Law

What I love about the law is that there is so much to continuously learn about it – so many focus areas – so many ways the law can help the people. During my legal career I’ve been able to take advantage of my practice of life-long learning to explore and practice in a myriad of legal fields. I began with media and technology law, but after my tenure as a State Representative my practice took a turn towards criminal defense and criminal justice reform. This is thanks to my work on the legislative Judiciary Non-civil Committee and my appointment as Vice-Chair of the Criminal Justice Taskforce for the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.  In addition to that legislative policy work, I have been doing a deep dive into criminal justice reform issues, including mass incarceration, bail bonds, mandatory sentencing, juvenile sentencing, restorative justice, etc.  Learning from organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the ACLU, and the NAACP, as well as from individual progressive defense and district attorneys is leading me to discover where I can make an impact with my legal and policy expertise for our community. I have spent the last few years delving into progressive prosecution and new tools and strategies for a fair and just criminal legal system – meeting with Progressive DAs from around the country and organizations that focus on criminal justice reform in preparation for the next step in my journey – to be elected District Attorney of the Western Judicial Circuit in Athens, GA.

Some of the local organizations working on these issues that I support include: