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ASB 2012-2013 - Liberty and Justice for All?

Basic Information
Application Process: 
ASB 2012-2013
Trip Name: 
Liberty and Justice for All?
Trip Location: 
Washington D.C.
Air Travel Trip: 
No
Number of Participants: 
12
Trip Description: 

The United States has 5% of the world’s population and over 25% of the world’s prisoners.  While these statistics alone can be shocking, we are forced to deal with the unjust reality that 60% of this population are racial and ethnic minorities who barely constitute 35% of the American population. The racial divide in incarceration is catastrophic, and access to the legal system and its outcomes are sharply divided by socioeconomic lines. Increasing socioeconomic status inversely correlates with length of sentence when other factors are standardized. Given the difficulties criminals have in reintegrating within society, these factors continue to compound at each step of the prison cycle. We will be traveling to Washington D.C. in order to discuss this issue with currently incarcerated inmates, wardens, justices, lawyers, politicians, parolees, and police, informing our complex picture of the legal system. We will also compare our legal system to rehabilitative-based systems found elsewhere in the world, in order to broaden our perspective. Our goal is not to simply protest the existence of this problem, but to provide the opportunity to think about what can realistically be done to improve our system by interacting with a myriad of relevant, real-world perspectives.

Trip Leaders
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Dan Ashton

Hey ASBers! I’m Dan, a junior majoring in Economics. I’m super stoked to be leading an ASB on legal justice with my good friend Henock, since we’re both really passionate about social justice. While at Stanford, I’ve been the Frosh Council President, elected to the UG Senate, sat on the Daily Board of Directors, am RAing in Donner, and am generally really involved on campus. I went on an ASB last year in D.C. about Voter Mobilization, which is when Henock and I came up with the idea of running an ASB. We’re both thinking about law school and so coming up with this ASB has been a dream come true. I’m really excited for such an awesome way to spend spring break, and I’m really excited to meet you!

Henock Dory

Hey ASBers! My name is Henock Dory and I’m a junior majoring in Political Science and Classics.  After participating in last year’s awesome ASB trip on Voter Mobilization, I’m incredibly excited to provide you guys with an equally awesome trip alongside the one and only Dan Ashton.  At Stanford I’ve had the pleasure of working with many campus organizations such as the ASSU as a Senate Associate, the Stanford Democrats, the Black Pre-law Society, and the Stanford Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Association.  My academic interests consist of comparative political science and ancient political thought, with thoughts of law school in the near future, and have helped push me towards leading an ASB trip surrounding the issue of inequality in our criminal justice system.  Dan and I have learned so much about this topic by simply bringing our unique backgrounds together and conversing with each other.  I’m looking forward to learning just as much from you guys and having a phenomenal spring break!