John Jay College of Criminal Justice President Jeremy Travis Lectures on 'End to Era of Mass Incarceration,' Sept. 8
August 28, 2015
Contact: University Relations
Phone: 410.837.5739
Jeremy Travis, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a nationally recognized authority on trends in crime and punishment, the effectiveness of the justice system and advances in forensic science, will visit the University of Baltimore on Tuesday, Sept. 8 to deliver a lecture entitled "An End to the Era of Mass Incarceration? Reflections on the National Research Council Report." The event, co-sponsored by the Office of the President and the School of Criminal Justice in UB's College of Public Affairs, will take place at 2 p.m. in the Moot Court Room in the John and Frances Angelos Law Center (home of the UB School of Law), 1401 N. Charles St. It is free and open to the public.
The NRC report, of which Travis served as co-editor, offers concrete recommendations to address the current crisis facing the nation's criminal justice system. Following a brief overview of the report, Travis's presentation will innumerate ways to achieve comprehensive, meaningful and sustainable reforms in the justice system at the state and federal levels. Given the unique bipartisan efforts currently underway and the growing public realization that change is imperative, this lecture will provide the context to achieve those goals.
Travis, who currently serves as chair of the Committee on Law and Justice of the NRC, led the Council's Committee on the Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration, which produced this landmark report last fall.
Travis was appointed the fourth president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York in 2004. Prior to this position, he served four years as a Senior Fellow affiliated with the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where he created a national research program on prisoner reentry. In 2009, he was appointed by New York State Governor David A. Paterson to lead the state's Task Force on Transforming Juvenile Justice, which recommended significant changes to the state’s juvenile justice system.
From 1994 to 2000, Travis directed the National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice. Nominated by President Clinton and confirmed by the Senate, Travis established major research initiatives to assess crime trends, evaluate federal anti-crime efforts, advance forensic science, and bolster research on counter-terrorism strategies.
Travis has decades of experience in the criminal justice system, having served as Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters for the New York City Police Department (1990-94), Chief Counsel to the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice (1990), Special Advisor to New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch (1986-89), and Special Counsel to the New York City Police Commissioner (1984-86). Before joining city government, Travis served as law clerk to then-U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1982-83) and was the Marden and Marshall Fellow in Criminal Law at New York University School of Law (1983-84). He served six years at the Vera Institute of Justice, where he managed demonstration programs on bail reform and victim-witness assistance, and directed the New York City Criminal Justice Agency (1977-79). He began his career working as a legal services assistant for the Legal Aid Society.
Travis has taught courses on criminal justice, public policy, history and law at Yale College, New York University's Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York Law School, George Washington University, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is the author of But They All Come Back: Facing the Challenges of Prisoner Reentry (2005), co-editor (with Christy Visher) of Prisoner Reentry and Crime in America (2005), and co-editor (with Michelle Waul) of Prisoners Once Removed: The Impact of Incarceration and Reentry on Children, Families, and Communities (2003). He has published numerous book chapters, articles and monographs on constitutional law, criminal law and criminal justice policy.
Travis has received several awards, including the Ellis Island Medal, the American Society of Criminology's August Vollmer Award, the Gerhard O.W. Muller Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Margaret Mead Award from the International Community Corrections Association. He earned a J.D., cum laude, from the New York University School of Law, an M.P.A. from the New York University Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a B.A., cum laude, in American Studies from Yale College.
Learn more about the School of Criminal Justice and the College of Public Affairs.
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