university of california berkeley professor recalls how the russian revolution led to death and imprisonment over 800 leaders of the soviet state in the house of government and journalist reports on how millennials can impact a future of climate change in are we screwed? look for these titles in bookstores this coming week, and watch for many of the authors in the near future on booktv on c-span2.

>> good evening welcome to the atlanta history center my name is kate the vp of public programs there's a little weird feedback thing but you think it's good now. we're missing few people so they will start to fill in and please be nice and show them where there are seats available. tonight is an ellison lecture and thank our sponsor for supporting this program. tonight angela j. davis just to be really clear this is angela j. davis for anyone who was contused. okay [laughter] is going to be talking he's the editor of policing the blackman arrest prosecution, and a imprisonment which she will be discussing this evening. she is -- throughout her career as a lawyer, author, and professor angela j. davis has dedicated her efforts to studying and bettering the criminal justice system in america. particularly as it relates to racism within the system.

tonight's program is being -- broadcast for c-span so this will probably show up in about a week but that does mean that if you have a question you should go to microphone to ask it and i forgot to say that so now i'll go back to her bio and make sure that i get that in. look, angela davis is -- she was -- a dc public defender, and was the executive director of a rainbow cocollision author of arbitrary justice, the power of the american prosecutor. which won the pauline award currently davis is professor of law, at washington college of law at american university. she's the editor of policing black man please join me in welcoming angela j. davis to the history center. [applause] thank you, kate, and i want to

thank the atlanta history center for having is me this evening. and i want to thank all of you for coming out this is great to see so many familiar faces. i see people i know, and people i don't know i'm happy to see everyone, and so grateful that so many of you want to -- hear it be this issue and talk about this issue. so thank you so much for being here. i want to start out by just talking a little bit about -- about how this book came about. i was approached about two and a half years ago. about doing a collection of essays that would explore and con texturallize the many awful killings of unarmed black men and boys that have occurred in recent years and when i was approached and asked i ceased the opportunity. which was there's no issue more important to me than the unfair treatment of black and brown people in the scrl criminal

justice system in america today, in fact, it's the issue that keeps me up at night. i thought about who i would ask to join me in this project and i decided to reach out to the authors, lawyers, scholars, advocates, and activists who have been teaching and writing about litigating, advocating, and agitateing in many instances living this issue -- and i was really fortunate that so many of them said yes. so i really wanted to just take this opportunity to thank them, the many author it is that contradicted to this project. and i'm going to tell you a little bit about them and about essays this evening. but the first thing i want to do is read a brief exer is the about the book introduction to give you a sense of what the book is about and why this book

and why now? michael brown, eric garner, temire rice, freddie gray, sam dubose, alton sterling, per perlando and krucher smflt names on a long list of unarmed black boys and men who were killed by police officers in recent years. black men have been victims at the hands of the state at slavery technology and social media now permit us to literally bear witness to many of these killings. repeatedly -- millions of people have watched the video of a police officer choking eric garner to death as he struggled for air. similarly millions have watched video of a police officer shooting walter scott in the

back as he ran for his life. who can never forget the grainy footage of tamir rice 12-year-old boy who was shot by a police officer while he played alone with a toy gun in a park near his home? two videos, one from a police helicopter and another from a police dashboard camera show terrance krucher walking away from police officers with his hands raised high had in the air. just before he was shot and killed -- these image hads e feelings of fear, sadness and outrage and serve easy reminder that lives of black men and boys continue to be devalued an destroyed with impunity at the hands of the state to date not one of the police officers who killed these men and boys have been convicted of a single crime. from arrival of the slaves to 19 t and 20th centuries to present day, black boys and men have

been unlawfully killed by those warp sworn to upthe law by vigilantes who took the law into their own hands. the national museum of african-american history and culture opened its doors on september 24th, 2016 includes exhibits that tell the story of many of these killings. yet these killings are not just a part of african-american history. they have continued well into the 21st century almost 4 years after a beginning of slavery and persist with brutality during the time when america elected first african-american president. the brutal killing of 14-year-old emt murder of evans in 1963. and the assassination of martin luther king, jr. in 1968 on the

time lionel as is so many other killings of black men by white races. each tragic killing sparked nationwide protest and renewed activism in the struggle for civil right and racial justice in the united states. the killings of 17-year-old trayvon martin in 2012 of the a pivotal marker against black men in the 21st century. martin killed by george zimmerman saw him walking in his neighborhood. zimmerman a member of the watch group reported to police that martin looked suspicious and that he looked like he was, quote, up to no good or on drugs or something unquote. ignoring dispatchers warning to not follow martin zimmerman ultimately shot and killed him. martin was unarticled and was on his way back to his father's house after buying snacks at a local convenient store initially zimmerman was not emp charged with a crime.

but after nationwide prohe was charminged with martin's murder a jury ultimately aa quitted him. the killing of trayvon martin the initial failure of the prosecutor to charge zimmerman with a crime and zimmerman's ultimate acquittal capture haded the attention of the nation. president obama even weighed in stating, quote, trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. unquote -- martin's killing also inspired the phrase black lives matter had. the phrase trended on twitter and all forms of social media and was displayed on post pokers carried in protest after martin's death and after every killing of a black man or woman by a police officer from that day forward. black lives matter ultimately became a social justice movement with chapters throughout the united states and canada. many unarmed black men and boys have been killed since trayvon martin's tragic death five years ago. many of the killings occurred after police officers arguably

engaged in racial profiling. stopping and harassing these men for no explainable reason other than the color of their skin. if all of the cases where black men were shot and killed the officers claimed they had, that they felt threatened even though men were unarmed often running away or retreating. in almost all of the cases the police officers were never arrested or charged with a crime. the tragic killings of trayvon martin michael brown, eric garner, walter scott tamir rice, freddie gri and others served as catalyst but these killings also inspired contradicting authors to think about all of the ways that black men are policed in the broad sense of the word heavily and harshly every step of the criminal process. thft, black men are policed and treated worse than their similar isly situated white count parts at every step of the criminal

