BU Law Review publishes symposium on misdemeanors
In May 2018 the Boston University Law Review published a symposium titled “Misdemeanor Machinery: The Hidden Heart of the American Criminal Justice System.” Links to the articles, which were presented at a conference held in November 2017, are below. The conference also benefited from presentations by a number of distinguished academics, judges, and policy-makers, including Alexandra Natapoff, Issa Kohler-Hausmann, Jeffrey Fagan and retired Judge Shira Scheindlin. The full list of speakers is available here.
A recurring theme throughout the conference was how misdemeanors impose significant collateral consequences, including in ways that are deeply disproportionate. The articles offer valuable insight into how prosecutors, public defenders, lawmakers and judges ought to consider collateral consequences of misdemeanor arrests and convictions. The entire symposium issue is well worth a read.