Campus/Virtual - Albany Law Review Fall Symposium 2022
TUE, NOV 1 2022, 11AM - 1:30PM
America/New_York
In Person
The Albany Law Review 2022 Fall Symposium
Sex Work: Legalization and Decriminalization
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2022
3:00 P.M.
ALBANY LAW SCHOOL, DEAN ALEXANDER MOOT COURTROOM
AVAILABLE VIA ZOOM
RECEPTION TO FOLLOW IN THE EAST FOYER
From OnlyFans to Pornhub, we’re surrounded with legal ways to sell sex, but “prostitution” is still a crime on the books in New York. Should it be?
As debates over the decriminalization or legalization of consensual sex work have waged in recent years, concerns over protecting victims of human trafficking continue. Join us to discuss the nuances, current legal challenges, and potential future development of sex work and human trafficking in New York.
MODERATOR
Prof. Melissa L. Breger
President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
PANELISTS
Senator Julia Salazar
New York State Senator, New York's 18th State Senate District
Nora M. Cronin, Esq.
Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
RJ Thompson, Esq.
Managing Director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center
Damara Fredette ‘19 Esq.
Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York
ABOUT OUR MODERATOR AND PANELISTS:
Melissa L. Breger, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
Professor Breger has been teaching law for more than 20 years, over which time she has earned numerous teaching and service awards on both the national and local levels, including the Howard A. Levine Award for Excellence in Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare; the Shanara C. Gilbert Award from the American Association of Law Schools; the L. Hart Wright Excellence in Law Teaching Award from the University of Michigan Law School; the Albany County Family Court Children’s Center Award; and multiple awards from Albany Law School..
Professor Breger is the co-author of New York Law of Domestic Violence, a two-volume treatise published by Reuters-Thomson-West, as well as the author of numerous law review articles regarding issues of family law, gender, and justice, and the increasing epidemic of child sex trafficking. She also was the Director of the Family Violence Litigation Clinic from 2002 to 2010. Prior to teaching, Professor Breger dedicated her career to children, women and families, with her formative years practicing in New York City in numerous capacities.
Julia Salazar, New York State Senator, New York's 18th State Senate District
Senator Julia Salazar represents New York’s 18th State Senate District, which covers several Brooklyn neighborhoods. Prior to her election to the State Senate, she worked as a community organizer in New York City, beginning her advocacy at her time as a student at Columbia University where she fought for the rights of tenants and service industry workers, and later served with Jews for Racial & Economic Justice.
In 2018, Senator Salazar became the youngest woman elected in the history of the New York State Senate, as well as the first member of the Democratic Socialists of America to serve in the New York legislature. Senator Salazar currently chairs the State Senate’s Committee on Crime Victims, Crime & Correction, serves as a member on other committees. She has attracted national media attention for her support for sex worker’s rights, and sponsored Senate Bill S3075, which would have decriminalized certain prostitution offenses and amended provisions relating to prosecution of such offenses and vacated judgments.
Nora M. Cronin, Esq., Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
As an Adjunct in the Master’s Program in International Criminal Justice, Professor Cronin teaches courses on human trafficking, gender and the law, and public policy. She is a former Assistant Director of the Bureau of Refugee Services at the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, where she held the position for more than six years. In that role, Professor Cronin was the state coordinator for the New York State Response to Human Trafficking Program, providing training and technical assistance in that area statewide.
After receiving her J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, Professor Cronin worked as a Senior Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, and an Empire State Fellow at the Governor’s Office of Public Safety.
RJ Thompson, Esq., Managing Director of the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center
RJ Thompson, Esq. is a longtime human rights lawyer, organizer, and educator; as well as a certified personal trainer, go-go dancer and performer in the adult film industry. Prior to joining the Sex Workers Project as Managing Director, he worked as the Fair Courts Project Community Educator at Lambda Legal, where he trained judges, attorneys and court staff on gender and sexuality cultural competency and advocated for judicial diversity and judicial independence in Arizona, Texas, Florida and the Federal bench.
Director Thompson received his J.D. from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law and his B.A. in Africana Studies and Political Science from the University of South Florida. He has held a myriad of advocacy leadership roles – fighting from everything from increased wages and health care for restaurant workers, to reproductive justice, to LGBT movements. Director Thompson also fought for human rights of sex workers during the first United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review of the U.S. He is a queer identified mixed blood Cherokee with deep Southern roots.
Damara Fredette ‘19, Esq., Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York
Ms. Fredette works with the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York’s Albany Office’s Re-Entry Project. The Project provides civil legal services in Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer Counties to overcome housing and economic barriers resulting from criminal justice system involvement. Additionally, Ms. Fredette is Co-Chair of the Sex Trafficking Committee as well as a Legislative Delegate with the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York.
Ms. Fredette graduated from Albany Law School (‘19), where she was selected as a Pro Bono Scholar. After graduation, she worked as an Assistant Public Defender in Warren County. Ms. Fredette co-authored "From Markets to Tech: Governmental Initiatives, Solutions, and Responses to Food Insecurity," published in the Journal of Public Affairs.
INFORMATION ON HEALTH AND SAFETY
This event will occur indoors. You must be fully vaccinated and have at least one eligible booster shot or have proof of a negative COVID-19 test within 24 hours of arrival. Before you join us, we want you to know we are a mask friendly community. If you are sick, or think you are getting sick, or you’ve been in close contact with a COVID positive individual, please don’t join us, we will catch you next time. Finally, consider taking a home test prior to coming to the event.
Original source can be found here.
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