Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections
Speaker Biographies
Defense Perspectives on Federal Justice Reform
Norman L. Reimer
Norman L. Reimer became Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers (NACDL) in 2006, following 28 years as a criminal defense lawyer in New
York City. NACDL is America’s premiere association representing the public, private, and
military defense bar. Mr. Reimer has long championed criminal justice reform and, in support
of reform, has lectured and testified in countless venues. He believes the criminal justice
system has become untethered from its moral core.
David Patton
David Patton has been the Executive Director of the Federal Defenders of New York since
2011. Before becoming head of the office, he was a law professor at Stanford University and
the University of Alabama, and a trial lawyer in the office from 2002-2008. He chairs the
Federal Defender Legislative Committee and in 2014, testified before the House Judiciary
Committee’s Over-Criminalization Task Force. He is a member of the American Law
Institute, and among other publications, the author of Federal Public Defense in an Age of
Inquisition, 122 YALE L.J. 100 (2013).
Leigh M. Skipper
Leigh M. Skipper is the Chief Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He is
responsible for the management of staff who represent indigent persons charged with
federal offenses. The office represents clients at all levels of proceedings, including trials,
appeals, grand jury proceedings, petty offenses, misdemeanors, felonies, and capital postconviction proceedings. Mr. Skipper obtained his B.S. in Finance from the University of
Connecticut and his J.D. from the Howard University School of Law.
www.colsontaskforce.org
colson@urban.org
Innovative Practices in the Federal Justice System
George S. Cardona
Since 2002, George S. Cardona has served as the Chief Assistant United States Attorney for
the Central District of California. After attending Yale Law School, he clerked for the Third
Circuit Court of Appeals, worked in private practice, and spent two years as a Deputy
District Attorney in Los Angeles. He began work as an Assistant United States Attorney in
1991. He has also taught at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.
Patti Butterfield, Ph. D.
Patti Butterfield is the Senior Deputy Assistant Director in the Reentry Services Division of
the Federal Bureau of Prisons. She oversees the Chaplaincy Services, Female Offender,
National Reentry Affairs, Psychology Services, and Residential Reentry Management
Branches. Dr. Butterfield has been with the Bureau of Prisons for 18 years, serving as
Psychology Services Administrator for 7 years prior to assuming her current position. She is
a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology.
Michael J. Elbert, Ph. D.
Michael Elbert began his career as a United States Probation Officer in the Southern District
of Iowa in 1994 and was promoted to Chief in 2007. In 2004, he earned his Ph.D. in Criminal
Justice from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Elbert’s doctoral dissertation focused on the
correlates of revocation for a sample of 177 federal offenders from his own district. He has
published and presented on topics related to drug testing, recidivism, and supervision
outcomes.
www.colsontaskforce.org
colson@urban.org