Rachel Rossi

Rachel Rossi (born 1983 or 1984) is an American lawyer and politician. She has worked as a public defender in Los Angeles County, and as criminal justice counsel to Democratic Senator Dick Durbin.

Rachel Rossi
Born1983/1984
Inland Empire, California, U.S.
Alma materBethany University (BA)
Pepperdine University (JD)

Early life and education

Rossi grew up in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. She attended Claremont High School before earning her bachelor's degree from Bethany University and a Juris Doctor from the Pepperdine University School of Law.[1][2]

Career

From 2011 to 2017, she was a state and federal public defender in Los Angeles County;[3] she has said that defending clients who were generally low-income and minorities, many of whom had suffered homelessness, mental illness or drug abuse, gave her a good understanding of the legal system in Los Angeles.[1]

She then became criminal justice counsel to Dick Durbin, the Democratic Party's Senate Democratic Whip, working on Supreme Court nominations including those of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. She served as lead staffer on the 2018 First Step Act, which seeks to reduce recidivism and encourages federal prison reform, and has resulted in thousands of prisoners being released.[3][1] She is Of Counsel to Cohen Williams LLP.[4]

In November 2019, Rossi announced she was running as a reformist candidate for Los Angeles County District Attorney.[3] Rossi will face incumbent Jackie Lacey and former San Francisco DA, George Gascón.[5] During her campaign, she has criticized the Los Angeles legal system, pointing out that 80% of prisoners there are black or Latino, and one in three suffers from some form of mental illness.[6][7]

Honors

In 2019 Rossi was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of the United States' top 40 lawyers aged under 40.[8] She has been recognized as a Lawyer of Color during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference.[4]

gollark: I have a sick 4d1h egg; it's really unlikely to die if it becomes a hatchling, right?
gollark: Right now I'm just trying to compile a "high trade value" group so I can manage the ones which are good for breeding more easily.
gollark: I really should have done groups earlier. I know I have a bunch of cool stuff like SAltkins somewhere, but they're not labelled and I have a thousand dragons to sort through at this point.
gollark: ?
gollark: They should reach the AP in about 3 days.

References
  1. Martin, Brittany (January 22, 2020). "Meet Rachel Rossi, the Progressive Ex-Public Defender Running for DA". Los Angeles magazine.
  2. Stoltze, Frank. "Rachel Rossi Wants To Be LA's Next DA. She's Promising To End 'Archaic' Approach To Justice". LAist. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  3. Queally, James (November 12, 2019). "Former public defender Rachel Rossi latest to enter crowded L.A. County D.A.'s race". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
  4. "Of Counsel". www.cohen-williams.com.
  5. "Election 2020: Jackie Lacey, George Gascón, Rachel Rossi Vie For LA County District Attorney Seat". February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  6. "Former public defender runs for LA County District Attorney". ABC7 Los Angeles. February 20, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  7. Press, The Associated (February 27, 2020). "High-Stakes Los Angeles DA's Race: Status Quo vs. Reform". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  8. National Bar Association. "2019 National Bar Association "40 Under 40" Award Recipients Announced". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.