“The Future of Corrections: A Roundtable Discussion” is one of the sessions planned for the 2015 Academy of Architecture for Justice (AAJ) conference to be held in Miami. I was able to had a brief conversation with Bob Schwartz who is the sessión leader; Bob has dedicated over thirty years to improving the planning, design and operation of justice facilities and he told me that he is very excited about the roundtable because promises to be very interesting and will include five top professionals; including two operators: Mary Livers, PhD, Deputy Secretary, Louisiana Office of Juvenile Justice and Mitch Lucas, Undersheriff for Charleston County, South Carolina (the largest Sheriff´s Office in South Carolina). They are also national leaders in their fields with Dr. Livers serving as President of the American Correctional Association and Mr. Lucas, President of the American Jail Association. They will be complemented by two international programming and planning experts, Stephen Carter, founder, Executive Vice-President, and co-director of planning and design of CGL Companies and Curtiss Pulitzer, Pulitzer Bogard Associates who is one of the nation´s leading experts in justice facility design and operations planning. Finally, Gerry Guerrero who has over 25 five years of experience in architecture and project management with a specialization in criminal justice facility planning and serves as Senior Vice President | Justice Director of the Justice practice for HOK, will complete the roundtable with current work.
The roundtable discussion, as Bob said, will try to be centered on the conference theme on change and challenges in correctional design and the proffessionals involved will discuss current and future challenges in corrections and what design practitioners should anticipate as they plan facilities.
The roundtable’s learning objectives include:
1. Understanding the changing pressures on detention and correctional facilities.
2. How to plan and design a facility that will remain relevant in the future.
3. Review of new planning examples and how they differ from the past.
4. Learn how these facilities interact as part of a larger justice system and how to be a participant for change.
The roundtable will start with each participant discussing their viewpoints on existing and future trends, systemic change and the impact of legislation. This will be followed by a discussion between the participants and attendees. Finally, Steve Carter will present his personal goals for the year 2025 and challenge attendees to develop their own.
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