Honoring Joel Copperman

Last night, Youth Represent honored Joel Copperman, the executive director of CASES, at their annual benefit. It always makes me happy to see good work rewarded. There's much to admire about Joel -- his affability, his decency, his commitment to CASES' clients, etc -- but the thing that stands out for me is his longevity. Joel's been running CASES for more than twenty years, through good times and bad, and I can discern no dimunition whatsoever in his zeal for the work at hand. CASES is lucky to have him, as is New York City and the field of alternatives to incarceration.