justice system from arrests through sentencing. these unwarranted disparities exist where black men are charged with crimes or are victims of crimes. police officers stop, search, and arrest black men far more frequently than white men engage in the same behavior. prosecutors charge black men more frequently with more serious crimes than white men who engage in the same behavior. and there are disproportionate numbers of black men in nation's prison and jails. criminal defendants regardless of their race are punished less harshly when their victims are black men. this anthology explores and explains the policing of black men from slavery to the present day and every stage of the criminal process and beyond. many people have asked why black men? why are you focusing on black men aren't there other people in the criminal justice system? not there's not well or treated

poorly and answer to that is yes. so how would i answer that question? black men are not only people of color to be treated divorce than their similarly situated white counterparts every step of the criminal process. black women latina, women latino men, native american other people of color also experience violence at the hands of the state, and discriminatory treatment in the criminal justice system and lesbian or by or transgender this looks focus on black men in no way trivializes experiences of all people who face these harms. while acknowledging that other groups have been and continue to be oppressed and discriminated book this book focuses on black men. in many ways the experience of black men in criminal justice system is unique. the most noticeable difference is that they are impacted more unearthly than any other o demographic in the united states. at every step of the process.

black boys are disproportionately arrested and detained. black boys are more likely to be referred to juvenile justice system than any other children. over half of the students arrested at schools in the united states and referred to the juvenile justice system are black and hispanic. and while black students represent only 16% of students enrollment they represent 27% of students referred to law enforcement and 31% subjected to school arrest. black male students alone make up 18% of all referral and officerses. arrests black men are disproportionately arrested and african-americans 2.5 times more likely to be arrested than whites and 49% of black men almost half can expect to be arrested there's once by age 23. black men are more likely to be

killed or o injured during a police encounter while more whites are killed by law enforcement than people of color, african-americans are killed at a disproportionate rate, in fact, black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than white men. black men are disproportionately impissed and receive longer sentences. african-americans make up approximately 35% of the prison population in the united states. 35%. and by the end of 2015 black men constituted 34% of the american prison population. in 20155,655 ages 25 to 29 were imprisoned as compared to 2,165 hispanic man and 921 white men of the same age.

remarkably, the number of black men in prison or jail on probation or on parole by the end of 2009 roughly equaled the number enslaved in 1850. one in three black men can expect to be incarcerated in his lifetime. blacks proportionately sentenced to death as of 2014 the national death row population is approximately 42% black. and overall black population is only 13.6%. so for all of those reasons this anthology focuses on the plight of black men and boy and treatment of boy and men at every step of the criminal process is explored in depth in this book. as the essays make clear the issues ands are complex as are the solutions.

the authors that i invited to join me in this projects are sol collar and activists who have studied in some instances personally experienced the phenomenon about which had they write. so in their essays they examine and explain the policing of black men. i want to tell you lax about the essays and then i want to talk about my own essay. my own contribution to the book which was about the prosecution of black men and talk to you about why i think that issue is so important so just briefly i'll tell you title and inspire you to read the become and read it. first is called a presumption of guilt the legacy of america's history of racial injustice and it was written by brian stevenson. the second essay is the endurance of racial disparity in criminal justice by mike mauer head of the sentencing private in d.c. i should say brian and i

heard some of you comment so you know who he is. remarkable hero of mine who runs equal justice initiative. the third essay is called boys to men. the role of policing in the socialization of black boys written by professor kristin of georgetown and this i'll tell you all this essay almost djt make it to the book so focused on black men and a then -- after talking to chris is one of the nation's top leading experts on the juvenile justice system, i realized wow, of course we have to talk about black boys and -- that chapter remarkable because black boys are treated worse than black men so that essay is pretty revealing. the next one is called racial profiling the law that policy, and the practice written by professor renée of the university of maryland. racial profiling is housed for killings start and explain hads it. next chapter is black men and the police making bias explicit

i don't know many of you may have heard of implicit bias, theme that goes through essays that the root of -- so many of these killings and i'll talk a bit about that tonight it was written by professor katherine russell brown university of florida. the next chapter is called policing a model for the 120eust century by a professor's tracy mears and tom tyler professor mears served on president obama's task force on policing in the 21st century. the next chapter is my own chapter, it is culled a prosecution of black men and i'm going to talk about that a little bit. then the grand jury and police violence against black men by professor roger fairfax a lot of people were introduced to the grand jury after ferguson when they realized that the police officer wouldn't be indicted so he explains whole history of the grand jury and reveals some things that will probably be very surprising to many of you who witness what happened with a lot of these police officers. very different from ordinary

citizens with the grand jury. the next chapter is called elected prosecutors and a police accountability by professor ron wright. i focus a lot on electing good progressive prosecutors and that chapter will be revealing when it talks about how prosecutors are elected. and the next chapter is called do black lives matter to the court? and a it was written by cherilynn who was director counsel of the naacp legal defense and education fund and also by gin lee a staff attorney there, talks about the law and the history of the law and we'll reveal a lot about why it's so difficult why the courts are not exactly friendly to claim to discrimination anymore and any other issues. and the final chapter is called poverty violence and black incarceration by jeremy travis and bruce western so those are are the essays -- it and i want to spend the remainder of my time before

opening it up for questions talking about about my own contribution to the volume which is called prosecution of black men and also at this time a little bit about -- these killings, and you know, how is it, why is it? how could it that these police officers have not been held accountable i think that's a question i get and not sure i know the answer but would like to explore and talk about what issues are are. but a bit about had my chapter -- kate minged they spend time writing about prosecutors, and i have. the reason for that is that prosecutors are actually the most powerful officials in our criminal justice system. it was always been a lot of focus on police officers and rightly so. we know there should be a focus given all that has been going on and by the way, you know, just a stress and i mention this before, the killings of black men didn't start with trayvon martin this has been going on

since slavery so that chapter lays it out and explains it so well. but it's, of course, should be a focus on police officers. police officers have a tremendous amount of power and discretion on the street to stop people to search them and the law makes it very easy for themed to that. but i think people should focus also on prosecutors and i don't think people have been focusing on them a lot. they are the most powerful officials in our criminal justice system. police officers absolutely have a lot of power to stop people on the streets search them, frisk them, arrest them. but police officers can only bring people to the courthouse door. it is the prosecutor who decides whether they remain entrench ared in the system and end up with a criminal record and all of that prosecutor has so much to do with that. and that is because -- of the two powers they have to charging decision and the plea bipartisan

bargaining decision those two decision made by prosecutors also predetermine the outcome of criminal cases. why do i say that? well, if a police officer arrests a person on the street, they can only recommend charges to the prosecutor. they don't decide whether person is in the criminal justice system. they can bring a case to prosecutor and prosecutor can decide to take it and prosecutor the case or they can dismiss it. it's totally up to the prosecutor. even if there's probable cause that a person committed observance and that's the standard very low standard what the standard is for charging person more probable than not very official there. much lower than the much higher roof beyond a reasonable doubt that they need to convict. so causes you to decide to charge a person at that point or they can decide not to charge a person. it's totally within their discretion. and they are accountable to know one but -- the chief professor of that office.

right. and that decision is made behind closed door. right there's not a public decision. prosecutors don't tell the make a public announcement i'm charging this person and i'm not charging this person here's why they're not required to do that and they don't do that. they make decisions behind closed doors so you can see where there's that much discretion and power, that that's where disparities can come in about and where they do, right, the professor you know can see one kid brought in let's say he's arrested with five bags of cocaine. prosecutors got a lot of options there. police officer might say well he's got five bags of cocaine why don't you charge him with intention a felony observance that in most states carries a mandatory minimum sentence to ten, 15 time more years mandatory meaning if person is

convicted they must serve all of that time no matter what so prosecutors paying looking at a -- a potential defendant with five bags of cocaine can charge five counts can charge five counts of possession with intent to distribute charge the felony. but they also can just simply charge a misdemeanor possession even though they may have the evidence for felony they can say i'll just charge the misdemeanor or they can say i'm not charming at all. they have the discretion to do any of those things and they do not have to explain those decisions to a judge or anyone else. it's made behind closed doors. the chief prosecutor is only person who is in charge of that. that's a tremendous are amount of power if you think about it. because one kid says when i was back in college i used to steal a little dope and useful discretion, and i turned out all

right, and that kid you know, this kid over here look like, you know -- he looks a certain way reminds me of me. when i was young and has a future and i don't to ruin that with a criminal record so i'm going to let this fly and another kid comes in looking very different from a very different neighborhood. right -- and he's automatically maybe he'll charge him with a felony. that's a tremendous are amount of tower. and thing about this is complicated because i'm not saying that that prosecutor is saying you know that's a rich white kid i'm going to give him a break that's a poor black kid i'm the not. they may not even with conscientiously thinking that way and implicit bias unconscience feelings and views that we all -- everyone of us in this room of all races and genders have -- the unconscience views that we all have based on anything

stereotypes that we pick up in media and a could be based on race or gender or skin color, or hair were or body size. we're not even aware we have those biases. it's that thing that makes some people want to black man walks on the elevator, they don't realize their body is moving over to the corner. and not just white folks. by the way -- right, i don't know if anybody remembers i know on c-span rerchgd jackson don't be mad at me but i don't know if you remember years ago when refned jackson came out that he was walking don the street in washington, d.c. and he said he looked behind him and relieved to see it was a white man. reverend jackson who i used to work for who i love. but my point is -- that all of us carry these -- the problem is that when -- people have tremendous power in criminal justice system and

making decisions impactedded by that implicit bias that's a dangerous thing. right, because you have someone's life and liberty in your hands and you're being influenced by your -- unconscience views you're not even realizing what you're doing. but yet it's happening. right, and the fact that it's unintentional doesn't mean it's okay. that fact that it is unintentional doesn't mean that the result are is going to be dirchts. it's still wrong if someone is treated unfairly if these two young men similar sichghted right -- both of them charged with a same thing. neither had a record or black kid did have an arrest record but guess what none of those case he is wasn't convicted why maybe because therm the result of racial profiling and had there wasn't a case there. so there's all kinds of complicated things that go into that charting decision. same thing with plea bargaining.

so if you watch that show with many law and order shows i guess nine, or if you watch any of the many law and order shows you think trials are going on nots so in the criminal justice system. there are not a lot of trials going on there are a lot of guilty pleas going on. 95% of all criminal cases are resolved by way of a guilty plea. 95%. only 5% of criminal cases actually go to trial with a jury and all of that. and that process, the plea gar garbaging process control bid prosecutors how does it work? prosecutors says okay i'm going to charge you request five counts of burglary me, and that's other thing a phenomenon of overcharging. they may not even be sure they can prove all of those burglaries beyond a reasonable doubt. but they sure can charge them because all they have to do to charge them is show probable cause like more likely than not so they pile on charges to give

