Adam J. Foss: “A Prosecutor’s Vision for a Better Criminal Justice System” presented by UPC Nebraska
Adam J. Foss is a former Assistant District Attorney in the Juvenile Division of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in Boston, MA, and a fierce advocate for criminal justice reform and the importance of the role of the prosecutor in ending mass incarceration. Foss believes that the profession of prosecution is ripe for reinvention requiring better incentives and more measurable metrics for success beyond simply “cases won.” This belief led him to found Prosecutor Impact, a non-profit developing training and curriculum for prosecutors to reframe their role in the criminal justice system. During his eight years as a prosecutor, Foss collaborated with the courts and the community to develop programming that continues to have a positive impact on the neighborhoods he prosecuted in. One example of these efforts is the Roxbury CHOICE program, an initiative Foss co-founded, to turn probation from a punitive sentence into a beneficial relationship with the court, the probation department, and the District Attorney’s Office. Before leaving the District Attorney’s Office, Foss was a critical piece of the foundation of the first juvenile diversion program in Suffolk County, keeping young people out of the cradle to prison pipeline. The Mandela Foundation recognized Foss as the 2017 Nelson Mandela Changemaker of the Year. The NAACP awarded Foss with the 2017 Roy Wilkins Next Generation Leader Award. The Root named Foss one of the 100 most influential black Americans of 2016. He sits on the boards of Restore Justice California and of the Pretrial Justice Institute. In February of 2016, Foss delivered a TED talk that has already eclipsed 2 million views and in 2013, the Massachusetts Bar Association voted him Prosecutor of the Year.