Walker Institute hosts judicial candidate forum focused on juvenile justice
KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations at Western Michigan University is hosting a judicial forum on juvenile justice. All Kalamazoo-area judge candidates have been invited to participate in the forum, which will be led by the institute's Youth Juvenile Justice Fellows.
"Judges have a huge impact on youth involvement in the juvenile justice system, so we thought that it would be a great idea to spend some time meeting with and talking to judge candidates to get a sense of their perspective of the juvenile justice system, the role that judges play in the juvenile justice system and what youth and advocates can do to impact the system," says Dr. Luchara Wallace, director of the Walker Institute.
The forum is happening from 4 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 23, in the Multicultural Center inside the Adrian Trimpe Building on Western’s Main Campus. The public is encouraged to attend to learn more about the justice system and where candidates stand on matters of juvenile justice.
The Walker Institute welcomed its second cohort of Youth Juvenile Justice Fellows in fall 2022. Through a grant from the Public Welfare Foundation, the transformative yearlong program aims to empower youth and families who have had direct or indirect involvement in the justice system with tools to become advocates for justice.
"We want to make sure that we are preparing them to have impacts," Wallace says, noting the inaugural cohort felt empowered to affect change after a trip to the state capital and the opportunity to interact with lawmakers.
"With our previous cohort, we did develop advocates. And we were able to prepare the young people and parents who were a part of the program to effectively identify those issues that matter the most to them and develop the skills to articulate their thoughts, opinions and ideas to those who are in decision-making positions."
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