Jessica is a human rights attorney living in Mill Valley, California. She is nationally recognized for her efforts in support of prison reform and opposition to the death penalty. A student in Woodstock’s earliest years, Jessica exhibited a spirited questioning of authority that has crystallized into the principled work she does today as an attorney. Following Hyde, she graduated from the Honors College of the University of South Florida with a degree in political science and English. A stint at a Florida state agency representing Florida death row inmates inspired her to attend Santa Clara University School of Law where she graduated with the Dean’s Leadership Award. While in law school she served on the national board of the American Constitution Society and wrote a regular column for the Harvard Law and Policy Review. Jessica began her legal career representing death row inmates at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center in San Francisco, she and CNN commentator Van Jones then co-founded #cut50, a bipartisan initiative with an explicit goal to cut the U.S. prison population by half in the next ten years. She serves as the national director of this nonprofit and has managed to bring together coalitions on both sides of the political aisle in the interest of criminal justice reform. In 2013, Jessica was elected to the Mill Valley City Council becoming the youngest person ever elected to office in the county of Marin. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys hiking with her husband Craig, and their daughters Hannah and Scarlett.
Alumni Hall of Honor Members
