James Forman Jr. is a professor of law at Yale Law School. He has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, many law reviews, and other publications. He is a former law clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and spent six years as a public defender in Washington, DC, where he co-founded the Maya Angelou Public Charter School.

Professor Forman’s new book is Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America.

He was in the Northwest to speak at Town Hall Seattle, presented by University Book Store and Town Hall as part of the Civics series.