talked about federal drug sentencing guidelines. He discussed two cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during the past week, Kimbrough v. US and Gall v. U.S., that pertain to…

On Constitution Day, Professor Butler talked about the history of the Due Process clause and the rights of U.S. citizens guaranteed under the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment…