Annual Virtual Event

Dr. Thaddeus L. Johnson, a former law enforcement official in Tennessee, is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice. A policing, crime control, and governance equity expert, he has conducted extensive research on police lethality and coercion, street violence, recidivism, algorithmic and predictive bias, and correctional control. Johnson is also an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and reports and a book entitled Deviance among Physicians: Fraud, Violence, and the Power to Prescribe. In addition to having his research featured in national media outlets, he has written on police and justice reform issues for the popular press and appeared on numerous broadcast radio and TV news programs in the US, Europe, and Australia. Johnson received his PhD in Criminal Justice & Criminology from Georgia State University and his MS in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee – Chattanooga.

Ernesto Lopez joined the Council after serving as a research consultant, analyzing crime trends for CCJ’s National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice. During his time at the Council, Lopez has authored more than a dozen reports on crime trends in large U.S. cities and served as research staff for the Violent Crime Working Group, Task Force on Long Sentences, Crime Trends Working Group, and Pushing Toward Parity project.

Earlier in his career, Lopez worked as an office manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs and was a research and teaching assistant at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He is also a U.S. Army veteran who deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Lopez regularly presents to policy groups, including the White House Domestic Policy Council, the National Governors Association, the National Criminal Justice Association, and The Black Mayors’ Coalition on Crime. He has been quoted in multiple major news outlets, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, and NPR, and by numerous local and specialty news organizations.

Lopez is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He holds a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in urban management and a BA in political science and public administration from California State University, Fullerton.

Charles Fain Lehman is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and senior editor of City Journal. He focuses primarily on the public policy of antisocial behavior, including issues of crime, drugs, and public disorder. His work has appeared in outlets including the New York Times, Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, and National Review. He has discussed policy issues before the Senate, House of Representatives, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Prior to joining the Manhattan Institute in 2021, Charles was a staff writer at the Washington Free Beacon. Charles is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now lives outside Washington, D.C., with his wife and sons.

Emily Owens is the Deans’ Professor of Criminology and Economics and Chair of the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society at the University of California, Irvine. She holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Economics. Professor Owens studies a wide range of topics in the economics of crime, including policing, sentencing, and the impact of local public policies on criminal behavior. Her research examines how government policies affect the prevalence of criminal activity as well as how agents within the criminal justice system, particularly police, prosecutors, and judges, respond to policy changes. Professor Owens is engaged in ongoing research projects on police training, alcohol regulation, immigration policy, and local economic development programs. Professor Owens received her PhD in economics from the University of Maryland-College Park.

Adam Gelb has been working for a more just and effective criminal justice system throughout a 38-year career as an award-winning journalist, congressional aide, senior state government official, and nonprofit executive. He currently is founder, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, an invitational membership organization and nonpartisan think tank dedicated to building consensus for policies and practices that enhance safety and justice for all.

From 2006 to 2018, Gelb led criminal and juvenile justice reform initiatives at the Pew Charitable Trusts, producing groundbreaking national research that documented the high cost and low public safety return of traditional sentencing and corrections policies and helping 35 states develop, adopt, and implement increasingly comprehensive and impactful reforms.

Gelb’s first job out of the University of Virginia was as a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covered police and the drug war at its height in the late 1980s. After earning a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, he staffed the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee during negotiations and final passage of the landmark 1994 federal crime bill. From 1995 to 2000, as policy director for the lieutenant governor of Maryland, Gelb established several initiatives that focused comprehensive crime control and prevention efforts toward at-risk people and neighborhoods. He served as executive director of the Georgia Sentencing Commission from 2001 to 2003 and, before joining Pew, as vice president for programs at the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse, where he oversaw youth reentry and methamphetamine control programs.

Gelb speaks frequently with the media about national trends and state innovations and advises policymakers on formulation of practical, cost-effective policies that are grounded in facts, evidence, and fundamental principles of justice. His comments have appeared in nearly every major media outlet, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Associated Press, Reuters, TIME, Newsweek, the Economist, ABC News, CBS News, CNN, Fox News, NBC News, PBS NewsHour, and C-SPAN.

Gelb serves on the advisory boards of Recidiviz, the Health and Reentry Project, Act Now, and the Cavalier Daily Alumni Association, and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (now All Rise) and the Stephanie Roper Committee and Foundation, on the Executive Session on Community Corrections at the Harvard Kennedy School, the Executive Session on Reimaging the Role of the Prosecutor in the Community at John Jay College, and the Reentry Ready Roundtable of the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution.

Gelb’s week-long series of articles on drunk driving in 1991 won a National Headliner Award as well as honors from the State Bar of Georgia, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the Georgia Nurses Association.

Tara Kunkel is the Executive Director of Rulo Strategies, where she provides strategic leadership to advance the organization’s mission of delivering practical, transformative solutions for justice and behavioral health systems. A skilled collaborator and visionary leader, Tara is committed to fostering partnerships and implementing actionable policies that empower justice leaders to build safer, healthier communities.

Tara has directed over 40 projects across local, state, national, and international criminal justice systems, influencing policy and practice improvements nationwide. Her expertise spans criminal justice and drug policy, with a strong focus on supporting community corrections agencies, jails, and courts in enhancing outcomes for individuals with behavioral health needs.

Tara holds a master’s degree in social work from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Karhlton joined the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute with more than 20 years of experience in policy development, law enforcement collaboration, and public safety initiatives. Most recently, Karhlton served as the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA). In this role, he led federal efforts to support state, local, and tribal justice programs, overseeing grant funding and initiatives aimed at improving public safety and criminal justice systems across the United States. Prior to his tenure at BJA, Karhlton served as the Executive Director of the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS). Under his leadership, OCJS administered state and federal grants for a wide range of public safety programs and facilitated policy initiatives addressing law enforcement, community-police relations, and criminal justice system improvements. One of his most impactful contributions was leading the Task Force on Community-Police Relations under former Ohio Governor John Kasich, which resulted in the establishment of the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board—a statewide initiative promoting law enforcement accountability and best practices.

