On December 21, 2018, President Trump signed into law the First Step Act (S. 756), criminal justice reform legislation that reforms some federal mandatory minimum sentencing laws, as well as some aspects of the federal prison system. The law’s passage in both the U.S. House and Senate with bipartisan support was the first major criminal justice reform legislation enacted at the federal level in years. While the First Step Act is a prime example of two sides working together to find common ground on a broad and complex issue and taking the “first step” to find solutions for improving the federal criminal justice system, everyone agrees more work is required in the area of criminal justice reform.

At the Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship, we promote bipartisan engagement in political discourse. We support interactions that reach across ideological divisions to identify commonalities. The Henry Clay Washington Summit (Clay Summit) will bring together experts from both sides of the political aisle for candid panel discussions on the future of criminal justice reform. Elected officials will discuss what lies ahead for legislative reforms. Advocacy leaders will share the most pressing reform issues on the horizon, and a special guest panel of college scholars will present their analysis of criminal justice policy from the perspective of the next generation.

Program

• Registration/Networking
• Opening: Holly Harris, Executive Director of the Coalition for Public Safety
• Panel 1: Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA)
• Panel 2: Molly Gill, Vice President of Families Against Mandatory Minimum; Former Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, Member of Cozen O’Connor’s State Attorneys General Practice; Jenna Moll, Deputy Director of the Coalition for Public Safety
• Panel 3: Steven Olikara, Founder and President of the Millennial Action Project; Select Scholars from the 2019 Henry Clay College Congress

Moderator: Douglas Kiker

Sponsors