Afternoon Speaker Details

Caitlin Fenhagen, Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Director

Caitlin Fenhagen is the Criminal Justice Resource Director for Orange County, North Carolina. The Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department (CJRD) was created by the Board of County Commissioners in 2015 to oversee, support and enhance programming for individuals in the criminal legal system or at-risk for involvement in Orange County. In this role, Cait oversees the Pretrial Release program, youth and adult pre-arrest deflection and diversion programs, two treatment courts, the Local Reentry Council, the Restoration Legal Counsel position, the Street Outreach program and youth and adult behavioral health services and programs for individuals in custody or at risk. Prior to her position at the CJRD, Cait worked for eight years as the Deputy Capital Defender for the Office of the N.C. Capital Defender. After graduating from UNC School of Law in 1994, Cait worked as an assistant public defender at the Defender Association of Philadelphia, the Bronx Defenders and the Orange County Public Defender’s Office. In addition, Cait spent two years as an attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation.

Derrik Anderson, Executive Director, Race Matters for Juvenile Justice

Mr. Anderson serves as the Executive Director of Race Matters for Juvenile Justice (RMJJ) in Charlotte, NC. He leads, guides, and supports a collaborative leadership group of partner organizations and institutions. Collectively, they work within the community to reduce disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color with the intentional focus on advocating and organizing for changes within policy, procedures, and practice.

Mr. Anderson leads and co-facilitates the organization’s Catalyzing Change initiative that builds upon elements learned at the racial equity workshop, guides the workshop alumni through reflections of their values and beliefs, and practice racial equity skills building within affinity groups.

Derrik obtained a bachelor’s degree in social work from South Carolina State University in Orangeburg, SC. Also, he received a master’s degree in social service administration (MSSA) and a master’s degree in management of Nonprofit Organization (MNO) from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH.

District Court Judge Kendra Montgomery-Blinn

Kendra Montgomery-Blinn is a District Court Judge in Durham, North Carolina. She was appointed by Governor Cooper to this role in July of 2023.

Kendra is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Purdue University and a cum laude graduate of Duke University School of Law.

After graduating from law school, Kendra served as an Assistant District Attorney in Durham from 2004 through 2007.

From 2007 through 2015, Kendra was the Executive Director of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission (Commission). Kendra represented the Commission through eight exonerations.

In 2015, Kendra returned to the District Attorney’s Office and became the leader of the Special Victims Unit. She and her team prosecuted homicide cases and other violent felonies.

At an Assistant District Attorney, Kendra created a restorative justice process for the Durham Courts system. She them led the first felony, and later the first homicide case, in North Carolina though a formal restorative justice process. This work was featured in a 2023 article in The Guardian and will be part of an Audible podcast series in 2024.

Chief District Court Judge Regina Parker

Judge Regina R. Parker graduated from Williamston High School in 1985 and thereafter received the Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from East Carolina University in 1989. Following undergraduate school, Judge Parker earned the Juris Doctor of Law degree from the North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Following law school, Judge Parker clerked on the North Carolina Court of Appeals for the Honorable Clifton Johnson. In 1993, she became a partner with the law firm of Smallwood, Rodgers and Hayes where she worked as a trial attorney until 1997. Judge Parker joined the law firm of the esteemed, late Attorney Earl T. Brown where she worked from 1998 until 2001, practicing juvenile and real estate law.

In 2001, Governor James B. Hunt appointed Judge Parker to the District Court bench in the Second Judicial District, comprising Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell and Washington County. This historic appointment made Judge Parker the first woman and African American judge in the Second Judicial District. Early in her tenure on the District Court, Judge Parker initiated the Teen Court program in the Second Judicial District, diverting teen offenders to a specialty, educational but non-judicial proceeding. During her time on the bench, Judge has been pleased to serve on the Juvenile Crime Prevention Committee for Martin, Beaufort, and Washington County and by appointment to the North Carolina Courts Commission. Serving for more than 23 years, Judge Parker has been re-elected to the District Court by the citizens of the Second Judicial District without opposition.

On March 1, 2018, Chief Justice Mark Martin of the North Carolina Supreme Court appointed Judge Parker to the position of Chief District Court Judge for the Second Judicial District. As the first female and African-American Chief District Court Judge in this judicial District, Judge Parker has begun to tackle head-on the mental health and opioid epidemics, which impact the lives of thousands of families in eastern North Carolina. As the founding member of the Opioid Crisis and Mental Health Coalitions, she has convened a multi-disciplinary alliance of professionals to address these crises. She has developed an Adult Drug Treatment Court and a Family-Centered Treatment Court to provide drug-addicted offenders with the intensive, individualized treatment they need to become healthy, law-abiding, and productive family and community members. With the School to Justice Partnership Initiative, Judge Parker has taken the lead to assemble community stakeholders in the Second Judicial District to develop and implement strategies to keep youth in school and out of court in Beaufort, Hyde, Martin, Tyrrell and Washington County.

Judge Parker serves on numerous community and professional boards. Her passion, however, continues to be serving the Lord, Jesus Christ, and her community. She is a member of Believer's Fellowship Conference Center where Rick Carson is the pastor. Judge Regina Parker is married to Dr. Norris Parker, and they have two daughters, Maya, 24 and Morgan, 18.

Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court and Judge of Probate Elisa Chinn-Gary

Elected in 2014, Elisa Chinn-Gary is the first African American to hold the office of Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court and Judge of Probate. Co-founder of the National Association of Court Professionals (NACP) and Race Matters for Juvenile Justice (RMJJ), Clerk Chinn-Gary stands as a beacon of hope and commitment to justice in a legal system fraught with inequities and racial disparities. What sets Clerk Chinn-Gary apart is a passion driven by her personal and professional mission: the Advancement of Justice and Court Excellence. From attorney advocate, law professor, institutional organizer to elected official, she embodies servant leadership. Academically rooted in sociology and psychology from Winston-Salem State University and armed with a Master of Social Work and Juris Doctorate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Clerk Chinn-Gary has transformed her passion into significant action. Among her recognitions are the revered Raising the Bar Award, Julius L. Chambers Diversity Champion Award, NAACP Distinguished Service Award, the Spirit Award conferred by the McCrory YMCA and the Bridge Builder Award conferred by Mecklenburg Ministries.

Retired Cumberland County Superior Court Judge Gregory Weeks

Born, Princeton NJ.

Attended NC A&T undergraduate, UNC-CH Law school

Fayetteville Public Defender’s Office 1977-1987, Advisory Committee Model

Penal Code Sentencing Provisions Committee, American Law Institute, Philadelphia, PA.

Faculty, National Institute of Trial Advocacy Eastern Regional and South Africa.

Faculty, National Criminal Defense College, Houston, TX and Mercer Law School, Macon, GA.

Faculty, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, Trial Advocacy Clinic, Consultant, National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, Washington, D.C.

Organizations

Cumberland County Organizing Against Racism

Honors

Outstanding Trial Judge Award North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, 1995, 2013.

Judge James Wynn, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Appointed by President Obama, Judge James Andrew Wynn was confirmed in August 2010 by the United States Senate to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Previously, he served for twenty years as an appellate judge on both the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of North Carolina. He was in the private practice of law before becoming a state appellate judge. His legal career also includes thirty years in the U.S. Navy Reserves where he served as a military judge and retired at the rank of Navy Captain. He holds degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill (B.A.), Marquette University School of Law (J.D.), and the University of Virginia School of Law (L.L.M.).

Professor James E. Coleman, Jr., Duke University School of Law

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