W&M Featured Events
[PAST EVENT] "When They See Us" Private Screening & Discussion with Jeree Thomas '08 Lemon's Legacies Porch Talk
Access & Features
- Free food
- Open to the public
- Registration/RSVP
This Lemon’s Legacies Porch Talk is in conjunction with The Campaign for Youth Justice’s October Youth Justice Action Month. Jeree Thomas ’08, a justice reform advocate and attorney, will lead a discussion following the screening of episode 1 of “When They See Us.” Join us as we watch this important episode, partake in light refreshments, and discuss justice reform issues following the private screening. "When They See Us" is a Netflix limited series on the Central Park 5, directed by Ava DuVernay. View the trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3F9n_smGWY.
“CFYJ is a national initiative dedicated to ending the prosecution, sentencing, and incarceration of youth under the age of 18 in the adult criminal justice system. The stories portrayed in this four-part series happened 30 years ago, and led the United States to respond to youth crime in a brutal and extreme manner. Nearly every state in the nation changed its laws to make it easier to treat children as adults in the justice system. Ava DuVernay's series touches on many issues that the 76,000-youth prosecuted as adults each year face. This includes police interrogations, understanding miranda and protections against self-incrimination; conditions of confinement including placement far away from families, solitary confinement, and abuse; collateral consequences of an adult conviction and mandatory registration on sex offender registries; extreme sentences, innocence claims, and lost childhoods.”
Jeree Thomas is the Criminal Justice Reform Initiatives Program Officer at Borealis Philanthropy. In this role, she oversees the Communities Transforming Policing Fund which supports grassroots groups across the country pushing to end police violence and increase accountability. Before joining Borealis, Jeree served as the Policy Director with the Campaign for Youth Justice, a national initiative dedicated to ending the prosecution, sentencing, and incarceration of youth under eighteen in the adult criminal justice system. Jeree started her career as a Skadden Fellow and Staff Attorney with the JustChildren Program of the Legal Aid Justice Center where she represented children incarcerated in Virginia’s juvenile prisons. She also led a statewide de-incarceration campaign called Re-Invest in Supportive Environments (RISE) for Youth. In 2016, Jeree was the inaugural recipient of the Youth Justice Emerging Leader Award from the National Juvenile Justice Network. Jeree graduated from William & Mary with a double major in Social Justice and Community Advocacy and Religious Studies in 2008. She graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law with a concentration in Law and Public Service in 2011.
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