ADJ Advisory Committee Member
James Forman, Jr.

James Forman, Jr. is the son of James Forman and Constancia Romilly, civil rights activists who met while working together in the 1960's for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Mr. Forman grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where he graduated from Franklin D. Roosevelt High School. Mr. Forman is also a graduate of Brown University and Yale Law School. At Yale, he was active in the Black Law Students Association and was a book reviews editor for the Yale Law Journal.

After law school, Mr. Forman clerked for Judge William Norris on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Upon completing his Supreme Court Clerkship, Mr. Forman joined the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C. where he represented juveniles and adults in serious felony cases, including murder and rape cases. At the Public Defender Service, Mr. Forman developed a keen interest in juvenile justice and the many challenges facing young people and their families in the innter city.

While working in Washington, Mr. Forman helped to found and build an education and job-training project for children in the juvenile justice system, a program that evolved into the Maya Angelou Public Charter School, for which he continues to serve as Board Chairman. The Maya Angelou School is recognized as one of the most successful programs of its kind in the country, combining rigorous education, job training, counseling, mental health services, life skills, and dormitory living for school dropouts and youth who have previously been incarcerated.

In addition to his work at the Maya Angelou School, Mr. Forman is a Fellow at the New America Foundation, where he writes articles and book reviews on topics relating to urban education and juvenile justice. His work has been featured in publications such as the Washington Post, The New Republic, the American Enterprise Institute Magazine, and the Michigan Law Review. Mr. Forman is also an adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan School of Law -- his classes include seminars titlesd "The War on Drugs," "Urban Education: Law and Reform," "Police and Policing," and "Race, Poverty and the American City."