Friday, December 3: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Although Jim Crow laws have long been abolished, Michelle Alexander argues that a surprising percentage of the African-American community remains trapped in a subordinate status—much like their grandparents before them. This is the subject of Alexander’s provocative new book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.” A long-time civil rights advocate and litigator, Alexander won a 2005 Soros Justice Fellowship and now holds a joint appointment at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Mortiz College of Law at Ohio State University. She also served as a law clerk for Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court. A book signing will follow her Miller Center Forum.

Friday, December 10: 11:00 a.m. Miller Center Forum: The Fall Term of the U.S. Supreme Court

CBS News Chief Legal Correspondent Jan Crawford contributes regularly to the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," "The Early Show," and "Face The Nation," as well as CBS Radio News and CBSNews.com. Crawford served as a regular contributor to CBS News from 2005 to 2006.

Friday, December 17: 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. Fluvanna Democrats' Holiday Party at Glen Burnie, the historic home of Marvin Moss just north of the Village of Palmyra. Free, potluck and not a fundraiser! Kids welcome. Map, directions at www.fluvannademocrats.org. Bring a flashlight for the parking area.