The College of Applied Sciences and Arts Justice Studies department will host the Fall 2014 Ann Lucas Lecture in Law & Justice at San José State University Nov. 13, from 4-6 p.m. in Yoshihiro Uchida Hall 124.

The lecture today will feature a debate on Jonathan Simon’s recently published book “Mass Incarceration on Trial: A Remarkable Court Decision and the Future of Prisons in America.”

The debate panel will include Simon, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, Elliott Currie, of UC Irvine,  Mohamed Shehk, the national media and communications director of Critical Resistance, and Edith Kinney, an SJSU Justice Studies professor.

In his book, Simon argues against the system of mass incarceration that he says relies on “racist gangs, lockdowns, and Supermax-style segregation units to maintain a tenuous order.” His book discusses how the 2011 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Plata could transform the prison system and Simon presents the opportunity to “replace mass incarceration with a system anchored in the preservation of human dignity.”

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more on the event, view the flier here (PDF): Mass Incarceration on Trial flyer