This symposium, brought together by the Nebraska Law Review, is a platform for timely and informed discussion, collaboration, and exchanges of ideas between law professors, attorneys, judges, affected persons, and journalists to shed light on critical aspects of the federal prison system and the way in which the system impacts the people in its custody. Our symposium consists of a keynote address and three discussion panels, each offering an exploration of many of the issues surrounding federal incarceration, from the pre-incarceration phase to conditions within prisons to strategies for holding state actors and systems accountable.
Keynote
Dee Farmer
October 11, 2023
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
University of Nebraska College of Law, Hamann Auditorium
Panel Discussions
October 12, 2023
1:00 - 4:30 p.m.
University of Nebraska College of Law, Hamann Auditorium
Keynote: Dee Farmer
Dee Farmer will discuss Farmer v. Brennan, a case that was appealed to and was won in front of the United States Supreme Court. Farmer, a biological male who underwent hormone therapy and received breast implants, then underwent an unsuccessful sex reassignment therapy. She was later convicted of credit card fraud and sent to U.S. Penitentiary Terra Haute and placed in general male population, which was in accordance to the prison policy. While there, she was beaten and raped by her cell mate. She then sued at the federal district court level, alleging the prison failed to protect one of their prisoners, a protection that’s guaranteed under the Eighth Amendment.
Dee is a legal expert and consultant and a legend in the transgender rights movement. She was the first transgender plaintiff to bring a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Dee lectures at law school, legal conferences and community events about transgender rights and is legal consultant for the National Center for Lesbian Rights and Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders
Panel Descriptions
Before Prison
What happens before a person is committed to the custody of the federal government? How is the federal pre-incarceration phase different from the pre-incarceration stage on the state level? This panel will delve into the various aspects of the pre-incarceration phase on the federal level, examining the challenges individuals face when they are indicted. Panelists will explore the roles of key stakeholders, such as affected persons, judges, US Attorneys, and federal public defenders.
Conditions of Confinement
What sorts of confinement conditions do prisoners face at the federal level? This panel will address the conditions experienced by prisoners within the federal incarceration system. Topics of interest include the examination of prison infrastructure, the provision of healthcare, mental health support, educational opportunities, and the impact of overcrowding.
Prison Accountability and Performance Measures Panel
How are state actors and systems held accountable for their treatment of people in their custody? This panel will highlight the various efforts being undertaken by the legal field, organizations, and other stakeholders to ensure accountability within the federal prison system. Panelists will discuss strategies to address systemic issues, promote rehabilitation, and protect the rights and dignity of incarcerated individuals.
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Symposium Schedule: Day 1 (October 11th) |
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6:00 p.m. |
Welcome Introduction of Keynote Speaker |
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6:10 p.m. |
Keynote Speaker |
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Symposium Schedule: Day 2 (October 12th) |
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12:00 - 1:30 p.m. |
Check-in + Parking |
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1:00 p.m. |
Welcome Introduction of Panels |
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1:10 p.m. - 2:10 p.m. |
Before Prison Panel Panelists:
Moderators:
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2:10 p.m. |
Break |
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2:20 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. |
Conditions of Confinement Panel Panelists:
Moderators:
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3:20 p.m. |
Break |
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3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. |
Prison Accountability and Performance Measures Panel Panelists:
Moderators:
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4:30 p.m. |
Closing Remarks Professor Danielle Jefferis, University of Nebraska College of Law Matias Cava, Editor and Chief of the Nebraska Law Review |
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4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. |
Closing Reception |
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Keynote Speaker |
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Dee Farmer |
We are honored to have Dee Farmer as our keynote speaker. Dee's personal experiences within the federal prison system and her subsequent advocacy work have made her a compelling voice for change. Her address will inspire and challenge us to consider the human impact of incarceration and the pressing need for reform. Dee Farmer is well known as the plaintiff in the landmark prisoner’s rights Supreme Court case Farmer v. Brennan. In 1989, Farmer, a black, transgender woman, sued federal prison officials for failing to protect her from sexual assault at her federal Indiana prison where she was imprisoned with male inmates. Farmer’s case ultimately reached the Supreme Court in 1994. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Farmer’s favor, that she could seek damages from officials responsible for placing her in danger and that prisoners have a right to be protected from sexual violence. Farmer’s case has been cited by thousands of courts relating to prisoners' rights and transgender prisoner’s rights. Farmer’s work to fight injustice relating to sexual violence in prisons lead to the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. Dee is currently a Paralegal Fellow in the MORCA-Georgetown Paralegal Program. For more information, see:
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Panelists |
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Judge Joseph Bataillon, U.S. District Judge for the District of Nebraska
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Judge Joseph Bataillon currently serves as a Senior U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Nebraska. He served as the District’s Chief Judge from 2004-2011. Judge Bataillon graduated from Creighton University with a B.A. in 1971 and a JD in 1974. He served as a deputy public defender in Douglas County, Nebraska from 1974 to 1980. Bataillon was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1997 to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.
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Jessica Milburn, Assistant Federal Public Defender, Lancaster County
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Jessica Milburn has planted her roots in Nebraska. She graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2000, earning her Juris Doctorate. Following graduation, Jessica started a career in criminal defense work. She began her journey at the Scottsbluff County Public Defender’s office handling a wide array of felony and misdemeanor cases. Thereafter, Jessica did a fellowship with the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Omaha, Nebraska, wherein she worked on numerous federal criminal cases. Jessica then went into private practice, focusing on criminal defense work. Jessica has devoted her career in helping indigent criminal clientele. She currently works for the Office of the Public Defender in Lincoln, Nebraska representing federal clients facing Indictments. Jessica has been with the office of the Public Defender for eight years. |
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Lecia Wright, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Tribal Liaison & Civil Rights Coordinator
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Lecia E. Wright is currently an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Nebraska. Since July 2014, she has represented the U.S. in the District of Nebraska in the General Crimes Division. Ms. Wright is also the District’s Civil Rights Coordinator, enforcing federal civil rights laws, which protect the constitutional rights of citizens in the District of Nebraska. Ms. Wright serves as the Tribal Liaison for the District. She is the primary point of contact for Native American tribes and Reservations in the District of Nebraska. As Tribal Liaison, she coordinates and trains federal law enforcement agents investigating violent crime and sexual abuse cases in Indian country, as well as Bureau of Indian Affairs criminal investigators and tribal police presenting cases in Federal Court. Ms. Wright also serves in the United States Air Force Reserves as a Major. She serves as Appellate Government Counsel at the Air Force Legal Operations Agency, Headquarters JA, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. As Appellate Government Counsel, she represents the United States before the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals and before the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. |
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Professor Pedro Gerson, University of Chicago
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Professor Gerson writes and teaches in the areas of criminal law and immigration law. Prior to joining California Western, Professor Gerson directed the Louisiana State University Immigration Clinic. The clinic provides immigration services for people in Louisiana, handling a wide range of immigration matters, from naturalization and asylum petitions to removal defense. Professor Gerson focused most of the clinic’s work on removal defense for people in immigration detention, including bringing federal cases for clients in prolonged detention. Before joining the LSU Law Center faculty, Gerson served as an immigration staff attorney at The Bronx Defenders in New York City, a public defender nonprofit. Professor Gerson got his BA from the University of Pennsylvania and his MPP and JD from the University of Chicago. For more information, see: |
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Aaron Pettes, RISE
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Aaron is a husband, father, brother, author, minister, and now RISE Family! After 16.5 years of incarceration, he's out in the community looking to make a difference. While inside he worked as a GED tutor for years, led an evangelistic ministry, took college courses in various areas and read over 1,000 books. He's not afraid of hard work and loves to grow. Aaron loves to write - he has published two books and has a third coming out soon (check him out at aaronpettesspeaks.com). For more information, see:
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Professor Nicole Godfrey, Michigan State College of Law
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Professor Nicole B. Godfrey is an Associate Clinical Professor of Law at Michigan State University College of Law, where she directs the Housing Justice Clinic. Professor Godfrey’s research focuses on the law of incarceration, with particular attention to the Eighth Amendment, First Amendment, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and claims brought against the Federal Bureau of Prisons and its employees. Her work has been featured in the New York University Law Review, Oregon Law Review, Nebraska Law Review, and Seattle University Law Review, among others, and her scholarship is informed by her teaching and practice experience. Before joining the MSU Law faculty, Professor Godfrey taught at the University of Denver in the Civil Rights Clinic for seven years; at DU, she taught and supervised student attorneys litigating conditions of confinement claims against federal and state prison systems. Prior to joining academia, she represented clients in civil rights actions in federal court, focusing primarily on cases brought by incarcerated people challenging their conditions of confinement. She holds a B.A. from Boston University and an M.A., L.LM., and J.D. from the University of Denver. For more information, see:
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Professor Laura Rovner, University of Denver Sturm College of Law
