Attorney General Holder to Headline Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys Father’s Day Forum on Returning Citizens, Tuesday
Attorney General Holder to Headline Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys Father’s Day Forum on Returning Citizens, Tuesday
WASHINGTON, DC – Attorney General Eric Holder will headline the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys Father’s Day Forum on “Returning Citizens from America’s Prisons” on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, at 2:30 p.m., in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building. Following Holder’s remarks, a panel featuring formerly incarcerated fathers who have successfully transitioned back into civil society will respond. The returning citizens will be introduced by their home district’s Member of Congress. The Caucus is co-chaired by Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL) and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
The event was conceived following the historic sentencing guideline revisions by the U.S. Sentencing Commission, adopted on the recommendation of Attorney General Holder, that could reduce sentences for as many as 70 percent of federal drug offenders. In addition, Holder has announced his “Smart on Crime” initiative, which is particularly valuable because it reserves the use of mandatory minimums for the most serious crimes.
The Caucus was established by Norton and Davis last year as a platform to share and support ideas and initiatives with Members of Congress and state and local officials and communities nationwide, and as a vehicle for raising consciousness on the most persistent issues that disproportionately affect African American men and youth, from employment training and HIV/AIDS to criminal justice and family breakdown.
Last year, at the Caucus’s inaugural event, entitled, “The Status of Black Males: Ensuring Our Boys Mature Into Strong Men,” Tracy Martin, the father of Trayvon Martin, gave opening remarks, followed by a panel featuring three prominent Black men – former Congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, author and Georgetown University professor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans David J. Johns.
###