The following description comes from the event organizer.

Tens of millions of Americans are living longer than ever before, posing new challenges for older adults, their caregivers, communities, and society’s systems.

MT Connolly’s new book, The Measure of Our Age, profiles the work of pioneers who address those challenges, including one of the first communities to prosecute elder abuse in King County. This problem victimizes one in ten older Americans.

KUOW law and justice reporter Amy Radil will moderate a discussion with Page Ulrey, elder abuse prosecutor for King County since 2001, Leesa Manion, now King County’s elected prosecutor, who launched the elder abuse unit, and MT Connolly, author of The Measure of Our Age, which, among other things, tells the story of these hard cases, the difficult ethical issues they raise, and the justice system’s evolving approach to them.

MT Connolly is a leading national expert on elder justice, a MacArthur “genius” grant awardee, and author of the 2023 book, The Measure of Our Age: Navigating Care, Safety, Money, and Meaning Later in Life. She was the architect of the federal Elder Justice Act, founder of the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, and lead author of the Elder Justice Roadmap, shaping federal, state, and local research, policy, and practice. She is also a co-designer of the community-based “RISE” model intended to introduce holistic, hopeful, and effective ways to empower older adults, reduce harm, and promote elder justice.

Page Ulrey is a Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for the King County Prosecutor’s Office. She graduated from Amherst College and Northeastern University School of Law. In 2001, she was appointed to the position of elder abuse prosecutor in her office. In that position, she prosecutes cases of neglect, financial exploitation, sexual and physical assault, and homicide, and co-leads King County’s Elder Abuse Council and Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team. Page conducts training on elder abuse prosecution and investigation across the country. 

Leesa Manion is the first woman, the first person of color, and the first Asian-American to be elected to serve as King County Prosecuting Attorney. Leesa is also the first Korean-American woman in the United States to be elected Prosecuting Attorney. Prior to her election in 2022, Leesa served as Chief of Staff of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for 15 years. Manion currently serves on the Boards of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.

Amy Radil is a longtime reporter at NPR member station KUOW in Seattle. She covers politics, government and law enforcement. Recent coverage includes developments in law enforcement and local drug laws.  This year she received two awards from the local Society of Professional Journalists for coverage of undercover policing and new alerts for missing Indigenous people.   

 
Presented by Town Hall Seattle.