This is an Alaska Bar Association CLE for attorneys in Alaska.
Agenda/ Description
The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), a pivotal law passes unanimously by Congress in 2003 to address and prevent sexual violence in correctional facilities. This CLE session will cover the federal standards established under PREA, as well as how to use PREA to reduce sexual violence in Alaska's jails and prisons, while holding correctional systems accountable for failing to comply with PREA.
Presenters
Julie Abbate, National Advocacy Director, Just Detention International. Julie Abbate is JDI’s National Advocacy Director, based in its Washington, D.C. office. She leads JDI’s federal and state policy work, advocating for government action to address sexual abuse behind bars. Julie has spent most of her 25-year legal career fighting for prisoners’ rights. She comes to JDI after 15 years at the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where she focused on combating sexual abuse in women’s prisons. Julie was also a member of the Attorney General’s PREA Working Group, which drafted the national Prison Rape Elimination Act standards. She is a certified PREA auditor.
Jacqueline Shepherd, Prison Project Intake Attorney, ACLU of Alaska. Jacqueline F. Shepherd is a lifelong Alaskan and lifelong supporter of the ACLU. She is a 2004 graduate of Antioch College with double majors in Literature and Education (and she was two credits shy of minoring in ceramics). After graduating, she returned to Alaska to raise children, work in politics and open and run a small business. In 2013 she packed up her five kids and moved to southern California to attend UC Irvine School of Law. After graduating from law school, she primarily worked for the Alaska Court System, honing her research skills and learning the ins and outs of the criminal justice system from the court's perspective. She was excited to bring her knowledge and experience to the ACLU's Prison Project, as she sees prison reform as the most important issue facing America today. She believes our criminal justice system and prison system are a shameful reflection of a country founded on racism and socio-economic oppression and sees prison as one of the largest enemies of the American child and family. When she is not being the downer at parties that rattles off prison statistics, she is dipnetting, eating with her now-grown children, or traveling to see friends.
This CLE is free of cost.