In his role at the Meadows Institute, Karhlton works with staff, partner agencies and stakeholders to further the vision of the Health and Public Safety portfolio as well as developing a strategic and operational plan for the Caruth Police Institute.

Karhlton received his Juris Doctorate from American University’s Washington College of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from Wright State University. Karhlton lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and their four children.

Barbara Pierce leads ChangeUP Justice, an advisory group that works with law enforcement, corrections agencies, and communities to build practical, durable solutions to justice system challenges. With 25 years of experience across the criminal justice field, Barbara is especially committed to working alongside law enforcement and leaders in high security prison and jail settings. She pushed for investments in justice and behavioral health initiatives in rural states long before it was cool to do so. Today, she is grateful to focus her work in rural communities, where she can champion innovation and bring her creativity to the forefront.

Amy Glasscock is the program director for innovation and emerging issues at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) where she has worked for 11 years. Her two main policy areas of focus are AI and privacy and data protection within state governments. Previously she worked in government relations at the American Public Power Association and spent four years on Capitol Hill, gaining valuable insights into public policy and the legislative process. Amy holds a BA from Berea College and an MA from the University of Kentucky. She is also the co-host and producer of the NASCIO Voices podcast, and a proud returned Peace Corps Volunteer. Amy lives in Lexington, KY with her husband and daughter.

Kellie Rabenhorst is the Director for NCJA’s Center for Grants Management. In this position, she provides training and technical assistance to State Administering Agencies on grant management and administration issues. Previously, she was the director of NCJA’s OVC VOCA Center. The VOCA Center became part of the NCJA Center for Grants Management in August 2025. 

Prior to joining NCJA, Kellie was the Federal Grants and Programs Director and the Office of Violence Prevention Director at the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, where she had oversight over multiple grant programs from the U.S. Department of Justice, including VOCA and the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program, as well as a state grant to reduce gang violence. She has worked in human services for over twenty years, providing direct services to diverse populations in both rural and urban communities, specializing in civil rights, juvenile justice, child welfare, mental health, substance use, and homeless issues.

Kellie has served on the Board of Directors for the National Criminal Justice Association and as the 2nd Vice President for the National Association for Victim Assistance Administrators.

She has her bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master of Public Administration degree from Bellevue University. She is certified in Lean Six Sigma.

Karen Irene Kalergis, President of Mani Partners Strategic Communications, is an Organizational Resiliency Consultant. She has had key roles in grants from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, to give organizations exposed to traumatized persons or traumatic material evidence-based tools to mitigate the impact of this work-related exposure.

Karen was Product Coordinator on the team at Northeastern University that created the Vicarious Trauma Toolkit. This web-based resource includes an organizational assessment and 500 resources to address vicarious trauma in victim assistance and first responder agencies. She also served as Project Director for the Resiliency Project, based at The University of Texas at Austin. This project created a model for child abuse organizations to build resiliency in their workers.

Karen has served as a subject-matter expert on these models and provided training and technical assistance to adapt them for various disciplines including health professionals, teachers, criminal justice professionals, and forensic workers from government agencies, nonprofits and tribal communities. Kalergis received her MA in Mass Communications and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Iowa, and her BA in English/Creative Writing at Hollins College, Virginia.

Captain Nevin Long serves as the Field Operations East District Commander for the Knoxville, Tennessee Police Department (KPD). Over a 24-year career, Captain Long has served as an officer, sergeant, and lieutenant in patrol, a detective in the Property Crimes and Major Crimes/Homicide Units, and the Unit Commander for the Special Crimes Unit. His diverse operational background is complemented by assignments as KPD’s Mobile Field Force Commander, firearms instructor, and field training officer.

A graduate of the FBI National Academy (Session 290) and the University of Chicago Crime Lab Policing Leadership Academy (Cohort 5), Captain Long is committed to advanced professional development. He has completed the FBI LEEDA Trilogy, the Tennessee LEEDA course, and the South Eastern Command & Leadership Academy.  He has presented at multiple venues to include the 2025 International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference in Denver and the 2025 New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services Public Safety Symposium in Albany. Captain Long holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Captain Long prioritizes data-driven violence reduction and community-oriented policing and his patrol district pioneered Knoxville's violence reduction strategies showing consistent reductions in violent crime over the last few years since inception.

Jeffrey Seaman is a Levy Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania and a researcher, writer, and speaker on the criminal justice system. He is a co-author of Confronting Failures of Justice: Getting Away with Murder and Rape (Rowman & Littlefield) and numerous law review articles on topics including criminal justice system effectiveness, mass incarceration, electronic monitoring, and criminal law theory. He also writes for general audiences with op-eds and articles appearing in outlets like USA Today, Quillette, and National Review. 

Jeffrey is the Editor of the Independent Law Journal, a new faculty-led legal journal. He holds a master’s in behavioral and decision sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and is dedicated to applying an interdisciplinary perspective to questions of criminal law and criminal justice reform.

Roman Rivera is a labor economist studying policing and crime. He is an Assistant Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University. His research examines the roles of race, gender, peers, and oversight in policing, as well as the effects of electronic monitoring in the pretrial system.

Greg Newburn is director of criminal justice at the Niskanen Center. His previous positions include state policy director and Florida director for FAMM; chair of the Florida-based “Yes on 11” political committee; and director of student programs at the Cato Institute. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and the University of Florida Levin College of Law. His work focuses on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of criminal justice systems with the goal of reducing crime and punishment.