CrimFest! 2015

As many others have mentioned while reminiscing about Danny, one of his great qualities was how he brought other people together.  PrawfsBlawg was only one way he accomplished this.  He also made lots of introductions and organized workshops.  One of the workshops he organized is called CrimFest! (Yes, the exclamation point was Danny’s.)  It began as a shadow conference at the Law & Society Association’s Annual Meeting, and then eventually became a stand-alone event.

This year’s CrimFest will be held at Cardozo Law School from July 19^th-21^st.  Registration for the conference closes on Friday May 1^st.  More details about the conference and how to register follow after the break.

The conference will begin on Sunday, July 19th with the chance to socialize, but the panels will begin in earnest on Monday morning the 20th of July and will end in the late afternoon of Tuesday, July 21st.  Participants will be responsible for their own travel and lodging costs (discounted hotel information is included below), and we will also ask attendees to pay an $85 registration fee to help cover the costs of breakfasts, lunches, and (funds permitting) a Monday evening happy hour.  You may pay the registration fee via this website:  http://www.law.utah.edu/workshops/crimfest/ 

Please note that the registration fee is non-refundable.

As in past years, we will have a substantial number of paper panels for works in progress. Panelists will be required to read and share comments with the other panelists. And, as last year, we will ask panelists to share their drafts a week in advance with the other attendees, by posting their notes/drafts in a password-secured website, so that more people can offer more informed comments at the panels.

We have a preference for papers that are in early stages---specifically, papers that will not have been submitted for publication prior to the date of the conference.  We will also allow panelists to present papers that have already been submitted (or accepted) for publication.  But priority will be given to papers in earlier stages, and we will NOT permit presentations on papers that have been published or will be published before August 2015.

We are also limiting presentations to criminal law, criminal procedure, or criminal justice issues.  I know that many of us write in other, related fields.  But one of the strengths of this conference has always been the ability to get feedback from other experts in a particular area.  So please submit proposals only on topics that are in our core areas.

We will also hold some non-panel events during both lunch breaks---such as a discussion of particular teaching issues or other topics that may be of interest to the broader community. If you have an idea for such an event, please let me know ASAP. 

Participants may include tenured or tenure track professors of law at any accredited law school. VAPs and Fellows are welcome to present too. For all who are interested in attending, please email me no later than Friday, May 1st at [email protected]

 To reduce any likelihood of administrative error on my part, your email should have a subject heading that states "Proposal for 6th Annual CrimProf Conference," and the body of your email should include:

(a)        The title and abstract for the paper you wish to present;

(b)        Whether this is a true work-in-progress, or whether it will have been submitted for publication prior to July 20^th;

(c)         Whether you are willing to serve as chair or discussant for another panel; and

(d)         Any date restrictions you have.  (I cannot promise to accommodate date restrictions, but I will do my best.)

If you would simply like to attend the conference, please send me an email to that effect, and please let me know whether you are willing to serve as chair or discussant for a paper panel.

Finally, please do not submit a proposal or volunteer to serve as chair/discussant unless you know that you will be able to attend.  It can be very disruptive when folks drop out and we need to fill spots on various panels.

I hope that many of you who attended last year will be able to attend this summer, and I hope that we are joined by many new participants as well.   I can’t help but think that one of the best ways that we can honor Danny’s memory is to continue this conference, giving the best comments and writing the best scholarship that we can.