them advantage at the bargain is safe so five mandatory minimum charges. you are looking at 50 years on the bottom meaning look you're going to -- if you're convicted after treel you're going to be, have to serve 50 years before you see light of day. tell you what -- there's a prosecutor i'll make you a deal. i'll allow you to plead to one of these man to ten year mandatory sentence and i'll dismiss over four. sounds like a good deal right. you can see how even an innocent person would plead guilty because going to trial is risky business. even if you're innocent, you could be found guilty. and so many -- poor people most of the people in criminal justice -- many of them have overworked public defenders, and many who are good lawyers but don't have resources to investigate the cases to find a defense right so anything could happen in trial

so even an innocent person under circumstances might be compelled to fell like they should plead guilty, and many so many people do. 95% -- and i'm not saying plea bargaining is a bad thing if it would be fair it would be fine by that i mean this this and a lot of times these plea offers are made like prosecutors come up to defense tern and say, i tell you what, you know i'll give your guy a deal but expireds at 5:00 today he either takes grease take plea or it's off the table. and the defense attorney might say well wait a minute i have ethical duty to investigate these charmings to find out >> whether my client as a defense u how do i advise to to do this ad that is not illegal in our criminal justice system that's not the way justice is supposed to work but it goes on. every day -- in courtrooms across the country. where a defense attorney is going to the client saying look,

i don't know you might have a defense but they're making this offer and this decision is up to client that's not the way justice is supposed to look. now if the plea bargaining process say here's my file and a evidence i have against you. here's everything i know about the case. and i'm going to give you time to investigate, and then you -- let me know whether you want to take the plea. that's happens sometimes. i'm not saying all prosecutors act the way that i mentioned before. but many of them do. that is the system that we have in a lot of jurisdictions where there's a lot pressure on everybody to move cases along. clear the calendar. judges love pleas and apologize if there's judges in the audience. judges love plea because pleas only take a few minutes. trials take some times days an they've got to move that calendar. right. but there's a human being behind all of them. right. so you can see why i think

prosecutors -- are most powerful individuals in the criminal justice system. and i can go on and on in interest of time i won't. but i will say this one more thing about prosecutors. you know, the problem is and i talk to prosecutor friends they say look, and because i say you know you make decisions behind closed doors you're not accountable to public and people don't know what you're doing. racial disparity causing maybe not intentionally but you are -- and they will say look if my constituents don't like me they can vote me out. and i say well, somebody thinks that's funny in theory we live in a democracy, and you know, we hold those accountable to whom we grant power and prosecutors are the most powerful. democracies all about transparency, and there is no transparency in the prosecution function when it comes to charging plea bargaining those decisions are made behind closed

doors. so most state and local prosecutors and i should say there are federal prosecutors those are the u.s. attorney os that are over the federal districts. and then there are state and local prosecutors. only about 10% of all criminal cases are are handled on federal level only 10%. 90% of all criminal cases are handled on the state and local level so there are thousands of -- states attorneys district attorneys that are called different things in different jurisdictions out there and they're elected only five jurisdictions four states in the district of columbia do not have elected prosecutors they have another process but all the of the rest of them they're elected. they run are for office. and -- it's imperfect system of accountability because in the chapter you'll read about how many prosecutors they serve for decades. run out of post, people go to

the ballot box and election year and sometime there's one name there because people don't challenge them and when they do challenge incumbent it is almost impossible to unseat them, and when they run for office, they're not talking about the stuff i'm talking about here today. [laughter] right they're not saying -- their constituents they're not saying here's my charging policies and -- he's what i'm doing about racial disparities and contract justice and doubt you've heard any run on that. they've in the past anyway and still so in most jurisdictions they run on i'm tough on crime. and if they have an opponent they'll say i'm tougher on crime. [laughter] and they don't really talk about what they do. these really important decisions that they're making behind closed doors. and so that's why so important that we all educate ourselves so we can ask hard question i bet if you would go to a forum put on by prosecutor and raise your hand and say what are you charging and plea bargaining

potses they would faint right there i urge you to do that. [laughter] you should ask that question. right -- but i say it is important to pay attention and important for good people who care about justice in the criminal justice system to run for office and i'm happy to stay in 2016 a number of prosecutors were challenged around the country and were unseated not that many but some and a lot of attention has been fade to them in chicago, and in orlando, florida, and i could go on and on. so there is a movement i think of people paying more attention to prosecutor and what they do. an i'm happy to hear that. i think it's really important that we pay attention to that. i want to close again with with some statistics, and then open it up for questions. you know the united states -- criminal justice system is the largest in the world.

at end of 2011, approximately 7 million individuals were under some sort of correctional control in the united states including 2.2 million incarcerated in federal, state, or o local prisons in jail. united states has the highest incarceration rate in the world. rate of every other nation. racial minorities are more likely than white american to be arrested once arrested more likely to be convicted once convicted they are more likely to face this sentence. african-american males are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white male and similarly situated white counterparts and 2.5 times more likely than hispanic males current trends continue one of every three black american males born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime. as can one of every six latino

males as compared to one of every 17 white males. so -- we have a problem in this country todays. right? it's not a badge of honor but a badge of change. right why is it that quire different and why are we doing this so differently and why do we have horrible racial disparities as i explain tonight it is complicated there are a lot of complex reasons why. but the end of the day it's unjust unfair system and we have to fight to change it so thank you for hearing me out and i would be happy had to take your questions. [applause]

if you'll come to the microphone with the professor davis talking to herself. [laughter] open at the saddest picture that i've seen during the civil rights movement and i was in the civil rights movement this this man carryingings saying i'm a man to painful to watch that. i believe in police involved shootings -- this person is not seen as human and his fear once was new, whether it was without with weapon responsibility is to change that perception it is not a training issue it is in the a culture of police issues. what -- can fix it, because that is so central if you will shoot someone who viewed it happened in our state, someone who is run aring like -- unarmed people -- and it is so painful to see that and then you look at how dylann

roof was treated -- whose job is it. whose responsibility it? whose to fix it it when you see this person unarmed or not this african-american male is a humanning being. >> yes, and deserves respect. >> thank you so much for that. very insightful question and statement -- may what you said -- you knew this already. that what you just say it a lot of the essays actually. it's really scary and sad and depressing for black men and boys they're -- they can be doing nothing stapgding on street corners talking, just being right just living -- create suspicion in the minds of different people. they see black and they see criminal. or not human. you just said that. and that's so true.

