Date: Monday, February 8, 2021 Time: 12:00 p.m.–12:45 p.m. ET
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The U.S. Senate, once known as “the world’s greatest deliberative body,” is broken. Using the filibuster as a cudgel, a conservative minority has hijacked the chamber, preventing passage of popular legislation and much-needed democracy reform. In his critically acclaimed new book, Kill Switch, longtime Hill insider Adam Jentleson shows that many of the greatest challenges of our era — partisan polarization, dark money, a media culture built on manufactured outrage — converge within the Senate. And he makes clear that without serious reform, we face the prospect of permanent minority rule in America.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.

Speakers: Adam Jentleson, Public Affairs Director, Democracy Forward, Author, Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy; Moderator: Brennan Center Fellow Victoria Bassetti

Date: Thursday, February 11, 2021 Time: 5:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. ET
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FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) inflict harm on local communities through racial profiling, harassment, suspicionless surveillance and investigations, and exploitation of immigration enforcement, all of which are authorized under federal guidelines loosened after 9/11. The FBI relies on the labor of state and local law enforcement officers assigned to the JTTFs, who agree to follow federal guidelines even if they conflict with state and local law. Civil rights advocates and community groups have organized successful campaigns to demand that their city legislatures hold local police accountable to local laws and ultimately withdraw from the JTTFs. Advocates from these campaigns will share their experiences with Brennan Center Fellow Mike German.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University’s John Brademas Center.

Speakers: Zahra Billoo, Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA); Javeria Jamil, Staff Attorney, National Security and Civil Rights, Asian Americans Advancing Justice/Asian Law Caucus; Brandon Mayfield, Oregon Lawyer and Activist; Moderator: Brennan Center Fellow Mike German

Date: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 Time: 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. ET
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Too often, the criminal justice system compels innocent people to plead guilty. It disproportionately incarcerates Black and brown Americans, often for relatively minor offenses. Meanwhile, high-level executives are rarely prosecuted or held accountable for much more serious crimes. Jed S. Rakoff, a federal trial judge and an expert on white-collar crime, examines these and other paradoxes in a new book, Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System. He will be joined by Brennan Center Justice Program Counsel Hernandez Stroud to discuss the shortcomings of the country’s legal system and propose paths to reform.

This event is produced in partnership with New York University's John Brademas Center.

Speakers: Jed S. Rakoff, Senior U.S. District Judge, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Author, Why the Innocent Plead Guilty and the Guilty Go Free: And Other Paradoxes of Our Broken Legal System; Moderator: Brennan Center Counsel Hernandez Stroud