SCSJ Senior Attorney for Criminal Justice Daryl Atkinson appeared on the PBS NewsHour on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 and discussed “Ban the Box” hiring reform with NewsHour Senior Correspondent William Brangham and senior executive counsel for the National Federation for American Business Elizabeth Milito. From its earliest days as a refuge for colonial settlers seeking a fresh […]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson a finalist for David Carliner Public Interest Award
Southern Coalition for Social Justice Senior Staff Attorney for Criminal Justice Daryl Atkinson was recognized as a finalist for the American Constitution Society’s (ACS) David Carliner Public Interest Award at the 2015 ACS National Convention in Washington D.C. on Thursday, June 11. The award is given annually to a mid-career public interest lawyer and honors an attorney […]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson discusses "On the Run" on HuffPost Live
Senior Attorney Daryl Atkinson joined host Marc Lamont Hill and University of Wisconsin Sociologist Alice Goffman in a HuffPost Live discussion of Goffman’s book, “On the Run.” Much of “On the Run” focuses on the book’s main subjects, black men in their 20s living in a Philadelphia neighborhood who find ways to evade, dodge and […]
Words matter: the importance of humanizing criminal justice vocabulary
Inmate. Prisoner. Other. Discussed. What to call incarcerated people: Your feedback By BLAIR HICKMAN We received more than 200 responses to our callout asking the best way to refer to people behind bars. Of the options we offered, 38 percent preferred “incarcerated person,” 23 percent liked “prisoner” and nearly 10 percent supported use of the […]
"Ban the Box" campaign gains momentum in Washington
This story was written by Josh Gerstein and appeared on politico.com on March 25, 2015 Obama urged to ease hiring of ex-prisoners A group of criminal justice reformers, including some who served prison time, are headed to the White House Wednesday to press President Barack Obama to do more to help those who’ve been convicted […]
SCSJ's Daryl Atkinson discusses 'The New Jim Crow' on HuffPost Live
SCSJ Senior Attorney Daryl Atkinson appeared on HuffPost Live at 6:30 PM EST with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and HufffPost Washington Bureau Chief Ryan Grim to discuss Michelle Alexander’s critically acclaimed book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Era of Colorblindness and the opportunities for criminal justice reform. Alexander’s book reveals the phenomena […]
Ban the Box to increase tax revenue and reduce crime
‘Ban the Box’ to increase tax revenue and reduce crime Guest Commentary QNotes ENGAGE: Write a letter to the editor For 1.6 million North Carolinians, the worst part of job searching is not the interview, but the moment they drop off the application. Nearly every employment application contains a small box on the front page […]
Eliminating the Second-Class Status of People With Criminal Records
Daryl Atkinson ’07 is a man on a mission to ensure that equal justice under the law is realized for those with a criminal past. His mission is simple: restore the civil rights and human rights of people with criminal records. This may appear to be a mighty feat as America has the highest rate […]
Shriver Racial Justice Training Institute Applications Open
Don’t Miss the Call to Action! Application Deadline: February 27, 2015! With recent events in Ferguson, Staten Island, and elsewhere, our nation is at a pivotal moment in understanding and addressing issues of race, implicit bias, and the structural barriers that marginalize communities of color. It is more important than ever for equal justice advocates […]
Press Clipping: Inmates sue staff of Lanesboro Correctional
WBTV 3 News, Weather, Sports, and Traffic for Charlotte, NC ANSON COUNTY, NC (WBTV) – Five former prisoners of Lanesboro Correctional in Anson County say guards at the prison helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. They are now suing the facility. Additional Links Inmates: Officers at Lanesboro helped gang members wage attacks The […]
SCSJ Files Suit Challenging Mistreatment at Lanesboro Correctional
Five men formerly held at Lanesboro Correction Institution in Anson County, NC have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that officers repeatedly helped gang-affiliated inmates get weapons and wage attacks. Plaintiffs in the case allege that they were violently assaulted by fellow prisoners wielding contraband weapons, and that corrections staff were aware of these attacks and […]
Formerly Incarcerated Leaders Have Historic Meeting with Federal Interagency Reentry Council
The civil rights movement had the Big Six – Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Whitney Young, and other visionaries – advocating for the end of discriminatory treatment toward black and brown people. On Monday, October 20th we saw the emergence of the Big Eight – formerly incarcerated leaders at the forefront of a new civil […]
Left of Black: Mass Incarceration, Voting Rights & State Sanctioned Violence
Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined in-studio by Daryl Atkinson, Senior Staff Attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice in North Carolina. In a conversation about mass incarceration, the erosion of voting rights and State sanctioned violence Aktinson asserts that “the State sanctioned violence that we saw […]
Why #BanTheBox Matters: Durham's Success Story
Want proof that “ban the box” policies help people with criminal records secure good jobs while helping employers hire good workers? You’ll find it in Durham, North Carolina, where government hiring of people with records has increased dramatically since the city and county removed questions about prior convictions from job applications. In 2011, the last […]
TalkPoverty LIVE focuses on Durham's "Ban the Box" success
SCSJ Staff Attorney Daryl Atkinson discussed critical policy issues relating to poverty in America with fellow expert panelists on Thursday’s TalkPoverty LIVE! webcast. Joining him were: Jared Bernstein: Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and former Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Biden Jodie Levin-Epstein: Deputy Director of the Center for Law […]
A Ferguson Near You: police brutality and racism
In the aftermath of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, Duke Law’s Black Law Student Association brought together a panel of experts to discuss the issue of police brutality and race. Because violence against unarmed young men of color is not unique to Ferguson – it happens every day throughout the U.S. SCSJ’s Daryl Atkinson spoke […]
The Drug War and the Mass Incarceration It Caused: Where We Are and Where We Still Must Go
Posted by Renaldo Pearson at Huffington Post 09/16/2014 9:11 am EDT Updated: 09/16/2014 9:59 am EDT The Drug War and the Mass Incarceration It Caused: Where We Are and Where We Still Must Go (Part 5 of 5) Where We Still Must Go (see Parts 1 – 4 here) These developments not only reflect a […]
City Council Decisions On Durham Police Department
This radio interview originally aired on WUNC’s The State of Things on September 2, 2014 City Council Decisions On Durham Police Department Listen to the full radio interview here 31:25 The Durham City Council meets about the city’s police department tonight and the alleged racial discrimination by law enforcement. City of Durham Credit City […]