in several an chris by katherine rustle brown on black boys -- they discuss these studies that are really quite shocking that show, you know, like particularly police officers to try to sort of game whether they have this inpolice sit bias that i talk about before or o o show them these images of black boys and they -- overestimate the age and size of black boys always seeing them as older -- and larger than they really are because of this bias immediately that's what they see when it is not there. some of the police studying that were donees in the chapter about implicit bias to ask police officer, show some of these images very quickly and ask them to respond to shoot or not shoot they would see weapons in the hands of unarmed black men --

and not see they will in the hands of white men who were armed because of this inpolice sit bias studies show this. so you know it is incredible burden to put on black man or boy frankly to say you know what act certain way. everybody a lot people in here given sons and daughters the talk. don't talk your police officer put your hands on wheel. thing scary maddening is that question saw in a lot of these video tapes right -- of i believe it was castile. you know, or saw tamir rice playing playing with gun they wrnght doing anything young so tell acts act a certain way is not going to save you all of the time so that scares your question what can we do about it? it is not a question of training twal some of our scholarships think that is a big part of it. because there is something

called implicit training and know about diversity train aring i get it because a lot of training awe -- not really -- you know, but there is really good training that's why making it explicit because studies show when you make people aware of their implicit that's first step of getting rid of it so there's actually very good implicit bias training out there u few people who are doing it i recently went to sort of a conference on this washington, d.c. where they brought together many different people in parole folks probation judges, and the woman who was doing the training there's a specific training. to try to root out there's a judge -- several judges now who are giving instructions to jurors about implicit buyers to make them aware of it before they make this decision so i do think training a big part of it. you know. at least a step anyway that's

out there. going to go to this side now. can i talk to you -- [inaudible conversations] can you hear her? ...

we saw them as and a half person. or - and i think that a lot of people glance over the fact that we might be biased. and i had to look straight at it. and it was uncomfortable. and i am not there yet but i'm not a police officer. and i - and i believe now that police officers, especially our prosecutor we have now, i hope

he is not here. he is here! [laughter] very guilty of bias. >> thank you i really appreciate your comments. thank you. i appreciate that you are here. i appreciate that you are reading the book and you say what i said was that we all have implicit biases. every race. thank you for your comments. >> thank you ms. davis for coming out tonight appreciate the racial makeup of the audience. i have a story into question. i was transporting an off-duty black officer to the airport and he told me my number one

priority was to get out of the situation alive. he says i'm not going to win, he says if you want a fight fight in the courthouse. in the new show me the uphill battle i would even have any uphill battle. but at least i am alive. and second, the question is this disparity in our courtroom, you close a conspiracy, is that a good word for it? >> thank you for the comment i will say this. the officers is his number one priority is to get out of the situation alive. i think what you have to do is train our police officers that you can get out of a situation alive without killing an unarmed person. [applause] not only -- when philando castile says this is my weapon i have it but i'm not touching i'm not reaching for it and he killed him anyway! so yeah, i want police officers, we need police officers to protect us. we get that.

but they do not have to kill people to stay alive. that is my point. and is it a conspiracy? i do not think it is a conspiracy. i think that most of it, maybe not all of it. some of it is intentional. i think some of it is intentional but not all of it. i will give you an example. there was a case in new york city i read about it in one of the - is versus new york city. not many people know about this but the several constitutional rights sued the new york city police department. they were stopping and frisking and searching illegally black men and boys.and they weren't doing it intentionally because at some police officers on the inside that wired themselves and caught them, the police chief telling them to go and stop them. so it was incredible. so without getting into the

details my point is that not all of it is unintentional. but i do think a lot of it is implicit bias. it doesn't make it right, it does not excuse it. it does not. because it's different. what we have to do is figure out how to get to the biases, get rid of them, retrain people and get rid of the people who refuse to do the job right. and it is really hard. it's really hard. it is hard to find police officers that have powerful unions. and interestingly enough, some of you may have seen trump make the statement encouraging police officers to engage in police brutality which is outrageous. i mean i know i continue to be shocked by everything he does but i was shocked that someone who claims to be the president in the states would say to the police, be rough, basically you know if you had a lot of this organizations, say actually no, that is wrong.

police unions, they have not spoken so anyway. i think we are over here now. >> there is a big difference between a white person and a racist. a racist cannot be trained. they are steeped in their racism, they will never change, they have no intention of changing. so that is what you are working with. the ones who are ordinary white police officers who really, they do have implicit bias and they are willing to work with that, it takes a willingness. and they can be trained to do better. but is never going to be eliminated. the racism is there and even the ones that we are talking about, can be trained. they are racist as well. fluoride, brown eyed transport

essentially she said that america is a racist country. you might as well face it up. you know that is what it is. he did a very excellent job of tracing for 400 years ago a pattern of behavior. we have had plenty of opportunity to address it but the malice is there, the intention to not address it is not to anyone's advantage that has power to address it. there is no incentive. there's not going to be addressed. there have been brilliant minds have studied this. there is no hope. i know people do not like that. that is the way it is. also, - basically that is it. if you keep looking at all of the data and you also keep looking at all of the studies, you look at the longevity of

what racism has been, there is no cure for it. and i think that maybe people can unite and try to address it. the racism is here, it has been here, it is part of the character of america. it will never go away. and we know it. if they want to be honest, and you can address it. but if you want to just keep on playing games and being nice, and one other thing. genocide, something a conspiracy. when you follow the statistics, the data, the genocide economic devastation has been long-term and systemic and it is not just the law enforcement. in the justice system is very and just. it is america, this is what america is known for. outside the borders.

