U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch Keynotes 2016 Dinkins Forum
“Change can come, and we can make it so.” This bold assertion by U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch framed the 19th Annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum, which focused for the second year in a row on our nation’s criminal-justice system.
Lynch, who took office in April 2015 after previously serving as U.S. attorney for New York’s eastern district, delivered the keynote address at this year’s forum, held at Alfred Lerner Hall.
She highlighted the “21st-century reforms” undertaken by the Department of Justice during the Obama administration and emphasized the importance of “liberty, equality, and justice… not just for some, but for all."
Because these ideals have been “severely tested by our own criminal justice system,” said Lynch, it’s important that the Department of Justice “be willing to reexamine the basic concepts and precepts on which we make our decisions.”
The ultimate goal, she added, is to make the system “more efficient, more effective, and above all, more fair.”
She described reforms including the Smart on Crime Initiative, which diminished the use of mandatory minimums, shifted prosecutorial focus to more violent criminals, and sought to create more effective alternatives to incarceration. The department has also embraced the use of data to enhance its decision-making and more effectively demonstrate when programs do and do not work.
Lynch also said the Department of Justice sees the need to take a “holistic” approach to public safety and criminal justice.
“We know that issues of crime and poverty, health, education, [and] housing, are inextricably bound together, and that solving them requires cooperation across sectors, and across specialties,” Lynch said. “We cannot incarcerate our way out of these problems. They do not begin with criminal justice, and they cannot end with criminal justice. We are a part of the whole solution.”
After calling for additional resources to address mental-health issues in the criminal-justice system, Lynch concluded her remarks by stressing the importance of moving past political polarization.
Citizens, she said, must sit down and talk to each other about important issues—because such discourse can make a difference.
“Thank you for believing that change can happen,” Lynch concluded. “Thank you for always working to make it so.”
Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger, SIPA Dean Merit E. Janow, and SIPA Professor David Dinkins all provided opening remarks for the event.
“The reason this forum is and will remain a leading venue for discussions around complex urban challenges is because of its namesake, Mayor David N. Dinkins,” Janow said. Praising Dinkins and his 23-year tenure on the faculty, she announced the appointment of Professor Michael Nutter, the former mayor of Philadelphia, as the inaugural holder of the David N. Dinkins Professorship in Urban and Public Affairs.
Attendees responded warmly to the news of the honor.
Dinkins thanked the crowd and discussed his special pleasure in welcoming Lynch, who is the first African-American woman to serve as attorney general. By coincidence, the two were at the same public event in Brooklyn when news of her confirmation was announced about a year ago.
“I was moved to witness the devotion and authentic joy displayed by her staff members when they heard the news,” Dinkins said. “I keep a picture taken of us together that day framed in my office, as a historic reminder.”
Following the attorney general’s remarks, Professor Ester Fuchs—director of SIPA’s Urban and Social Policy concentration—moderated a panel on criminal justice with Nutter, Vera Institute of Justice director Nicholas Turner, NYC Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters, and Columbia Law Professor Daniel Richman. The panel complemented Lynch’s insights by focusing primarily on reforms being undertaken at the local level.
— Lindsay Fuller MPA ’16
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch gave the keynote speech at the 19th Annual David N. Dinkins Leadership and Public Policy Forum.