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UID:20260417T011836EDT-1756B39tko@132.216.98.100
DTSTAMP:20260417T051836Z
DESCRIPTION:This event examines how carceral bureaucracies and corporate te
 lecommunications interests have turned family contact into a profit-driven
  system\, drawing on Michigan’s groundbreaking “Right to Hug” litigation t
 o challenge the erosion of in-person visits amid mounting pressures on due
  process. It situates this litigation within broader jail and prison polic
 ies across the United States that replace physical visits with costly\, un
 reliable\, and highly surveilled video calls.\n\nThe following questions f
 rame the core issues addressed during the conversation\, drawing on legal 
 strategy\, human rights analysis\, and systemic critique:\n\nDrawing on re
 cent litigation by Civil Rights Corps\, investigative journalism from NBC 
 News\, and critical scholarship on punishment bureaucracy\, the conversati
 on asks: Is there—and should there be—a constitutional right to hug one’s 
 child or parent while incarcerated\, and what does this litigation mean fo
 r fundamental rights amid growing authoritarian profiteering?\n\n\n	How vid
 eo visitation bans generate millions in 'kickbacks' for sheriffs and count
 ies while extracting wealth from poor families\n	The documented psychologic
 al harm of severing physical contact between children and incarcerated par
 ents\n	How corporate surveillance systems (voice biometrics\, AI monitoring
 ) turn family communication into data extraction\n	Comparative questions fo
 r Canadian constitutional and human rights law: what would a 'right to hug
 ' look like in Canada's legal framework?\n	The role of media narratives in 
 normalizing or challenging these practices\n\n\nPlease register here\, or 
 scan the QR code in the poster above.\n\n\nAlec Karakatsanis\n\nFounder an
 d Executive Director\, Civil Rights Corps\n\nAlec Karakatsanis is the Foun
 der and Executive Director of Civil Rights Corps. He is a leading civil ri
 ghts attorney who has pioneered constitutional cases challenging the size\
 , power\, profit\, and everyday brutality of the punishment bureaucracy ac
 ross the United States.\n\nHis legal challenges have secured immense relie
 f\, helping to free hundreds of thousands of people from jail. His work ha
 s notably returned tens of millions of dollars to indigent people and fami
 lies and prevented the separation of thousands of families\, transforming 
 the way the U.S. criminal punishment bureaucracy handles fines\, fees\, an
 d bail. His litigation includes the 'Right to Hug' cases challenging video
 -only jail visitation policies that separate children from incarcerated pa
 rents while generating millions in corporate profits.\n\nAlec graduated fr
 om Yale College and Harvard Law School (2008)\, where he was a Supreme Cou
 rt Chair of the Harvard Law Review. Prior to founding Civil Rights Corps\,
  he was a federal public defender in Alabama and co-founded Equal Justice 
 Under Law. He is the author of Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in
  the Criminal Injustice System (2019) and Copaganda: How Police and the Me
 dia Manipulate Our News (2025). He was recognized with the 2016 Trial Lawy
 er of the Year Award and the 2023 New Frontier Award. Please find his offi
 cial bio here.\n\n \n\nModerators\n\nAurélie Lanctôt\n\nDCL candidate (McG
 ill Faculty of Law) and assistant professor (Département des sciences juri
 diques\, UQAM)\n\nRicardo Lamour\n\nAlumnus\, OHCHR Fellowship Programme\n
 \nGladue Writer and Summer 2025 intern (CHRLP / Department of Justice and 
 Correctional Services of Cree Nation Government)\n\n \n
DTSTART:20260313T170000Z
DTEND:20260313T183000Z
LOCATION:Maxwell Cohen Moot Court\, Room 100\, Chancellor Day Hall\, CA\, Q
 C\, Montreal\, H3A 1W9\, 3644 rue Peel
SUMMARY:The Right to Hug
URL:https://www.mcgill.ca/channels/channels/event/right-hug-370749
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