because this is what america is. >> thank you for your comment. i will say this. [applause] i agree with some of what you say and i disagree with others. i do have hope because i have a child and grandchildren. [applause] there are some racist people who never exchange but there are some who will change. either because they get it or because they are made to change. so you know, some people decide desegregation, they decide they want them go school over the kids go to school but guess what? they were made to do this because the law required them to. so people who don't want to behave or people who are acting unconstitutionally or who are acting racist, you can't be in this position of power. that's my point. so what i think is that racism is always going to be there i know it will always be there.

but i also think that some people do change. and i don't think that every person is a racist. i have to believe that. i also have to believe in the change element again because to say people that there is no hope, and knuckle dissidents -- i am not going to say that. i have to believe it. [applause] >> professor davis, thank you for coming down to atlanta i really appreciate you. i wonder if you are writing and publishing the book if you intended to or have had any interaction with law enforcement after the publication of the book? i don't know if you saw that or of any of it came your way unintentionally. i'm curious about the unintended audience of the book. there has been some dialogue there. >> this is only my second so i

will will see. [laughter] but i have had interactions with 11 prosecutors who i talk to and talk about and so on. and police officers because there are some police officers that are the national enforcement of black officers i know some of the leaders will actually agree with everything i'm saying. i think that there are some folks out there who know that there is a problem and there needs to be changed but not enough of them. it's interesting to see so far have not gotten any, you all are a very friendly audience so i appreciate that. [inaudible] >> i want to make sure you are asking question and not a comment. >> thank you for coming i appreciate hearing this.

you are doing a great job stating the problem. and one of the things a particularly talk about implicit bias. i'm interested in looking at solutions. i agree with you also. i'm not about giving up hope. i do think that things can change. things are always changing okay? i am in artist, a working artist. at one of the things i'm interested in that endeavor with right now are the same issues you are done with good i'm also a father and a grandfather of young black men. and so when i think about the bias the thing i ask is where does it come from? one of the things i think of that may be very many areas that comes from but subliminal messaging. i do think it is important. and we can go back to looking at the birth of a nation, you can look at all of the cartoons and the caricatures and all of the imagery created. and not just white people looking at that but white people as well.

so today, where the byproduct of all of that. so a way in which to change that implicit bias in my mind is look into the arts. looking at filmmakers, painters, dancers, performers, poetry etc. i guess the question that i have you know for you is what do you see in bringing about positive social change? >> parts, film, theater, visual arts, so powerful and so important. photography, photojournalism, there are some examples of that. i think it plays an incredible role. and the arts move people emotionally with subliminal messaging and there is no question the positive ones play a role. keep making art.

thank you. [applause] >> i have a question but i also want to make this a quick comment i am very sorry. [laughter] i want to say that i hope that everybody does continue to have hope because i used to be extremely racist. i believe in different things and enough people yelled at me to make me realize that these things are absolutely false and i feel like i understand that it is sometimes really hard to have hope but this shouldn't be on black people and what to say stop killing us. it is really, good which have a louder voice and saying this has to stop because we spend enough time being biased and being very racist as well. so please don't lose hope. [applause] my question is that during george's last legislative season we had a bill introduced to the house, it was hb 116. the purpose was to expand the number of crimes that juveniles

could be charged with sent to superior court and i found this really upset because reading into it about the plan was actually armed robbery and i don't know about anybody else but i was a victim of an armed robbery i wouldn't want to see a 15-year-old go to an adult prison. >> unfortunate a lot of people - >> i'm really curious if you know about whether there is a difference in the rate of recidivism versus when a juvenile is tried as an adult versus when they are sent to the juvenile justice system and are there programs in place to actually reduce the rate of that in the juvenile justice system? >> great question. first of all, let me just say something about the bill. i'm not familiar with the details of it but the last thing we need is to create more crime. the united states of america has come up with criminalize everything! [laughter] everything! and sometimes there are six or seven crimes you could be charged with with one same act. in the lot sizes of title that

these crimes are scary if you see mentioned armed robbery. an armed robbery could be for a juvenile, let's say it could be a group of kids. this juveniles, i used to represent kids and a lot of times they don't think about i'm going to grab somebody. legal presenters walking down the street and one of them says oh there's a lady on a graph of personnel start running in the other one is with them they don't know what's going on so they start running. all of them are going to be charged with robbery. they are impulsive, they don't think ahead. and in armed robbery doesn't necessarily mean a gun. i have seen prosecutors have charged people with assault with a dangerous weapon for kicking someone with the shoe on. and i had this card with one of my clients in washington d.c.. assault with a dangerous weapon, a shot but, do you know

that is? is -- it is a foot with a shoe on. you're laughing but it's true. one kid was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and the weapon was a shoe. gives an example of how these crimes i mean sure, if someone takes the gun out and pointed at somebody than that is a dangerous crime. but not every armed robbery is that. not every so you know you get the point. there's no question that you ship a child and put them in the system they're not going to be rehabilitated. they're going to be made worse! it is not going to help them, it is not going to help society because they are going to get out at some point and when they get out there going to be worse than when they went in.

