On Saturday, the fourth United Justice Coalition Summit filled The Shed in Hudson Yards — a free, public, day-long gathering on criminal justice reform, presented by the United Justice Coalition and Roc Nation, running from the 10 a.m. doors to closing remarks at 6 p.m.
The day was built around one premise, stated in this year's theme: that the criminal legal system changes when the people closest to its failures — the formerly incarcerated, the advocates, the judges trying new courts, the families — share a room with the policymakers and the press, and leave with something actionable. "Connected for Change" was printed on the tote bags at registration, and it set the agenda: family, mental health, probation, sentencing, education and women behind bars.
Who Took the Stage
Dr. Michael Eric Dyson gave the welcome address, framing the day around collaboration and conscious connection — and around family as the point of connection most shattered by police violence. Charlamagne Tha God took the stage twice, first at the microphone and then on a panel, in front of a room that had come expecting exactly that energy.
The women's panel brought together Angela Rye, Dr. Tiffany Crutcher, Nicole Paultre Bell, Tamika Mallory and Vel'lesiya Wiley, with Sue-Ann Robinson of the Ben Crump Law firm also on the stage. It produced the day's most emotional moment: a young panelist grew tearful at the microphone while another rested a comforting hand on her back.
REFORM Alliance chief executive Jessica Jackson moderated the probation and parole panel, introduced by Jordan Siev, with Duke Tanner, David Safavian, Lauren-Brooke Eisen and Veronica Ballard Cunningham digging into how community supervision can better support rehabilitation, reentry and public safety. Dr. Jessica Clemons and Kempis Ghani Songster spoke on mental health and the justice system; Aramis N. Donell and Carmen Perez Jordan on alternative sentencing; Judge Victoria Pratt, Rachel Wright and Frankie Guzman joined a six-person panel with Rashad Robinson and Lauren Curatolo. Andre Norman and Mysonne Linen were also in the room.
The announced roster had run to 21 names; the day's confirmed stage time is what this account reflects. No press recaps had published as of Saturday evening.
The Moments That Landed
In the "Family Matters" session, Nicole Paultre Bell pressed an accountability question outward — including toward the media — over cases where families are told one story about arrests and the official record tells another. On mental health, Dr. Clemons argued as a psychiatrist that people in crisis are still funneled into the criminal legal system rather than into treatment, and that the public needs to recognize depression, anxiety and trauma and know how to reach care. Songster tied it to lived experience: growing up without mentors, a childhood robbery that left lasting inner demons, and the systemic absence of counselors and community support.
On alternative sentencing, Carmen Perez Jordan made the cost case plain: jailing people is often not the best solution — not for what it costs society, and not for the outcomes it produces for individuals and their families. And in the "Faces of Women Imprisoned" session, a speaker put the scale of the crisis in numbers: roughly 200,000 women and girls incarcerated each year, with 800,000 released onto federal supervision or parole — then asked the room how women end up behind bars, what life is really like inside, and what it will take to bring them home.
The lightest touch of the day came from the UJC Challenge booth, where teens were quizzed on wrongful convictions: asked how many years a wrongfully convicted person loses on average before exoneration, they guessed five. The answer on the board was 14.2.
The Exhibition Floor
Forty-two charitable organizations exhibited, and the floor read as a map of the movement: the Innocence Project, the Legal Aid Society, the Fortune Society, NAMI, the Center for Justice at Columbia, REFORM Alliance, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute, the Center for Policing Equity, Hudson Link, the Juror Project, Just City, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Quattrone Center, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth, Gathering for Justice, Until Freedom, Hour Children and the Youth Justice Network, among others.
The Cause
The United Justice Coalition was formed in 2019 by Team Roc, the philanthropic and justice arm of Roc Nation — Jay-Z's entertainment company turned to the work of reform. It operates as a think tank of experts across industries: law, media, business, academia and community organizing, sharing resources and ideas to move fair legislation and support on-the-ground advocates.
The summit is its flagship: conversations aimed at actionable solutions inside the criminal legal system and concrete ways communities can drive change, rather than awareness alone. More information at unitedjusticecoalition.com.