From November 7-11, the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) visits Salt Lake City for its 21st annual National Multidisciplinary Conference on Domestic Violence. The University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law is working with the NDAA to provide a new national center for local and state prosecutor training–the National Criminal Justice Academy. The upcoming conference is an early, first step in the establishment of the Academy, which will bring major conferences and training programs to Salt Lake City.
“The conference’s multidisciplinary structure and the high quality of its speakers and other programs promise to live up to the ambition of its organizers,” Chodosh said. “First, to commemorate the tremendous strides that have been made in preventing domestic violence and redouble our efforts to do much more, and second, to honor and take full, future advantage of NDAA’s legacy of working on behalf of domestic violence survivors, as well as their families, children, communities, and others affected by this violence.”
Dean Hiram Chodosh of the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law will speak at the NDAA conference. The National District Attorneys Association will be in SLC Nov. 7-11.
Conference events include a special movie night that will feature the documentary Telling Amy’s Story, about the homicide of Amy Homan McGee. Event organizers hope that the movie and a discussion session to be held after the screening will serve as a catalyst to develop collaborative community teams that will share positive thoughts on how the community can work together to prevent domestic violence.
In addition to Chodosh, other speakers include Jessica Lenahan Gonzales, a domestic violence survivor who brought a successful case against the U.S. before an international tribunal for violation of international human rights treaties; Charles Hynes, who will provide an afternoon keynote address on the topic of Drew House, a family program designed to provide an alternative for female defendants who would otherwise be incarcerated and separated from their children; and Leslie Morgan Steiner, author of the book Crazy Love and the anthology Mommy Wars, who will provide the ending keynote address, who will share her story about escaping from domestic violence.
The conference also includes lectures, panels, discussion sessions, networking sessions, and plenary sessions, on a multidisciplinary range of topics, including Witness Intimidation, Civil Liability, Teen Dating Violence, Elder Abuse, Domestic Violence and the Military, and Immigration Issues.
For more information, call 703-549-9222. The conference will be held at Grand America Hotel, 555 South Main Street, Salt Lake City.