Michelle Mbekeani is the Senior Legal & Policy Advisor in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. Prior to that, Michelle was a Staff Attorney at the Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. There she focused on police reform, voting rights, and criminal justice reform. Join us as Michelle discusses how the operational dependency of private prisons on debt financing in the form of credit, loans, and bonds creates a compelling financial incentive for mass incarceration and monetizes a predominately Black population. 

Thank you to Mayer Brown LLP and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP for their generous support of the Diversity Scholar Series as an Advocate Tier sponsor of the Chicago Law Partners Program.

This convening is open to all invitees who are compliant with UChicago vaccination requirements and, because of ongoing health risks, particularly to the unvaccinated, participants are expected to adopt the risk mitigation measures (masking and social distancing, etc.) appropriate to their vaccination status as advised by public health officials or to their individual vulnerabilities as advised by a medical professional. Public convening may not be safe for all and carries a risk for contracting COVID-19, particularly for those unvaccinated. Participants will not know the vaccination status of others and should follow appropriate risk mitigation measures.