A reflection on this oral history:

In June 2017, as my time at John Jay was coming to a close, a member of our library faculty, Dr. Jeffrey Kroessler, asked to meet with me. A historian by training, Dr. Kroessler was the Director of Justice in New York: An Oral History, a collection of interviews with prominent leaders of New York's criminal justice system.  He invited me to contribute to this collection.  Our conversations, conducted over five long sessions, were a real treat.  As the transcripts reveal, Jeff was impressively well-prepared, always placing the events we discussed in the larger context of the city's history.  I note with deep sadness that, as this website was being created, Jeff Kroessler passed away.  He left behind many friends who admired his unique gifts as a historian and valued his many contributions to John Jay.  I count myself among them.

Interview transcripts can be read: here

The early years: from Holden, MA to Yale College and the Vera Institute of Justice: