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General Information
Hotel Information
The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suite
404 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, California, USA, 90071
Registration Information
Registration location and badge pick-up times.
San Diego Registration Booth in California Foyer
Hotel Second Level Meeting Space
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday 6:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday 6:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Online registration is closed.
On-site Registration will be available.
Welcome & Poster Receptions
Welcome Reception
Light Appetizers Cash Bar
Thursday 6:30 - 8 PM
San Diego Ballroom
Level 2
Poster Receptions
Light Appetizers Cash Bar
Friday & Saturday 6:30 - 8 PM
Pasadena Room
Lower Level
Printed mini programs in lieu of full programs
As a step toward being greener and cutting down on costs as an organization, we decided to forego the printing of the full programs again this year. Instead, conference goers will receive printed mini programs.
While those staying at the conference hotels will have complimentary internet access in their individual rooms, the actual conference rooms will not include wireless Internet access.
Thus, we recommend downloading the full program PDF and the conference mobile app prior to arriving in Los Angeles.
If you are experiencing any COVID symptoms, do not visit any conference spaces. We appreciate everyone working together so we all stay healthy!
Have questions or need more information about volunteering?
Please contact Emma Paskoff emma@ap-ls.org
Off-Site Dining Options
Recommended list of off-site dining options within a 5-10 minute walk.
Hotel Dining Options
LA Prime
Steakhouse
Savor prime steak and fresh seafood as you take in spectacular 360-degree city views at LA Prime, our award-winning steakhouse on the 35th floor of The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites, Los Angeles.
Mon-Tue: Closed
Wed-Thu, Sun: 5:00 PM-10:00 PM
Fri-Sat: 5:00 PM-11:00 PM
BonaVista Lounge
Asian-Fusion
Sip classic cocktails with an innovative twist at BonaVista Lounge. Tempting libations, light restaurant entrees and small plates are on the menu, as are impressive views of Los Angeles from the 34th floor of this revolving venue.
Mon-Tue: Closed
Wed-Thu, Sun: 5:00 PM-12:00 AM
Fri-Sat: 5:00 PM-1:00 AM
Lakeview Bistro
American
Enjoy breakfast and lunch favorites at Lakeview Bistro. This onsite downtown LA restaurant offers healthy American classics and a premium list of fine wines. Our Westin’s Eat Well program will support your commitment to becoming a healthier you.
Everyday: 6:00 AM-2:00 PM
CafeNOW
American
Grab a Starbucks® coffee to start your day at CafeNOW, our newly expanded grab and go area. CafeNOW features a variety of hot and cold offerings available all day.
Open: 24/7
Lobby Court
American
This chic, open-format venue located in the atrium offers sit down dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and cocktail service throughout the day. Free High Speed Internet Access is available.
Everyday: 10:00 AM-1:00 AM
Tequilas
Mexican
Indulge in all your favorite Mexican entrees at Tequila’s, our onsite Mexican restaurant. Your stay with us is not complete without experiencing our authentic tacos, quesadillas, and a variety of agave-centric cocktails.
Everyday: 11:00 AM-2:00 PM 4:00 PM-10:00 PM
Explore Los Angeles with colleagues on a 5k Fun Run, sponsored by the AP-LS Student Committee!
Friday, March 22, 2024
Symposia, Paper, and Data Blitz Sessions
All conference sessions, with the exception of the plenaries, are located on the lobby level of the hotel.
Symposium sessions are 80 minutes long. Allow approximately 10 minutes for questions and comments from the audience. Divide the remaining time evenly between the presenters and the discussant.
Paper sessions are 60 minutes long. Most sessions have four or five papers; therefore, each presenter should plan to have 10-12 minutes to present. This will allow time at the end for audience questions. A chair will be assigned to paper sessions and will make introductions, help keep time, as well as guide questions at the end of the session.
Data-Blitz sessions are 60 minutes long. Data-blitz presenters have a maximum of 5 minutes each (3-5 slides), followed by approximately 10 minutes of questions from the audience at the end of the session.
AV
Please see the list below for all the AV equipment provided in each session room. Presenters are required to bring their own laptop to project any slides, documents, etc. If you have a Mac laptop, we HIGHLY recommend bringing your own adapter to support HDMI hookups. If you need assistance with the AV equipment in your session room, please call or text our lead technician, Gabe Bagdasarov.
WIFI
There will be no access to Wi-Fi in the meeting rooms at this year’s conference. If you are staying at the hotel, you will have Wi-Fi access in your individual guest room. We recommend having all contents of your presentation pre-downloaded on your laptop as well as loaded on a flash drive.
Room Set Up
Each room will be set up in theater style with a podium at the front for presenters. Water bubblers will be accessible near all session rooms. If there is not a session before, we recommend getting to your room at least 5 minutes before your presentation to connect to the AV. The AV company will be setting up on Wednesday, and you are welcome to stop by your room then.
Poster Sessions
Poster sessions are scheduled from 6:30-8:00 pm on Friday and Saturday evenings. Presenters are scheduled for either Friday or Saturday night and will be given a number to correspond with the board where they should display their posters.
Poster Sizing: The boards for mounting a poster are 4 ft (height) x 8 ft (width). Presenters are free to create any size poster that will fit within that space. Presenters will need to bring push pins to hang their posters; we do not provide push pins.
We encourage poster presenters to use a Better Poster format.
Conference Contacts
Co-chairs
Caitlin Cavanagh, Ph.D. &
Samantha Zottola, Ph.D.
conference@apl-ls.org
Event Director
Emma Paskoff
emma@ap-ls.org
Association Coordinator
Marcus Fierek
office@ap-ls.org
The 2024 APLS Annual Conference Program Grid is now available!
Program & Schedule
2024 APLS Program Grid is now available online!
Coming soon: Get the Guide on your mobile device.
tap “Download the app” to access the guide on your iOS or Android device. Prefer the web version? Some content and networking tools may be available to you online.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Opening Plenary
San Francisco, Sacramento & San Jose
A New Frontier: Using Psychology to Strengthen Forensic Science Policy and Practice
12:00PM - 2:00PM
First, help us honor our 2024 award winners. Then, stay for an opening plenary session on Forensic Science. From crime labs to autopsies, improper forensic science is a leading cause of known wrongful convictions—yet it has historically received less research attention than other such causes. That tide is now turning, as researchers are shedding light on the potential for unconscious bias and human error in forensic experts’ decisions and working with community partners to strengthen forensic science policy and practice. In this session, a panel of psychologists, practitioners, attorneys, and policy experts will discuss ongoing progress and future directions in terms of rectifying past injustices and optimizing the human element of forensic science.
Chair: Dr. Jeff Kukucka, Towson University
Dr. Jeff Kukucka graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Loyola College in Maryland. As an undergraduate, he became involved in research on conformity in eyewitness memory with Dr. Kerri Goodwin (Towson University) and research on child forensic interviewing and metacognition with Dr. Maggie Bruck (Johns Hopkins Medical Institute). He then graduated from the Ph.D. Program in Psychology & Law at the CUNY Graduate Center, where he worked primarily under Dr. Saul Kassin (John Jay College of Criminal Justice).
Schedule at a glance
Friday, March 22, 2024
Presidential Plenary
San Francisco & Sacramento
Beyond a competency crisis: California innovations addressing serious mental illness in the criminal legal system?
10:45AM - 12:15PM
For at least the past decade, the United States has experienced a grave “competency crisis,” That is, orders for competency evaluation and restoration have been increasing far more than states can provide those restoration services. One consequence of this public mental health crisis are lengthy waitlists of defendants with psychiatric illness, waiting for many months in jails for restoration treatment, as their symptoms grow worse. These conditions have prompted lawsuits and reform efforts in many states, though most states still struggle. Amid this crisis, California is worth watching. Their waitlist reached nearly 2,000 (second largest in the country), but through a variety of innovative practices has decreased by roughly 80%.
This panel features California leaders who pioneered strategic practices to address the competence crisis. Psychiatrist Kate Warburton, director of the Department of State Hospitals, has overseen broad system reform efforts that extend far beyond the state hospitals. Psychiatrist Kristen Ochoa has overseen a one-of-a-kind outpatient restoration program for Los Angeles County. Finally, Judge James Bianco has been an innovator in his own docket, and a national voice in addressing the competency systems.
Chair: Dr. Daniel Murrie, Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy
Daniel Murrie is director of psychology at the Institute of Law, Psychiatry and Public Policy and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Murrie’s duties at the ILPPP involve training Virginia clinicians to perform forensic evaluations and supervising the ILPPP’s psychiatric, post-doctoral and practicum trainees. Within the ILPPP’s forensic clinic, Murrie performs criminal and civil forensic psychological evaluations of juveniles and adults. As a researcher, Murrie has published on a number of topics related to forensic assessment, psychopathy, diagnostic labeling and juvenile justice. His current work addresses bias and quality control in forensic evaluations.
Schedule at a glance
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Closing Plenary
San Francisco, Sacramento & San Jose
The Creation of a Young Adult Court: A New Approach to Justice
10:45AM - 12:15PM
To achieve social justice, courts must find new ways to respond to those who engage in criminal behavior. It is well known that the “felon” label produces a wide variety of collateral consequences (e.g., employment, education, housing, voting) and the effects are even worse for young men of color. In an attempt to change how the justice system responds to felony offenses, Orange County, CA created a Young Adult Court (YAC) for young men between the ages of 18 and 25.
The goal of this program is to reduce recidivism and promote positive life outcomes by (1) providing developmentally appropriate support to participants of the program and (2) permit them the opportunity to have their felony charge reduced to a misdemeanor or dismissed. To highlight how this court was created, the Presiding Judge of Orange County will describe what it takes to implement a Young Adult Court. The District Attorney and Public Defender will highlight the challenges each of their offices face. Finally, Dr. Cauffman will present preliminary data from the randomized control trial to provide insight into the effectiveness as well as the challenges between those processed in Young Adult Court and those processed through the traditional court system.
Chair: Dr. Caitlin Cavanagh, Michigan State University
Caitlin Cavanagh is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Broadly, her research focuses on the intersections of psychology and the law, and how social contexts shape adolescent behavior. A developmental psychologist by training, she is particularly interested in the dynamic parent-child relationship. Her program of research seeks to produce developmentally sound research that can improve how the juvenile justice system interfaces with youth and their families.
Schedule at a glance
Hotel Information
AP-LS has rooms set aside for all attendees, which can be booked at a special group rate that is available for attendees:
Group Rate $249
Available March 19 - March 24
Discounted Valet Parking ($38/ night)
Attendees must book their room by February 25th, 2024 to take advantage of the special rate!
Registration
Registration & Badge Pick-Up
Registration location and badge pick-up times.
San Diego Registration Booth in California Foyer
Hotel Second Level Meeting Space
Wednesday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday 7:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday 6:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Saturday 6:30 AM - 4:30 PM
Online registration is closed. On-site Registration will be available.
*Rates may be subject to change
Status | Early Bird (before Jan 31) |
Regular (on Feb 1) |
|
---|---|---|---|
Full Member | $285 | $315 | |
Early Career Professional Member | $205 | $235 | |
Student Member | $80 | $110 | |
Student Member First-Author Presenter | $40 | $40 | |
Student Non-member | $140 | $170 | |
Non-member | $400 | $470 |
Preconference Workshops
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
At this year’s conference we are excited to offer two full day workshops and four half day workshops on that will take place on Wednesday March 20.
Attendees will have the ability to register for the pre conference workshops with their conference registration.
*Pricing is subject to change
Full-Day Workshop Rates
Status | Early Bird (before Jan 31) |
Regular (on Feb 1) |
---|---|---|
Member | $200 | $230 |
Non-Member | $250 | $280 |
Student Member | $80 | $100 |
Student Non-member | $100 | $120 |
Half-Day Workshop Rates
Status | Early Bird (before Jan 31) |
Regular (on Feb 1) |
---|---|---|
Member | $100 | $115 |
Non-Member | $125 | $140 |
Student Member | $40 | $50 |
Student Non-member | $50 | $60 |
Exhibitors & Sponsors
Become a Sponsor
Signing up as a Business Partner of AP-LS has never been easier. Select your sponsorship, upload your logo, register your staff and make a payment all in one place.