In 2025, Jacqueline Lewittes, JD ’25, will work with the MacArthur Justice Center’s Supreme Court and Appellate Program to hold private prison healthcare companies accountable for denying or delaying care to those in their custody and also to develop appellate precedent that incarcerated people can use to hold public providers accountable for poor care.

In 2024, Lauren Courtney, JD ’24, joined Appellate Advocates where she represented indigent survivors of domestic violence seeking resentencing for crimes they committed as result of their victimization under New York’s innovative Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.

The 2024-2025 Criminal Defense Fellow is funded by gifts made in honor and memory of Barbara Allen Babcock, whose teaching career at SLS spanned more than four decades. Professor Babcock was an expert in criminal and civil procedure, an award-winning teacher and legal trailblazer who inspired the hundreds of students she taught. She was the first director of Washington DC’s newly-named Public Defender Service, the success of which gained national recognition.

In 2023, Leanna Lupin, JD ’23, worked as a fellow within the Juvenile Division of the LA County Public Defender’s Office to collaborate with both trial and resource attorneys to provide holistic, wrap-around support for youth involved in the delinquency courts.

In 2022, Rico Altman-Merino, JD ’22, worked at Appellate Advocates in New York representing low-income individuals with criminal convictions facing the coercive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on court systems and plea bargaining.

In 2021, Benjy Mercer-Golden, JD ’21, represented indigent clients charged with misdemeanor offenses, serve as a second chair attorney on complex, high-stakes felony cases, and advocate for the resentencing and release of individuals serving prison sentences as part of the San Francisco Public Defender‘s office.

In 2020, Dennis Martin, JD/MS ’20, represented indigent adults and children who are appealing trial losses or other adverse determinations in the District of Columbia. He also worked with the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia‘s trial and appellate attorneys on cases and initiatives involving digital surveillance by District law enforcement.

In 2019, Cynthia Amezcua, JD ’19, represented indigent clients, which included case investigation, filing motions, and plea deal negotiations, and advised noncitizen clients at the Orleans Public Defender. She also identified and implemented best practices for selecting juries.

In 2018, Sophia Whiting, JD ’18, defended indigent clients against federal criminal charges at the Federal Public Defender, Northern District of California. She assisted with various strategies to advocate for her clients, including fighting charges at trial and presenting mitigating evidence to avoid harsh federal sentencing laws.

In 2017, Annick-Marie Jordan, JD ’17, joined the Orleans Public Defender in New Orleans, Louisiana, to provide comprehensive legal advocacy to indigent sex offender registrants through representation, registration compliance, mitigation of collateral consequences and strategic litigation.

In 2016, Cassidy Rice, JD ’15, worked at the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, Oregon, where she advocated for criminal defendants who have mental health concerns and help the office develop lasting pathways to social services for clients with mental illness.

In 2015, Jessica Spencer, JD ’12, joined the New Jersey State Office of the Public Defender, where she represented clients with felony cases.

In 2014, Maggie Filler, JD ’12, joined Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, where she advocated for fair and decent treatment of prisoners through direct representation and impact litigation, with a special focus on prisoners with disabilities, and physical disabilities in particular.

In 2013, Daniel Brown, JD ’13, worked with Stanford Law School’s Three Strikes Project.  He represented individuals imprisoned under California’s Three Strikes sentencing law and worked, on behalf of its clients in collaboration with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Inc., to reform the harshest aspects of the Three Strikes law, including the recent enactment of the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (Proposition 36).

In 2012, Jaime Dorenbaum, JD ’12 worked at the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender. He focused on assisting the office implement an Immigration Services Plan to serve clients’ immigration needs. Jaime also assisted the Public Defender’s expungement program as well as the county’s efforts to re-sentence non-violent third strike offenders serving life sentences.

In 2011, Rachel Marshall, JD ’10 worked at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, where she represented clients charged with misdemeanor offenses, worked to rebuild the Office’s relationship with the Community Justice Court, and created innovative ways to provide services to clients to prevent recidivism.

In 2010, the first year’s recipient, Emily Galvin, JD ’10, worked at the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender as a Deputy Public Defender on the misdemeanor team, handling misdemeanor trials and pretrial proceedings. In addition to her misdemeanor cases, she is handled the Office’s expungement cases in the Fresh Start Record Clearance Program, appearing on all motions for record clearance and developing resource materials for both attorneys and clients in Santa Clara County.