Highlights from North Carolina's First Criminal Justice Summit

On March 15, 2019, the School of Government hosted North Carolina’s first Criminal Justice Summit. At the Summit, national and state experts with broad-ranging ideological perspectives discussed key issues capturing attention in North Carolina and around the nation. They explored how these issues impact justice, public safety and economic prosperity in North Carolina, and whether there is common ground to address them. A broad range of state leaders and stakeholders attended the program, which was presented with support from the Charles Koch Foundation. For those who couldn’t attend, here are some highlights. The Summit agenda included panel discussions on four key criminal justice issues, with each session including a question and comment period from the audience and anonymous, live polling by audience members on consensus proposals offered by the panelists. The four issues were: Bail Reform; Fines & Fees; Overcriminalization; and The Criminal Record & Collateral Consequences. Each panel was composed of two national and two state experts, with each pair of experts coming at the issue from different perspectives. Prior to the event, the panelists developed three to four consensus solutions to present to Summit attendees for live polling. Interest in the program was robust, and the wait list was as high as 187. In the end, we had a diverse list of 240 registered attendees, from all three branches of government, every level of the court system, and the law enforcement community. Attendees also included representatives from a diverse group of advocates, members of the business community and the [...]