Lectures on Tap - Drawing Lines:Data & Justice in the Criminal Legal System

📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email

📚 Lecture: "Drawing Lines: Data & Justice in the Criminal Legal System"

🎤 Speaker: Professor Brennan Klein

Join us for an insightful evening with Professor Brennan Klein as we unpack the complexities of data and justice within the criminal legal system. Many of us perceive data as a neutral tool for measurement, but its collection, analysis, and mapping can significantly influence systemic outcomes and marginalize certain populations.

In this thought-provoking talk, we will examine how data can both reinforce and challenge injustice, focusing on a striking example: Drug-Free Zone Laws. Initially intended to protect children, these laws create harsher penalties for drug-related offenses near schools and parks, ultimately disproportionately impacting neighborhoods with large Black and Latino populations.

Professor Klein's team has meticulously mapped these zones across the country, illuminating how policy can subtly redraw boundaries of inequality. This project contributes to a larger mission of utilizing data for justice, aiming to highlight unseen systems and inspire reform.

Brennan Klein is core faculty at the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University and the lead data scientist at Harvard University's Institute on Policing, Incarceration & Public Safety. He was awarded the René Thom Young Researcher Award in 2023 for his significant contributions to complex systems research.

Don’t miss this opportunity to explore the intersection of data and social justice with Professor Brennan Klein!

Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌

Agenda

6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key.

6:55 PM – Host introduction

7:00 PM – Lecture begins

7:45 PM – Audience Q&A

8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round

8:30 PM – Wrap up.

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