May 19, 2021 | 6:00 – 7:00 PM

Northeastern University’s Criminal Justice Task Force’s panel series, Confronting Racial Injustice. For more information, visit here.

In the 1980s, Massachusetts embraced The War on Drugs, enacting harsh mandatory-minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. It took decades to confront the reality that, in addition to being ineffective and costly, mandatory minimums resulted in the pervasive and disproportionate incarceration of Black and brown people.  Panelists discussed this troubling history, recent reforms and the prospects for implementing drug policies that are effective, fair and just.

Moderator: Hon. Sydney Hanlon, Massachusetts Appeals Court

Speaker: Sen. William N. Brownsberger, Second Suffolk & Middlesex District; Abrigal Forrester, Executive Director, Center for Teen Empowerment; Rahsaan D. Hall, Director of the Racial Justice Program, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts; Deborah A. Ramirez, Professor, Northeastern University School of Law