BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//132.216.98.100//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.20.4// BEGIN:VEVENT UID:20260204T160547EST-4038efdVCU@132.216.98.100 DTSTAMP:20260204T210547Z DESCRIPTION:This event examines how carceral bureaucracies and corporate te lecommunications interests have turned family contact into a profit-driven system\, drawing on Michigan’s groundbreaking “Right to Hug” litigation t o challenge the erosion of in-person visits amid mounting pressures on due process. It situates this litigation within broader jail and prison polic ies across the United States that replace physical visits with costly\, un reliable\, and highly surveilled video calls.\n\nThe following questions f rame the core issues addressed during the conversation\, drawing on legal strategy\, human rights analysis\, and systemic critique:\n\nDrawing on re cent litigation by Civil Rights Corps\, investigative journalism from NBC News\, and critical scholarship on punishment bureaucracy\, the conversati on asks: Is there—and should there be—a constitutional right to hug one’s child or parent while incarcerated\, and what does this litigation mean fo r fundamental rights amid growing authoritarian profiteering?\n\n\n How vid eo visitation bans generate millions in 'kickbacks' for sheriffs and count ies while extracting wealth from poor families\n The documented psychologic al harm of severing physical contact between children and incarcerated par ents\n How corporate surveillance systems (voice biometrics\, AI monitoring ) turn family communication into data extraction\n Comparative questions fo r Canadian constitutional and human rights law: what would a 'right to hug ' look like in Canada's legal framework?\n The role of media narratives in normalizing or challenging these practices\n  \n\n\n\nAlec Karakatsanis\n\n Founder and Executive Director\, Civil Rights Corps\n\nAlec Karakatsanis i s the Founder and Executive Director of Civil Rights Corps. He is a leadin g civil rights attorney who has pioneered constitutional cases challenging the size\, power\, profit\, and everyday brutality of the punishment bure aucracy across the United States.\n\nHis legal challenges have secured imm ense relief\, helping to free hundreds of thousands of people from jail. H is work has notably returned tens of millions of dollars to indigent peopl e and families and prevented the separation of thousands of families\, tra nsforming the way the U.S. criminal punishment bureaucracy handles fines\, fees\, and bail. His litigation includes the 'Right to Hug' cases challen ging video-only jail visitation policies that separate children from incar cerated parents while generating millions in corporate profits.\n\nAlec gr aduated from Yale College and Harvard Law School (2008)\, where he was a S upreme Court Chair of the Harvard Law Review. Prior to founding Civil Righ ts Corps\, he was a federal public defender in Alabama and co-founded Equa l Justice Under Law. He is the author of Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System (2019) and Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News (2025). He was recognized with the 2016 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award and the 2023 New Frontier Award. Please fin d his official bio here.\n\n \n\nModerators\n\nAurélie Lanctôt\n\nDCL cand idate (Թ Faculty of Law) and assistant professor (Département des sci ences juridiques\, UQAM)\n\nRicardo Lamour\n\nAlumnus\, OHCHR Fellowship P rogramme\n\nGladue Writer and Summer 2025 intern (CHRLP / Department of Ju stice and Correctional Services of Cree Nation Government)\n\n \n DTSTART:20260313T170000Z DTEND:20260313T183000Z LOCATION:Maxwell Cohen Moot Court\, Room 100\, Chancellor Day Hall\, CA\, Q C\, Montreal\, H3A 1W9\, 3644 rue Peel SUMMARY:The Right to Hug URL:/humanrights/channels/event/right-hug-370749 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR