Keynote speaker Rachel Sottile Logvin, vice president of the Pretrial Justice Institute, will focus on the ways in which the pretrial stage of criminal justice – the time between an accused’s arrest and trial – is implemented.

SEMINOLE – Legislation under consideration by the Florida Legislature to reform Florida’s criminal justice system will be discussed during a Thursday (April 13) forum at St. Petersburg College’s Seminole campus.

The forum, Florida Criminal Justice Reform: 2017 and Beyond, is the fifth in a continuing series presented by the Project on Accountable Justice at Florida State University, of which SPC is a partner. It will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Conference Center at SPC Seminole, 9200 113th St. N.

The 2017 Florida Legislature is considering a number of proposals that reflect a bipartisan consensus that Florida must reform its criminal justice system. Advocates for reform say that modernizing Florida’s criminal justice system will lead to enhanced public safety, more equitable dispensation of justice, reduced incarceration costs, greater accountability by the criminal justice system, and stabilization of economic conditions for families and communities.

Previous forums in this series have explored juvenile justice, the impact of incarceration on crime reduction, the Florida prison system, and successful criminal justice reform efforts in Georgia. Florida’s neighbor to the north, along with conservative Texas, are leading a growing movement around the country to update criminal justice policies that have led to U.S. notoriety as the world’s largest jailer with the undisputed highest incarceration rate of the industrialized world, but not necessarily with safer communities.

Keynote speaker at Thursday’s forum will be Rachel Sottile Logvin, vice president of the Pretrial Justice Institute, a Rockville, MD-based non-profit that works to advance safe, fair, and effective juvenile and adult pretrial justice practices and policies. She will discuss ways in which the pretrial stage of criminal justice is implemented – the time between an accused’s arrest and trial.

Also on the program will be a panel discussion on the status of reforms in Florida and legislation being considered in the current session of the Legislature. Moderator will be retired Judge Simone Marstiller, who serves on the executive committee of the Project on Accountable Justice. Panel members include Scott McCoy, senior policy counsel for the Southern Poverty Law Center; Chelsea Murphy, Florida director of Right On Crime for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and Greg Newburn, state policy director for Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

Based at the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at Florida State University, the Project on Accountable Justice has as its mission to advance public safety through research and evidence.

The forum is free and open to the public, but advance registration is requested. Go to solutions.spcollege.edu, or call (727) 394-6942.

St. Petersburg College | Criminal Justice | Criminal Justice Reform | Courts | Rachel Sottile Logvin | Education | Tampa Bay News | TB Reporter

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