Elizabeth Vartkessian

The St. Louis County Library Foundation Presents Mitigation Specialist Elizabeth Vartkessian

 
Author of “The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice”
 

In Conversation with Sarah Phillips, Holistic Defense Services Deputy, Missouri State Public Defender

Founder and director of nonprofit mitigation team Advancing Real Change Inc., Elizabeth Vartkessian’s clients are often legally guilty, and often of terrible crimes. She will spend hundreds of hours per case talking to the families, teachers, and neighbors of a defendant. Vartkessian weaves powerful stories from her extraordinary career into an inspiring argument for dignity in American justice. Her unique experience has taught her that due to personal or generational trauma we cannot hold her clients solely responsible for their actions, nor can we continue to stomach harsh penalties that deny real justice to perpetrators and victims alike. “The Deserving” offers a hope-filled vision of true rehabilitation replacing retribution.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

Books available from Left Bank Books.