Please join our distinguished panelists to discuss the issues raised in Professor Loury's book, Race, Incarceration, and American Values.

SEATING IS LIMITED.
To reserve a seat, please RSVP to info@americanvalues.org OR 212-246-3942
Program will begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED.

About the Panelists:

Glenn C. Loury is the Merton P. Stoltz Professor of the Social Sciences in the department of economics at Brown University. Professor Loury has contributed to a variety of areas in applied microeconomic theory: welfare economics, game theory, industrial organization, natural resource economics, and the economics of income distribution. In addition to his scholarly work, Professor Loury is also a prominent social critic and public intellectual. His over 200 essays and reviews on racial inequality and social policy have appeared in dozens of influential journals of public affairs in the U.S. and abroad. He is a frequent commentator on national radio and television, a much sought after public speaker, and an advisor on social issues to business and political leaders throughout the country.

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears (retired) is the first woman and the youngest person ever to serve on the Georgia Supreme Court. Retiring from the court in July 2009, after 24 years of distinguished service in the state's judiciary, Justice Sears reentered private practice where she currently leads the National Appellate Team at Schiff Hardin, LLP. In retaining her position on the Georgia Supreme Court, Justice Sears became the first woman to win a contested statewide election in Georgia. During her tenure on the Supreme Court, Justice Sears spearheaded innovative programs such as the Georgia Supreme Court's Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law, as well as The Access to Justice Project. Justice Sears contributes her talents to academia as well, having taught at both Emory University and The University of Georgia. Currently she serves on the Board of Trustees for Emory University, The Carter Center, the Advisory Board for the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Cornell University Council. At the Institute for American Values, Chief Justice Sears presently serves as a board member and is the William Thomas Sears Distinguished Fellow in Family Law.

About the Book:

Race, Incarceration, and American Values argues that mass incarceration is not a response to rising crime rates or a proud success of social policy, but the product of a generation-old collective decision to become a more punitive society. Glenn C. Loury connects this policy to our history of racial oppression, showing that the punitive turn in American politics and culture emerged in the post-civil rights years and has today become the main vehicle for the reproduction of racial hierarchies. The uncontroversial fact is that we have created a nether class of Americans with severely restricted rights and life chances. Our system, Professor Loury contends, should be unacceptable to Americans; his call to action makes all of us responsible for ensuring that it changes.