Date: Thursday, January 16, 2020 Time: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: NYU School of Law

How do police confrontations go wrong? How can courts secure justice for victims after the fact? And how can such incidents be avoided in the first place? University of Pittsburgh law professor David A. Harris offers answers by way of one such incident in his hometown. His new book, A City Divided: Race, Fear and the Law in Police Confrontations, looks at the case of a Black high school honors student bruised and beaten by police — an incident that provoked protests across Pittsburgh.

Speakers: David A. Harris, Sally Ann Semenko Endowed Chair and Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law; author of A City Divided: Race, Fear and the Law in Police Confrontations; Lauren-Brooke Eisen, Director and Senior Fellow, Justice Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; Ángel Díaz, Counsel, Liberty & National Security, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 Time: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: NYU School of Law

Nearly 50 people are murdered every day in the United States. Thomas Abt argues that a handful of targeted, cost-effective strategies can halve that number. In his new book, Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence — and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets, the Harvard Kennedy School senior research scholar and former Obama administration official says that the focus on drugs, gangs, and guns has been misplaced. He proposes instead an alternative vision for urban policing.

Speakers: Thomas Abt, Senior Research Fellow and Adjunct Lecturer, Harvard Kennedy School; author of Bleeding Out: The Devastating Consequences of Urban Violence — and a Bold New Plan for Peace in the Streets; James E. Johnson, Corporation Counsel, City of New York; former Chairman of the Board, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; Risco Mention-Lewis, Deputy Police Commissioner, Suffolk County, New York; Taryn A. Merkl, Senior Counsel, Law Enforcement Leaders & Justice Program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law; Former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of New York

Date: Tuesday, February 4, 2020 Time: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: D’Agostino Hall, NYU School of Law

Americans are increasingly questioning the fairness and accuracy of U.S. elections. Law professor Richard L. Hasen examines four sources of voters’ distrust: voter suppression, poor election administration, dirty political tricks, and inflammatory claims of “stolen” elections. Hasen’s new book, Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy, proposes steps to restore voters’ confidence ahead of the 2020 election.

Speaker: Richard L. Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science, University of California, Irvine; author of Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy

Date: Tuesday, February 11, 2020 Time: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: NYU School of Law

How did George Washington view the presidency? What might he think of U.S. politics today? And what lessons does he offer for the challenges ahead? Historian Alexis Coe examines America’s first president in a freshly humanizing light. Her new book, You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington, documents the Revolutionary War hero’s reluctant acceptance of the presidency and his heartbreak over fierce partisanship and infighting in the cabinet.

Speaker: Alexis Coe, historian; host of No Man’s Land; author of You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2020 Time: 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
Location: D’Agostino Hall, NYU School of Law

In recent years, the Supreme Court has empowered moneyed interests to wield disproportionate influence in elections, gutted the Voting Rights Act, and upheld President Trump’s Muslim ban. These decisions fit a troubling, decades-long pattern, argues journalist Adam Cohen. His new survey of high court rulings, Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America, finds that since the Nixon era, the Court has done little to protect the rights of the poor and disadvantaged.

Speaker: Adam Cohen, former member of the New York Times editorial board; former senior writer, Time magazine; author of Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America