Responding to the Threat of Violent Recidivism

Responding to the Threat of Violent Recidivism:
Alternatives to Long-Term Confinement

Conference Hosted by Marquette Law School
With Support from the Charles Koch Foundation
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 3-4, 2019

In state prisons across the United States, a large majority of the inmates have been convicted of violent crimes. Violence-convicted individuals tend to provoke high levels of public fear. Lawmakers, judges, and prosecutors must be especially attuned to the threat that a person who has once perpetrated criminal violence will reoffend. At the same time, a considerable body of research now suggests that long prison terms are not always the most effective means of addressing recidivism risk.

Join us at Marquette Law School on June 3-4, 2019, to consider what evidence shows about risk assessment, treatment, and sentencing and supervision options for violence-convicted individuals. Leading social scientists and legal scholars from across the nation will share their research, illuminating the challenge posed by violent recidivism and the difficult choices that lawmakers, judges, and prosecutors must make.

» Bios and Abstracts

Monday, June 3

1:30 — Welcome
Dean Joseph Kearney and Professor Michael O'Hear (Marquette)

1:45 — Panel 1: Prisoner Reentry, Revocation, and Recidivism

• Pamela Oliver (Wisconsin): "Returns to Prison by Race, Offense, and Status 2000-2015"
• Christy Visher & Daniel O'Connell (Delaware): "Violent Offenders and Desistance"
• William Bales & Jennifer Copp (Florida State): "The Impact of Incarceration on the Risk of Violent Recidivism"
  Moderator: Chad Oldfather (Marquette)

3:15 — Break/Refreshments

3:30 — Panel 2: Assessing and Managing Risk

• Sarah Desmarais (North Carolina State): "Current Issues in Violence Risk Assessment"
• Faye Taxman (George Mason): "Violence Reduction Using an RNR Framework"
• Edward Latessa & Myrinda Schweitzer (Cincinnati): "Effective Supervision of Violent Offenders in the Community
  Moderator: Darren Wheelock (Marquette)

5:00 — Adjourn/Reception

6:30 — Dinner for Conference Participants

Tuesday, June 4

8:45 — Panel 3: Groups of Special Concern: Young People and High-Risk Offenders

• Laura Abrams (UCLA): "Desistance from Crime During the Transition to Adulthood"
• Megan Kurlychek (Albany): "Effective Strategies for Juvenile Violent Offenders:  Treating the Youth Not the Offense"
• Jennifer Skeem (Berkeley): "Recidivism Reduction for High-Risk (Not Hopeless) Offenders"
  Moderator: Rob Smith (Marquette)

10:15 — Break/Refreshments

10:30 — Panel 4: Sexual Violence, Robbery, Focused Deterrence

• Eric Janus (William Mitchell-Hamline): "Preventing Sexual Violence: Alternatives to Long-Term Confinement"
• Richard Wright & William Sabol (Georgia State): "Robbery, Recidivism, and the Limits of the Criminal Justice System"
• Edmund McGarrell (Michigan State): "Focused Deterrence Violence Prevention at Community and Individual Levels"
  Moderator: Meghan Stroshine (Marquette)

12:00 — Break/Box Lunch

12:30 — Panel 5: Violent Crime—Immigration, Public Opinion, Social and Legal Construction

• Michael Light (Wisconsin): "Triangulating the Immigration-Violence Nexus Across Diverse Studies"
• Darren Wheelock & Michael O'Hear (Marquette): "Violent Crime and Punitiveness: An Empirical Study of Public Opinion"
• Cecelia Klingele (Wisconsin): "Labeling Violence"
  Moderator: Amanda Seligman (Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette)

2:00 — Conclusion