Levin College Hosts Noted Scholar Michael Leo Owens

Michael Leo Owens, a noted civil rights scholar and associate professor of political science at Emory University, will headline the next Levin College Forum at Cleveland State University. Owens will discuss the current legal framework surrounding the civil rights of ex-prisoners and the need to balance public safety concerns with the goal of protecting the rights for all individuals.

The forum will be held from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Thursday February 8 in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs on campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Owens’ research focuses on urban politics, political penology and governance and public policy processes. He is the author of God and Government in the Ghetto: The Politics of Church-State Collaboration in Black America which was published in 2007 by the University of Chicago Press. His current book project is Prisoners of Democracy, a study of the politics, policies, and attitudes that diminish the citizenship of felons in the United States. He is the former chair of the governing board of the Urban Affairs Association and serves on the boards of the Prison Policy Initiative and the Georgia Justice Project. Prior to joining Emory, he served as a research associate with the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.

Since its inception in 1998, the Levin College Forum has tackled a broad range of civic issues including the lakefront plan, economic growth and development, affordable housing, immigration, education, the convention center, poverty, race and sustainable development. The work of the forum is based on the premise that an informed and engaged citizenry is a valuable asset for the region's future growth and prosperity.

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