University of Memphis, Criminal Justice Student Association

Hello everyone,

If you are interested in running for any officer position in the CJSA, you must send a short biography to [email protected] by Monday, September 13. All positions will be wide open for fall, as all of our current officers are graduating or have recently graduated.

If you are not a member of CJSA and are interested in joining, the annual membership fee is waived for this semester, and anyone is welcome to join! You can request to join the organization using this link or by visiting Tiger Zone and searching for “Criminal Justice Student Association”.

If you have ever wanted to have more say and more involvement in what the CJSA does and what it offers our students, please feel free to run for office! It's a great experience! CJSA needs involved students who care about our organization and its direction. Send in your bios ASAP!

The following officer positions are open for fall elections:

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Public Relations & Marketing Chair

Sergeant of Arms

Hello everyone,

Please consider the following from one of our wonderful students:

St. Jude Up 'til Dawn Check out St. Jude Up 'til Dawn to help raise money for the kids of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Hello everyone,

Please join us in our Community Relations and Law Enforcement Panel tomorrow at 6:00 PM! We have a diverse array of panelists to engage in discussion and Q & A. Registration is open until tomorrow:

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Community Relations & Law Enforcement Virtual Panel. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. This event will compromise of a diverse panel from the fields of criminal defense, law enforcement, and academia. The panel will discussing and answer questions pertaining to incidents involving community relations and law enforcement, with special focus on recent events. Students will be able to en...

Hi CJSA students, this is Dr. Amaia Iratzoqui, who many of you know as Dr. I. I’m a professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and have taught many of you over the past five years in classes like Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminology, Intimate Partner Violence, and Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in America.

I tell my classes every semester that as a white, middle-class Jewish liberal feminist, the way that I teach criminal justice is biased. It is biased by who I am, but also that, for me, the topics I teach about are generally theoretical, since I have not experienced them firsthand. This is true for most of our faculty, who are largely white.

For our students though, many of these issues are reality. While I cannot speak for all of our faculty, I’m sure many of them would join me in wanting to express firsthand that we support the calls to end unjust use of force and all of the other implicit and explicit representations of systematic racial discrimination. What is happening now is the result of the outcome of over a hundred years of racialized social control, beginning with the abolition of slavery, the Jim Crow laws, and the use of mass incarceration to fuel a War on Drugs, as Michelle Alexander teaches so clearly in her book The New Jim Crow. If it seems like history is repeating itself, it is. This is a criminal justice issue, but also a larger humanity issue. What is new now is the ability to shine a light on injustice through social media, and the willingness of so many people, those affected and those of us privileged not to be, to stand up.

I am committed as a faculty member in this department towards using my privilege to provide a platform for the research, advocacy, and reform efforts, particularly those created by people of color, necessary towards providing you all with the tools to begin a career in this field. The system won’t change until it is able and allowed to change. While the problems with the system are not solved with education, my hope is that our department can represent an ally for you all as you graduate and make your own efforts towards change.

Dear CJSA Members and Supporters,

I’m sure that by now, you are all aware of the social upheaval the nation is experiencing. As future law enforcement professionals, criminologists, and simply as people who care about justice and safety, it is our duty not just to do our best in the system, but to better the system by understanding it’s flaws and addressing them. It is not enough to be the best cop you can be, or just to be an impartial researcher; we must address the failures of the current system, bring them to light, and work as a generation to improve systematically, not just individually.

For many, it may feel like current public politics are an attack to your beliefs, your family and friends, or yourself as law enforcement or future law enforcement. But try to remember, law enforcement can go undercover; they can change jobs; they are not a blue life, but someone who fulfills a civic duty. Black citizens cannot clock out from being black, and they cannot disguise it. It is a state of being, that leads to them being disproportionately targeted. Other facets of systematic racism can increase this targeting, but by and large, the criminal justice system is still one of the biggest threats to black Americans. Not only must they live with disproportionate incarceration rates, but also fear for their lives when; jogging, driving, bird watching, making a purchase, selling something, and simply existing. That is not something law enforcement en masse will ever experience.

So please, remember that these protests are not to attack you and your being; they are to save LIVES.

The photos attached are by Austin Harris of Cleveland, OH (who’s photos can be found on IG ) and depict protestors helping a young boy after being hit with tear gas. These are from the protests in my hometown, where protests were peaceful until police intervention. Peaceful protests still result in brutality and overreaction and has so historically. Memphis has had largely peaceful protests, but that does not always keep protestors safe.

I hope that we can all agree that the system-wide failure of law enforcement to keep a sect of the community safe has instead endangered them. Law enforcement are trained to respond to scary and dangerous situations with the least amount of force possible; something learned in our intro classes; and yet respond with deadly force in everyday situations.

Please be mindful of arguments you make or differences in opinion you may want to voice during a time when many of us should be listening instead of directing. Listen to the voices that need to be heard right now, and address these problems systematically as you enter the world of criminal justice.

For all who would like to honor Dr.Wells, this is the livestream to his memorial service :

Live Stream for Mr. Lenard Wells Funeral Services

Thanks to all who came for CJSA’s annual Murder Mystery event! We had a great turnout this year and we hope everyone had as much fun as we did! Anna Elmore BriAnna Parker Maura Joyner

Come out and support!!!

Jacob representing at the CJSA annual tailgate!! CJSA members came to support too!

Updated location! The CJSA tailgate will be in the Tan Lot starting at 5pm. We hope to see you there!

CJSA & MPD say no more! Our VP Maura Joyner and SEA Jacob walked a mile in her shoes to support victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. Jacob even managed to keep his on for (almost) the entire walk!