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Creating a Culture of Prevention: Addressing Autism in Today’s Criminal Justice System

Date Published: January 2018

In this webinar, Leigh Ann Davis and Samantha Crane discuss individual strategies and system reforms that could increase the safety of individuals with autism when interacting with police and the criminal justice system. This webinar is 60 minutes long.

Who is Leigh Ann Davis?

Leigh Ann Davis, M.S.S.W., M.P.A. has over 20 years of experience in the intellectual/developmental disability (I/DD) and criminal justice fields. She has worked with disability and criminal justice professionals and agencies, and also people with disabilities, to build stronger lines of communication and understanding between these two worlds. She seeks to ensure that people with I/DD, whether suspect, offender, victim or witness, have access to accommodations in the criminal justice system. She has authored numerous publications on criminal justice topics, and she gives presentations and trainings at state, national and international conferences to enlighten others about the unique issues faced by people with I/DD in the criminal justice system. She holds master’s degrees in social work and public administration.

Who is Samantha Crane?

Samantha Crane, J.D. a graduate of Harvard Law School, previously served as staff attorney at the Bazelon Center of Mental Health Law. In that job, she focused on enforcing the right to community integration as established by the Supreme Court in Olmstead v. L.C. She has also been an associate at the litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart, & Sullivan, L.L.P., where her focus was patent and securities litigation. From 2009 to 2010, Samantha served as law clerk to Judge William H. Yohn at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

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