First published in 1985, the University of Chicago Legal Forum is the Law School’s second-oldest journal. The Legal Forum is a student-edited journal that focuses on a single cutting-edge legal issue every year, presenting an authoritative and timely approach to a particular topic.

This year, scholars will come together around the topic, "Policing the Police." Seminal developments in case law, the militarization of police, and widely covered police killings make this an important time for evaluating police discretion and the challenges embedded in several interconnected systems. People from all sides of the discussion are willing to talk about reform. Volume 2016 will explore unsettled questions in the area of criminal law with a particular emphasis on the shift from looking at criminals as the sole problem and evaluating the systems that purport to be the solution. The Volume will examine a wide variety of issues, such as police compliance with the law and Miranda Rights; police use of force and deadly force; prosecutorial discretion and special grand jury procedures; civil remedies; and recent topics like body cameras, civil oversight, and police unions. The discussions and papers are a starting point for important conversations that will continue long after publication as the country seeks to reform the broken systems.

Panel One: Defining the Problem 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m., Room V

• Sonja Starr, Visiting Professor, University of Chicago Law School (University of Michigan Law School)
• Samuel Walker, University of Nebraska at Omaha 
• David Weisburd, George Mason University 
• Frank Zimring, University of California, Berkeley School of Law 

Panel Two: Case Studies 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Room V

• Jeffrey Fagan, Columbia Law School 
• Craig Futterman, University of Chicago Law School 
• Issa Kohler-Hausmann, Yale Law School 
• Tracey Maclin, Boston University School of Law 

Keynote Address 12:15 p.m., Room II

• Tracey L. Meares - Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law, Yale University 
• Lunch provided 

Panel Three: Reforming Police Institutions 1:25 p.m.-2:40 p.m., Room V

• Eric Miller, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles 
• Daria Roithmayr, Visiting Professor, University of Chicago Law School (University of Southern California Gould School of Law) 
• David Thacher, University of Michigan 
• Tom Tyler, Yale Law School

Panel Four: Barriers to and Agents of Reform 2:50 p.m.-4:20 p.m., Room V

• Monu Bedi, DePaul University College of Law 
• Barry Friedman, New York University School of Law 
• Aziz Huq, University of Chicago Law School 
• Richard McAdams, University of Chicago Law School 
• John Rappaport, University of Chicago Law School 
• Joanna Schwartz, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

Reception 4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m., Green Lounge

This event is free and open to the public.

Event poster