Sessions
Children In Crisis: Examining the Misidentification and Overrepresentation of Black Boys In Special Education
2:30 PM - 3:45 PM Wed
Honorable Reverend Everett D. Mitchell was born and reared in Fort Worth, Texas. Mitchell accepted his call to ministry at the age of 15. Upon his matriculation from high school, Judge Mitchell relocated to Atlanta, Georgia where graduated from Morehouse College with a B.A. in Mathematics and Religion. Reverend Mitchell continued his educational advancement at the Princeton Theological Seminary where he received both a Masters of Divinity (M.Div.) in Christian Ethics and a Masters of Theology (Th.M.) in Social Ethics. Judge Mitchell went further and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
He was formerly an Assistant District Attorney in Dane County Wisconsin. Since leaving the District Attorney’s office, he continues to provide Pro Bono legal services to disenfranchised people of Dane County and volunteers to teach young people about their legal rights and responsibilities. He also served as the Associate Director of Madison-area Urban Ministry. Judge Mitchell was elected to the Dane County Circuit Court on April 5th, 2016. He took the bench on August 1st, 2016. He presides over Branch 4 in Dane County. Judge Mitchell’s current rotation is a juvenile rotation where is presides over cases of family reunification as well as young people who commit law violations. During his tenure on the bench, Judge Mitchell has worked with colleagues to change court room policy so young people are not automatically placed in restraints when entering the courtroom, worked with the Madison Metropolitan School District to create an office of Youth Engagement that will provide a bridge to kids who are disconnected from any sort of educational programming, worked to ensure that children at Lincoln Hills receive haircuts on a regular basis, connected the Black Law Students Association with Madison’s local detention center so those students can eat lunch with children in detention, visited 30 schools in Dane County to talk with children about the juvenile justice system and empower them to think of themselves as judges, lectured or spoken at UW Madison school of Social Work, UW Madison Law School, UW Madison School of Education, NAMI conference, and many others; partnered with the Madison School District to create a better process for special education children and shortened school days and seeks to inspire administrations to re-think their approach of classroom management to support traumatized children. Judge Mitchell often invites young men and women into the courtroom to learn more and gain a positive vision of courts, fairness, and the hope of justice.
Judge Mitchell serves as Senior Pastor of Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church in Madison, Wisconsin with an over 400-member congregation. He is married to the love of his life Dr. Mankah Zama Mitchell. They have two children: Sydney and Braylon Mitchell.