Report from Atlanta

After a few days to unwind and decompress, I wanted to share my thoughts about the ASC Annual Meeting in Atlanta. The big news, of course, was the keynote address by President Jimmy Carter. It was, to put it mildly, the highlight of my week. (And Sean's, too, I'm sure. Ha!) A few random thoughts on his remarks:

~ He is a wonderfully engaging speaker. Of course, effective public speaking is a basic political skill at which lifelong politicians typically excel (our current decider-in-chief notwithstanding). Still, I was struck by how absorbing his remarks were. I think this is in part due to his (quite southern) habit of speaking...very slowly...and deliberately. (Though, it also probably helped that I am an acolyte of his particular worldview.)

~ There was a delicious irony in the ASC -- an organization notoriously loath to make policy statements based on criminological research for fear of engaging in "activism" -- inviting President Carter to give a keynote address encouraging ASC members to do exactly that! He called for criminologists to become more actively involved in documenting human rights abuses in the criminal justice system, including racial disparities in CJ processing and the execution of mentally disabled and juvenile offenders. Indeed, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Other topics generated much gossip discussion as well. For example, it turns out the drought in Atlanta affected business in the hotel. I went to a luncheon in one of the banquet rooms where, in an apparent effort to conserve water, the default beverage at each place setting was iced tea, not water. At first I found this puzzling as iced tea is made with water...until it dawned on me that it likely was bottled tea. But then, couldn't they have gotten bottled water, too? Also, was it just me or did it rain Thursday night? I remember being sort of half-asleep and thinking, "Is it raining outside? Are people going to start cheering or something?"

I had to cut my trip short this year; sadly, I missed out on what I'm sure was another barnburnin' performance by Larry Sherman & the Hot Spots at the Friday night Minority Fellowship Dance. Anyone care to give a report: was Albert "Delinquent Boys" Cohen there, shakin' his tailfeather yet again??

Here are some pics of the festivities for y'all:

Kristy, me, Beth, & Christina at President Carter's address (in the front row!!):

President Carter, mid-remarks (please excuse the yellowish tint; flash photography was prohibited*):



*Anyone besides Beth & me hear Michael Tonry describe during the awards plenary the "mass weaponry" in the room for President Carter's address? Crazy!