ABA DIALOGUE ON OCT. 23 TO FOCUS ON “SCHOOL TO PRISON” PIPELINE

CHICAGO, Oct. 22, 2009 – Speakers at the American Bar Association Section of Litigation Children’s Rights Litigation Committee will tackle key problems involving the education and discipline of America’s youth, including inadequate school safety, the disproportionate impact of zero tolerance policies on students of color and the increase in juvenile incarceration at a roundtable discussion on Friday, Oct. 23.

            WHAT:              Roundtable Dialogue on Human Rights and the School to Prison Pipeline

            WHEN:             Oct. 23 from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m.

            WHERE:           Thorne Auditorium of Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago. 

            WHO:               Michael Kaufman, moderator, professor and associate dean for academic affairs at Loyola University School of Law

                                    Chandra Bhatnager, American Civil Liberties Union;

                                    Marcella Diana, National Education Association

                                    Bernardine Dohrn, director, Children and Family Justice Center, Northwestern University

                                    Family Court Judge Brian Huff, Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama

                                    Dora Olivo, member, Texas House of Representatives

                                    Adilka Pimentel, youth organizer, Make the Road New York

Participants will engage in critical thinking about the ethics and policies surrounding school pushout as they are led through a hypothetical case.  The issues to be considered include denying students an education because of disciplinary problems and positive alternatives to suspension, as well as school codes, student protection, systematic discrimination and the right to an education. 

The program is cosponsored by the Dignity in Schools Campaign as well as numerous ABA groups, law schools and organizations represented on the panel.  More information on the program can be found at www.abanet.org/litigation/committees/childrights/.

The ABA Section of Litigation, with about 70,000 members, represents trial lawyers, judges and others involved in all aspects of litigation and the dispute resolution process.  The section is dedicated to promoting justice both domestically and internationally, as well as enhancing public understanding of and respect for the legal profession. Members benefit from participating in the section’s professional communities where they can learn and network.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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Editor’s Note: Thorne Hall is located at 

For more information on the training sessions and the work of the Children’s Right Litigation Committee visit www.abanet.org/litigation/committees/childrights/.

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Contact:            Deborah Weixl

Phone:              312/988-6126

E-Mail:              weixld@staff.abanet.org

Online:              http://www.abanews.org