March 12 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
March 13 from 6 – 7 p.m. (Via Zoom)
March 14 from 12 – 2 p.m.

In the Manor College Library Lecture Space

Join Manor College for our 2024 Social Justice Conference as we explore the topic, “Innocent Until Proven Guilty.”
Hear from a wide variety of speakers, including:

• Members of the Criminal Justice System, including the prisons
• A reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer who reported on city’s mob
• Those who were found guilty to a person who was wrongfully convicted and was exonerated 91 years after his death
• Chief of Policy and Services at the Public Defender’s office in Montgomery County
• Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center 
for the Fair Administration of Justice

All of the speakers will describe their role in making the justice system better and ensuring that everyone gets a fair chance.

TUESDAY, MARCH 12

11:00 a.m., Library Lecture Space
Alana Hook, Manor College Class of 2012

Chief of Policy and Social Services at the Public Defender’s office in Montgomery County. Alana oversees three independent divisions within her role; adult, juvenile delinquency, and juvenile dependency. Alana is a subcommittee chair for the REAP, the Racial Equity Action Plan, for Montgomery County. She is a founding member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the county.

12:00 p.m., Library Lecture Space
Marissa Bluestine

Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Bluestine has repeatedly been recognized for her important work, receiving the Andrew Hamilton Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Woman of Distinction Award from the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13

6:00 p.m., Via Zoom
Michael Haubois and Harieta Haubois

Michael Haubois graduated with a BA in Criminal Justice from Stockton University in 2004. He has Graduate and seminar credits in Forensic Profiling. He became a Correctional Officer in 2009 at the Federal Correctional Institution Fairton, NJ; in 2011 he became a Unit Secretary, and in 2013 he was given the opportunity to work as a Training Instructor for Building Trades in the Education Department.

Harieta Haubois graduated from Stockton University in 2004 with a BA in Criminal Justice and a minor in Conflict Resolution. In 2009, she entered government service as a Correctional Officer for the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fairton, NJ. In 2013 she took an opportunity to work in the Prison’s Business Office as an Accounting Technician and was promoted to Financial Program Specialist with duties of a Budget Analyst. In 2023 she was promoted to Business Administrator in Fort Dix.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

12:00 p.m., Library Lecture Space
George Anastasia

Veteran Philadelphia journalist George Anastasia has written about organized and disorganized crime for decades, covering casino gambling in Atlantic City, mob hits in Philadelphia and criminal prosecutions throughout the country. A reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 1974 through 2012, he is currently a freelance writer and author specializing in crime reporting.

1:00 p.m., Library Lecture Space
Case Study

A Common Pleas judge overturned a 91-year-old murder conviction for a Glen Mills School teen who was executed for the crime on June 8, 1931. The case was reopened after a petition was presented to Common Pleas Court President Judge Kevin F. Kelly. The petition argued that Williams was denied his due process rights and that the conviction should be overturned. New details in the case were introduced at the Monday hearing showing he did not commit the crime. Williams was a 16-year-old African American student at Glen Mills School, convicted of murdering 33-year-old Vida Robare, who was white. Robare was a “house matron” at the school. Williams was at the school on an unsupervised work detail when the murder took place. He was arrested Oct. 10, 1930 and charged. He ended up confessing three times to the murder without an attorney or parent present. An all-white jury returned a guilty verdict and Williams was executed on June 8, 1931. He is the youngest person ever executed in Pennsylvania.