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Laura Rovner is Professor of Law and Director of the Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, in Denver, Colorado. Through the clinic, she supervises law students representing incarcerated clients in constitutional litigation about prison conditions, such as indefinite solitary confinement, denial of outdoor exercise, lack of adequate medical and mental health care, and the free exercise of religion. Professor Rovner was a member of the litigation teams that led to the creation of outdoor exercise yards at the state of Colorado’s supermax prison, for which the team was selected as a finalist for the 2017 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award from the Public Justice Foundation. She has provided expert testimony before the European Court of Human Rights about conditions of confinement in the federal supermax prison and served on the Colorado legislature’s Work Group on Serious Mental Illness in Long-term Isolated Confinement. Her 2018 talk at TEDxMileHigh - What happens to people in solitary confinement - was selected for inclusion on the TED website and has been viewed over 2.3 million times. She lectures and writes about the rights of people incarcerated in prisons and jails, as well as about clinical education and pedagogy. Laura is the founder of the Christopher N. Lasch Clinical Teaching Fellowship LLM program at Denver Law, and regularly consults with clinical programs in the U.S. and abroad about clinical teaching, including issues concerning academic freedom and political interference. She is the recipient of the University of Denver’s Distinguished Teaching Award and has been honored with the University’s Outstanding Teaching Recognition for multiple years. Laura graduated from Cornell Law School and received her LLM from Georgetown University Law Center. |
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Professor Betsy Ginsberg, Cardozo School of Law
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Betsy Ginsberg is the Director of Clinical Legal Education and Clinical Professor of Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She founded and directs Cardozo’s Civil Rights Clinic. Through the Civil Rights Clinic, she teaches and supervises students providing representation to people whose rights have been violated by law enforcement. The clinic has provided representation in cases involving excessive force by corrections and police officers, long-term solitary confinement, prison rape, religious freedom in prison, access to prison medical treatment and other conditions of confinement. Through her work in the Clinic, Professor Ginsberg has brought individual and class action lawsuits against the Federal Bureau of Prisons and its officials concerning conditions of confinement and freedom of information. She has also sought and obtained compassionate release on behalf of people incarcerated in federal prisons. Previously, she taught in Cardozo’s Kathryn O. Greenberg Immigration Justice Clinic and before that was a member of the Lawyering faculty at NYU School of Law. Her scholarship focuses on access to courts, particularly for incarcerated individuals. While in practice, she litigated class action lawsuits challenging unconstitutional practices in jails and prisons in New York and California with the Prisoners’ Rights Project of the Legal Aid Society and with the Prison Law Office. For more information, see:
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Professor Danielle Jefferis, University of Nebraska College of Law
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Professor Jefferis’s research focuses on theories of punishment and the law and policy governing prison and detention, with an emphasis on the for-profit prison industry and immigration-related confinement. She takes both critical and comparative approaches to her work, looking at carceral systems, practices, and theories around the world. Professor Jefferis has presented her research at Harvard Law School, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Denver College of Law, Loyola University School of Law, Louisiana State University Law, the Australian National University, London University, Amsterdam Law School, the University of Lisbon, and Leiden University, among others. She has provided expert commentary on prison and detention issues for national and international media outlets, including VICE, Mother Jones, and NowThis, and has been solicited as an amicus curiae for cases involving prison law and prisoners’ rights in courts around the country. For more information, see: |
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Aviva Stahl, award-winning investigative journalist
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Aviva Stahl is an award-winning investigative journalist who writes about prison conditions as well as health policy. She received her B.A. at McGill University and holds an MSc in the Sociology of Race from the London School of Economics. She's also a Registered Nurse. Her work has been published by a number of outlets, including Wired, the New York Times, NBC News and the Guardian. You can follow her on Twitter @stahlidarity. Aviva has long written about conditions inside federal prisons and jails. In 2019, she published a cover story in The Nation investigating the routine practice of force-feeding prisoners in the highest-security unit of the US’ highest-security prison. The article was nominated for an American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award. In 2023, after years of FOIA litigation, she obtained and published the first known videos of a prisoner being force-fed in a federal prison -- videos that revealed treatment that likely amounts to torture.
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Parking Information
For those with UNL permits, parking is available in lots C (south of McCollum Hall) or A (north of McCollum Hall).
For those visiting campus, parking is available at a limited number of parking meters or passes can be purchased for lot C (west of McCollum Hall) using the Passport Parking app.
Contact
Murphy Cavanaugh, Symposium Editor, Nebraska Law Review
Matias Cava, Editor in Chief, Nebraska Law Review