Juvenile Justice System: Stop Incriminating Young People Like Adults with Joanna Visser and John Pace

In this episode, we talk with two advocates for juveniles who have been working intensely to end youth sentenced to life without parole. They also support other youth to get out of the juvenile justice system, once and for all. 
 
John Pace is the Juvenile Life Without Parole (“JLWOP”) Reentry Coordinator with the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project. In this role he coordinates efforts to garner the necessary resources to support former juvenile lifers returning home. As a former juvenile lifer himself–John spent 31 years in prison, beginning at age 17–he was actively involved in numerous initiatives while incarcerated to help support his personal transition back to the community and that of other juvenile lifers. John is a certified paralegal and a former member of the Para Professional Law Clinic (PPLC) at Graterford prison. In 2014, he became a certified instructor in the Inside-Out Pedagogy, which teaches the art of facilitating dialogue. While incarcerated, John earned his Associates Degree and Bachelor’s Degree from Villanova University, with minors in sociology and criminal justice.  John Pace was named the first-ever recipient of the Raymond Pace Alexander Reentry Star of the Year Award in June 2018 in recognition of his tremendous accomplishments since returning home from prison.

Contact:  [e-mail]; 267-703-8053

Joanna Visser Adjoian, Esq. is co-founder and Co-Director of the Youth Sentencing & Reentry Project. At YSRP, she leads the reentry team for youth and Juvenile Lifers, does policy advocacy work, and works with her Co-Director and Director of Operations on fundraising, communications and other aspects of the organization’s operations.

Prior to co-founding YSRP, Joanna served as Associate Director and Staff Attorney of the Toll Public Interest Center at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she oversaw the Center’s 26 student pro bono projects, offered guidance to more than 100 student leaders, and directly supervised students in new and existing pro bono initiatives. Before joining the Toll Center, Joanna she advanced efforts to end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without parole, including co-authoring an Amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case of Miller v. Alabama. 

Joanna is a 2014 Echoing Green Fellow, a 2016 Claneil Emerging Leader Fellow, a 2016 recipient of the Penn Law Young Alumni Award, and a 2017 recipient of the Penn Law Alan Lerner Rising Star Award. She was honored to receive the 2018 Shepherd of Peace Award from Good Shepherd Mediation Program, the 2019 Haddon, McClellan, and Richardson Award from the Temple University Black Law Students Association, and the 2019 F. Sean Peretta Service Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Young Lawyer Division. Along with Lauren Fine, she is the 2018 recipient of the American Constitution Society David Carliner Public Interest Award.  Joanna is a published author, including articles in The Champ

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