On Thursday, January 21, 2010, ACS hosted a half-day symposium on Access to Justice in Federal Courts at New York University School of Law.  The symposium focused on recent decisions, including Ashcroft v. Iqbal, Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, and various class action decisions, that have curtailed access to federal courts and limited the types of claims and relief that plaintiffs can pursue.  The event featured:

• A keynote address by Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union.
• Two lively panel discussions moderated by Professor Arthur R. Miller of New York University School of Law:

Panel 1 - The Iqbal and Twombly Cases:

• Moderator, Arthur R. Miller, University Professor, New York University School of Law;
• Steven E. Fineman, Managing Partner, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP;
• Brad N. Friedman, Partner, Milberg LLP;
• Faith E. Gay, Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP;
• Barbara J. Hart, Shareholder, Lowey Dannenberg Cohen & Hart, P.C.;
• Richard T. Joffe, Of Counsel, Labaton Sucharow LLP;
• Andrew J. Pincus, Partner, Mayer Brown;
• Alexander A. Reinert, Assistant Professor of Law, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Counsel to Javaid Iqbal before the U.S. Supreme Court;
• Teresa Wynn Roseborough, Chief Litigation Counsel, MetLife, Inc.;
• Vincent Warren, Executive Director, Center for Constitutional Rights.

Panel 2 - Class Action Restrictions and Other Limitations:

• Moderator, Arthur R. Miller, University Professor, New York University School of Law;
• John H. Beisner, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP;
• Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Partner, Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP;
• Jay W. Eisenhofer, Managing Partner, Grant & Eisenhofer P.A.;
• Theodore H. Frank, President and Founder, Center for Class Action Fairness;
• Myriam Gilles, Professor, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law;
• Robert J. Giuffra, Jr., Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP;
• Salvatore J. Graziano, Partner, Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP;
• Adam T. Klein, Partner, Outten & Golden LLP;
• Joe R. Whatley, Jr., Partner, Whatley Drake & Kallas.

On Wednesday, December 9, 2009, ACS hosted an event to discuss the importance of comprehensive criminal justice reform and new solutions that Congress and the federal government should consider in trying to tackle the problems we face. This event featured:

• A keynote address by Senator Jim Webb, discussing the need to address America's broken criminal justice system by looking at every aspect of the system with an eye toward reshaping the process from top to bottom.
• A panel discussion that explored the opportunities for and implications of reorienting criminal justice policies toward a more integrative approach - an approach that addresses the underlying, interrelated social and economic issues that fuel cycles of incarceration to create safe, fair, and equitable communities in which all are able to thrive, particularly those at greatest risk for court involvement. The ideas that were the impetus for the panel discussion come from an article entitled, Integrative Solutions to Interrelated Issues: A Multidisciplinary Look Behind the Cycle of Incarceration, which was recently published in ACS's official journal, The Harvard Law and Policy Review.The panel featured:
  • Moderator, Nkechi Taifa, Senior Policy Analyst, Open Society Institute (OSI)
  • Catherine Beane, Director, Behind the Cycle, and Principal, Beane Consulting 
  • Walter M. Beglau, District Attorney, Marion County, Oregon 
  • The Honorable Robert C. (Bobby) Scott (D-VA), United States House Representative 
  • Gina E. Wood, Director of Policy and Planning, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

• Featured remarks from Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, Special Assistant to the President for Justice and Regulatory Policy and a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council, who discussed efforts that span the executive branch to address the issues that underlie involvement in the criminal justice system.