Lewis R. Katz, J.D. – John C. Hutchins Professor of Law and Director of Foreign Graduate Studies at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Dear Colleagues:

Problems with the Cleveland Police Department have received a great deal of publicity due to the shooting of Tamir Rice, shooting of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, and the consent decree between the U.S. Department of Justice and City of Cleveland requiring reform of the department. But the broader system of criminal justice in Cuyahoga County also faces a wide range of problems. The prosecutions or non-prosecutions in those two police shooting cases are the most visible subjects of controversy. But a Justice System Reform Group was set up before those cases arose.

Issues include the public defender system and delayed sentencing in some cases. The Constitutional right to a fair and speedy trial, honored in the breach basically everywhere, appears especially weak in Cuyahoga County, where people arrested on low-level felony charges may be in jail for months, losing jobs and suffering other non-legal punishment, before their cases are processed. But representatives of Common Pleas Judges resigned from the reform group to protest proposals to speed up the process.

Professor Katz is a leading authority on criminal procedure. He authored a report for the Department of Justice on trial delays in 1971! Join us as he discusses the need for and obstacles to creating a better criminal justice reform system in our county.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies
 

About Our Guest

A specialist in criminal law whose primary interest is the Fourth Amendment, Lewis Katz was called an “expert in criminal law” by the New York Times. His books and articles have been cited in more than 400 cases and legal articles by numerous courts including the United States Supreme Court. He is the author of The Justice Imperative (1980), Know Your Rights (1993), and Ohio Arrest Search and Seizure (2005), and co-author of six other books: Justice Is the Crime (1972), New York Suppression Manual (1992), Ohio Felony Sentencing Law (2004), Ohio Criminal Justice (2005), Questions & Answers: Criminal Procedures (2003), and Baldwin’s Ohio Practice: Criminal Law (2003). A longtime member of the Case Western Reserve University School of Law faculty (since 1966), he teaches both Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure and directs the Graduate Program for Foreign Students in U.S. Legal Studies.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

February 26: Update on the Presidential Campaign. With Justin Buchler, Associate Professor of Political Science at Case Western Reserve University. ***Alternate Location: Kelvin Smith Library, Room LL06***

March 4: Why Is There a Heroin Epidemic? With Lee Hoffer, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Case Western Reserve University.

March 11: Spring Break

March 18: E-Cigarettes: Problem or Solution? With Scott H. Frank MD MS, Associate Professor and Director, Master of Public Health Program, and Director of Health for the City of Shaker Heights.

March 25: Hosting the Super B**l of Politics. With Brittany Williams, Senior Project Manager, Cleveland 2016 Host Committee.

April 1: The Obama Administration and the Future of U.S. Manufacturing. With Susan Helper, Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics and, former Chief Economist, U.S. Department of Commerce.

April 8: Citizenship in a Divided America. With Mary Romero, Professor of Justice Studies and Social Inquiry, Arizona State University. Cosponsored by Academic Careers in Engineering and Science (ACES) program. Room to be determined.

April 15: Money, Happiness, and Redistribution. With David Clingingsmith, Associate Professor of Economics. ***Alternate Location: Baker-Nord Center, Room 206, Clark Hall***

April 22: Germany, Asylum and the Future of Europe. With Kenneth F. Ledford, Associate Professor of History and Law and Chair, Department of History at Case Western Reserve University.