Jonathan Lippman, distinguished fellow of the A2J Initiative at Fordham Law, was named to the National Law Journal’s 2018 Pro Bono Hot List.
After a daylong visit in 2016 to Rikers Island, New York City’s notorious jail complex, the members of the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice & Incarceration Reform understood on a fundamental level that it had to shut down, said Jonathan Lippman, the former chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals and of counsel at Latham & Watkins.
“When we came back from that visit to Rikers—whether we verbalized it or not—we all knew what needed to be done here,” Lippman said. Lippman was tasked by New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to head the commission. “Nothing short of taking down this accelerator of human misery, this stain on the soul of New York City, would do,” he said.