they are not having rehabilitative programs for juveniles in adult prisons. and they are not even for adults in adult prisons. so we're talking about fixing people and just to be clear i know that there are serious crimes are here with people have to be locked up. murderers and rapists and so on but just to be clear, the majority of folks are locked up for nonviolent crimes. the majority people are not locked up for those offenses. they're filling jails with crimes that are not like that. there programs out there for the juvenile but for the interest of time i will not go into them. but they don't have these in even juvenile facilities. >> i appreciate your courage because that's what it takes. there should be a dialogue for politicians because every prosecutor in georgia is

elected and thank you for mentioning some of the people that we fought against here. not because we hated them because they didn't do correct things in the justice system. i was one of seven people on the original citizens review commission. they did not have independence. there are no more commissions in georgia. in spite of the horrific record of justice. but what i want to mention is of the seven of us, five were attorneys. and i and one other person were the only ones demanding that the police chiefs come forward at least to answer a few questions about training. but because we did not have independence, the politicians picked the ones that we had. when i came on because of a neighboring unit. but i'm not talking about me i'm talking about the way these things work. please give us some hints and in order not just the boat but

to get independence for these because - >> where these commissions review police behavior? >> yes. and it came about because they shot a black woman named catherine johnson. you might be familiar. 53 times. and planted pot on her. the only reason we know about that is because the informant jumped out of the car and kept telling the cops, that the woman doesn't sell dope. but they busted on the door and kilter. so out of that the uproar, please tell us or give us some advice about some kind of independence, the boat is the first part because -- [applause] >> thank you. i do not have the answer for you.

i do appreciate what you're saying because a lot of these review boards do not have the power to really do anything because they do not have independence. and you know all i can say is that your elected officials, that's right democracy is ugly. particularly these days. it is very ugly. it is hard and it is difficult. but that is the only way we can do it. speak up and make our voices known who are elected officials and let them know what we the people want. right? that is the only way to do it, the hard way but i think it is the only way. yes? >> thank you for being here ms. davis i appreciate that. the question i have is about the jury system. in these police tones and brought to trial, the juries have not convicted them. i can't understand that. it baffles me.

is this a bias or is it something else involved there? >> thank you for the question because i want to answer it. so thank you for asking it. [laughter] it is something i've been thinking so much about i can't really figure it out either but i'm trying. after some of these cases, walter scott was running away with his hands in the air, got shot in the back like an animal. we saw that with their own eyes because it was videotaped. we saw garner being choked to death. it is hardly see this from your own eyes and i teach as i know what a murder is when i see one. and then to have in the case of eric garner 90 mean charge, in the case of walter scott, it came back a hung jury. and then in the case of shelby in oklahoma, too, show her shoot down terence crutcher with his hands in the air. not guilty! so in that, the question some of the jurors into i remember

some of the jurors saying we are so sad, no one wins here and we didn't have a choice because the law requires us to find the person guilty and i'm thinking no! they did not understand because here is the deal. it is true that the law favors police officers. the supreme court in a series of cases starting with tennessee versus garner and several others. i will not go into details but basically there is a real lose reasonable standard of the supreme court has said that is reasonable for the police officers to believe that they are in danger or someone else is in danger, they can use deadly force. they allow police officers to use deadly force a much wider range than you and i because you and i are ordinary citizens or residents, we have what's called self-defense but it is really very clear the law of self defense. you have to be in imminent danger of serious bodily injury

or death before you can use deadly force. what does that mean? eminent means someone has to be coming at you with a weapon before you can legally kill that person. the law says you do not have to give up your life for another person. but not so for cops. there is no immanence requirement. they do not have to be in imminent danger.and it doesn't have to be serious bodily injury or death has to be a loose safety standard, it does not have to be imminent. the law gives them permission but here's the thing. when those police officers testified in a few trials because remember, most of these didn't go to trial because most of them were not charged. but in the few that went to trial when there were acquittals, you read these jurors saying this.what happens i think is that when a police officer got on the stand and said, i believe that i was about to be killed. even though the jurors saw on videotape and they were

clearly, there was no weapon, it did not seem reasonable to me that they would feel that they were about to be killed. why would you think you are about to be killed when the person has their hands up? why would you think you are about to be killed if there was no weapon? so jurors are not required to believe testimony that is not believable. but judges tell all jurors in all cases, if the witness is not credible or saying something that is not believable you can reject it. it just depends that they would be leaving it. right? or the police officers because of the implicit bias even though the person is not armed or saying i feel this i am in danger. a juror can say well know. that is not reasonable. what you did was at a minimal, reckless and you are guilty. the law did not require them to do that. so i don't know if it is what

going on there but it is a combination of the law in the think misunderstanding what the job is. but again so few of them have gone to trial that you know - but thank you for that question. it is complicated. >> okay. in 2006 the fbi produced a report, you can see it online but it is mostly shows that there was a heavy white supremacist, kkk presence within the police force. it made specifically republicans they were like no, we can have this piece of the report -- they took another bite at the apple the fbi in 2009 with the department of homeland security. they said okay, we have this problem. because we have approximately 18,000 forces around the

country. we have a problem with white supremacists infiltrating the police departments.we need to address this. again, the republicans do it, janet napolitano decided to be spineless and rejected the report and it was shelved again. and there is nothing being addressed with the issue. i understand implicit bias but will stop to talk about the presence of white supremacists. i mean one person was accosted a shot by police officer wearing a kkk t-shirt underneath his uniform. so i understand implicit bias but then there is not even implicit basically.this is racism. when are we going to deal with that? [applause] >> i agree. i agree with everything that you said and there was a case of an officer in washington d.c. was found wearing one of those t-shirts under his uniform as well. it is not all implicit bias and

i appreciate you pointing that out. and when it is explicit like that there is no excuse. because the law is not very helpful in helping us get rid of implicit bias because of - there is a requirement of showing intentional discrimination before there is a remedy. there is no remedy for implicit bias but there are legal remedies for explicit clear racism. the question is the charges have to be brought, people need to be fired in that situation. i agree with you entirely. >> thank you for coming. he answered part of my question while i was standing here but i am in law enforcement and we are training and i was going to ask you to elaborate because the reasonable standard is what they're using to justify the use of force. in your answer part of it already. if you were given the

