Goldstock-Jacobs Faculty Seminar

The Goldstock-Jacobs faculty seminar is an invitation-only forum that welcomes criminal justice leaders from non-profits, government, academia and the private sector. The seminar is attended by criminal justice professionals, primarily faculty from NYU (from law and other disciplines), but also distinguished attorneys, policymakers, researchers, alumni, and visitors from around the world. 

The seminar is generously supported by Ronald Goldstock, formerly the New York State Commissioner of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor and director of the New York Organized Crime Task Force, and a leading national authority on organized crime. The seminar is also named in memory of James B. Jacobs, former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Professor of Constitutional Law and the Courts, who established the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at NYU Law in 1983 as well as the seminar and the Fortunoff (later Hoffinger) Colloquium lecture series.

The Goldstock-Jacobs Faculty Seminar is held Wednesdays 1:10–2:25 p.m. during the academic semester. If you have any questions or would like more information about the seminar, please contact program assistant Jenna Kass.

Spring 2024 Speakers

January 17: Adam Kolber on Punishment for the Greater Good: A Limited Defense of Consequentialist Punishment

January 24: Bridget Brennan on Why Are Fentanyl Dealers Killing Their Customers? 

January 31: Kyung-Ji Kate Rhee on From Criminal Justice to Human Justice

February 7: Aaron Chalfin on Investments in Policing and Public Safety: A Review of the Evidence

February 14: Michael Jacobson on ISLG: Criminal Justice Investment Initiative and the Reducing Revocations Project

February 21: David Patton on Sayfullo Saipov and the Federal Death Penalty

February 28: Jocelyn Simonson on Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People are Dismantling Mass Incarceration

March 6: Becca Goldstein on Legal Financial Obligations, Recidivism, and Legal Legitimacy: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

March 13: No speaker

March 20: No speaker, Spring Break

March 27: Scott Hechinger on Building Legal Change: Moving Advocacy Outside of Court 

April 3: Erin Murphy on The Criminal Legal System and the Executive Branch

April 10: US Attorney Breon Peace

April 17: Westchester DA Mimi Rocah on Implementing Change as a District Attorney—Successes and Challenges


Previous Speakers

Fall 2023

Peter Martin on Judicial Accountability: The New York Chief Judge Vacancy and Beyond

Tom Dybdahl on  Innocence Is Not Enough: Why the Brady rule was doomed from the start, and how we can fix it

Jonathan McLean on  The Award-Winning Nathanial ACT at CASES

Justine Olderman on  The Power of Public Defense: From Evolution to Revolution

Terri Rosenblatt (PDF: 45 KB) on  Post-Conviction Justice

Alex Piquero (PDF: 43 KB) on Win Some, Lose Some: Successes and Challenges Using Scientific Research to Inform Criminal Justice Policy Decisions

Judge John Gleeson on  The Gotti Wars: Taking Down America’s Most Notorious Mobster

Lynn Paltrow on  Arresting Developments for Pregnant People Before and After Dobbs

Oded Oren on  Transparency: The Best Judge of Judges

Darren Breeden on  From Prison to Practice: Ensuring inside practitioners of the law are employed upon release

Spring 2023 

Bennett Capers | Sheldon Evans | US Attorney Damian Williams | Zach Intrater | Ben Polk | Nedim Hogic | Joanna Schwartz | Emerson Sykes | Anna Harvey | Chris Alexander | Avani Mehta Sood | Ronnate Asirwatham

Fall 2022 

John Braithwaite | Valena Beety | Andrew WeissmanRyan Goodman | Chesa Boudin | Erika Sasson | Katharine Huffman | Dr. Rachael Bedard | Joanna Weiss | Len Kamdang | Ames Grawert