Join NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman and the authors of two critically-acclaimed recent books on the edge cases of America's broken criminal justice system, its police and prisons, in a conversation about the possibilities, challenges, and limits of reform.

"Rikers: An Oral" History by Graham Rayman & Reuven Blau, and "The Riders Come Out At Night: Corruption, Brutality and Cover-up in Oakland" by Ali Winston & Darwin BondGraham bring the realities of dysfunctional institutions and corrosive law enforcement culture to life, utilizing the experiences of guards, officers, inmates, residents, activists and reformers to depict the consequences of a state monopoly of violence.

Donna Lieberman has been the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union since December 2001. She also founded the NYCLU’s Reproductive Rights Project. During her tenure, the NYCLU has grown to over 185,000 members, with 8 offices around the state, and become the state's leading voice for freedom, justice and equality, especially for those whose rights are most at risk: people of color, young people, and low-income New Yorkers. Under her leadership the NYCLU has developed an integrated strategy that combines litigation, public education, advocacy, and lobbying to promote and protect civil rights and civil liberties.

Ali Winston is an independent reporter covering criminal justice, privacy, and surveillance. His work has been recognized with several awards, including the George Polk Award for local reporting in 2017. Winston is a graduate of the University of Chicago and the University of California, Berkeley and is the author, with Darwin BondGraham, of The Riders Come Out at Night. He lives in New York.

Graham Rayman is a journalist who writes mainly about criminal justice and policing. He has won multiple journalism prizes over his thirty-year career. He has worked at The New York Daily News and before that The Village Voice, Newsday, and New York Newsday. He is the author of The NYPD Tapes.

Reuven Blau is a senior reporter at The City. He has previously worked at the New York Daily News, the New York Post, and the Chief-Leader. He is known as the dean of Rikers reporters.