background because when i was studying this case, i was just appalled. >> each of the case involving the kid that was diabetic? >> yes, that was the ruling. so he was diabetic and they thought he robbed the convenience store and he did nothing and he was beat up and attack.and that's how it went to the supreme court. >> you just give the facts basically but that is one of the cases. there's another one involving police officers ramming a car. this case, the kid was having a diabetic shock situation. he ran to 7-eleven or something got into an altercation with the police and they beat him up basically and he brought a claim to the supreme court the said it was okay because the police officers acted reasonably even though he was not doing that. so this person was in a car in another one a high-speed chase. he should not have been speeding no question but police officers came up behind him and rammed his car repeatedly crushing him and turning him to

a quadriplegic because they decided that they had to stop this car because he was speeding. in the supreme court said that was reasonable because they could have heard other people when he was speeding so it was fine for the police officers to do that even though it left him the way it did.so that is the law we are dealing with. thank you for bringing that up. the law is bad for us. >> we keep talking in circles about bad policy. can we hear? we keep talking about bad policy in this country. and shallow though it may be, sometimes you find that primarily points we charge you legislate that morality. going back to the late acts of the 1960s and even recently, equity in marriage for our gay brothers and sisters. but at this point for us, for black and brown bodies, what

are the policy options? what is it that we should be articulating to legislators that we want specifically? because we can say all day long, don't shoot me. and we can say all day long, you are over prosecuting me. but what are the policy options? what is the language we should be using? >> i'm not sure i understand the language it depends what issue you are talking about. i took my police use of deadly force, i talked about - >> i guess it is more of a broad question maybe to help you narrow it down myself. but i am thinking about us talking over and over about the lack of prosecution of officers and how consistent it is for black and brown people to be convicted at a higher rate and have longer sentences at a higher rate. what is the language that we should be using to the legislators? because we can stand in the street all day long and say don't shoot. and we can stand in the street

all day long and say i'm going to jail more frequently and longer. but that is not a solution. >> a couple of things. thank you for your question. i cannot give you specific legislative language right now. it depends on the issue and all of those things. the last thing he said that is important. the black lives matter movement is so important. people my age are like - we need folks in the street marching because if you think for one minute that the laws and policies will be passed about people in the street you envision yourself. we need full. it is not either or. we do not need that movement is that those of us that lawyers litigating others and legislated that we aren't important. no need to be telling folks out there marking that - we know from history is always taken all of that and it will

continue to take all of that. when i get to this. i do think we need to have new laws but the bottom line is that it depends on the issue which language to use and i can talk about this depending on the issue. but it also is very important. even when you have good laws. you have bad people implementing the laws, really doesn't matter. so what i am focusing on now is with prosecutors we have to get to the end prosecutors get them out, get good progress in people in there. and it does make a difference. if you don't know who kim fox is, with two x's. she oversees alvarez who is the prosecutor in another case of a boy killed in the streets of chicago.in alvarez had a videotape that she sat on it would not reveal that showed that the police officer told mcdonald unlawfully and she would not release it she said we are working with the fbi we can release it. while the judge ordered her to

lisa and lo and behold, it showed the cop murdered that boy. and she all of a sudden scrambled and started charging the cop. while kim foxx came in and ran against her and bring her out. and it is not just about police killings. kim foxx is now implement in policies and practices that are reducing racial disparity, she just issued a policy that all folks are locked up on many bounds in chicago for minor offenses getting them released, she's a prosecutor but she is doing it because she has progressive mindset. and i ally in orlando came in and said i'm not seeking the death penalty because the death penalty is racist, it is i'm not doing it. of course, governor rick scott been removed her from all of the cases in her jurisdiction but now she is suing the government. it gets messy but the point is that we have got to get good progress people in positions of

they can implement the policies because if you don't have them in there, it doesn't matter what the laws are. how are we looking with time? do we have time for signing? >> if you are in line and you can have the fastest question, if not we will ask it later. >> how are you doing man? i am 24 years old and 10 -- they have become desensitized to police brutality and i get tired and weary of talking to them trying to teach them different ways how to replace the system of white supremacy with a system of justice. so are there any ways that you can tell me that i can tell them how they could go up and replace the system, replace it with justice.

>> i think just keep doing what you're doing. because a lot of times young people in particular get discouraged. all people due to fear but you're making a difference. you might not think you are, you might get disturbed because you hear the kids same things but they are getting it because you are there and you are mentoring them. and it is making a difference even though you don't realize it. i'm just telling you to keep it, keep doing it. maybe we can take a couple of questions. who will not be able to get everybody. let me take one more because think we're losing people. >> my question is very similar to his. i helped establish a black student union in my school. and what think constantly that came up was that you are considered guilty of that event is it in your never considered innocent until proven guilty. and there is a lot of very interesting young people looking to change the system but they don't know how. so for people going into college, or choosing a new career path, what will be the

most necessary part for them? what is a field that needs the most adjustment, where the mines in the most? >> quick question. i stayed when people say want to do something in criminal justice but i don't know if you want to be a defense attorney or prosecutor i tell them how is the defense? everyone this i want everyone to be a public defender and we need more but we also need good prosecutors. so tell me what your debt is. if you were to find yourself and say i want to be dependent think will be the best defender you can be to help people but if you want to be prosecutor, read my book arbitrary justice. [laughter] be a progressive. use the power to do good and is not just criminal justice there so many opportunities out there for young people today. and organizations out there that are doing positive progressive things.whatever they are interested in.

whether it is the arts, policy, history, technology. go and do what's in their heart to do and all of those things can be used to promote social justice. all of them! whatever they are interested in. be the best they can be in it and there are avenues out there and organizations out there that can help them to promote justice. and i would encourage you to encourage them to do that. thank you all very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> here is a look at some of