
Stephanie Ciupka
Host: Lawndale Christian Legal Center
Sponsor: Latham & Watkins LLP
Elizabeth focused on reducing the staggering number of people serving extremely long and often unnecessary probation sentences in Georgia, as she advocated for people on probation through policy reform, education, and direct representation.
Georgia has the highest rate of people under correctional control in the nation, and, on average, sentences individuals on probation nearly three times longer than other states. Even though Black individuals make up just 33% of Georgia’s population, nearly 50% of the over 180,000 individuals on probation are Black. From both a safety and cost perspective, Georgia’s staggering numbers are ineffective at improving outcomes for individuals serving sentences and the community as a whole.
Elizabeth’s faith is the driving force behind her passion to advocate for the overlooked and the oppressed. She knows personally what it means to have a great advocate and desires that every person in the criminal justice system knows what it means to have someone fight for them.
During the two-year Fellowship, Elizabeth:
Elizabeth will continue to assist Georgians serving lengthy felony probation sentences through direct representation and policy reform as a Staff Attorney on Georgia Justice Project’s Criminal Defense team. She will broaden her fellowship’s goal of reducing the number of Georgians under correctional control.
Pursuing a passion to lift people up
Host: Lawndale Christian Legal Center
Sponsor: Latham & Watkins LLP
Host: American Civil Liberties Union Criminal Law Reform Project and Human Rights Program
Sponsor: Intellectual Ventures, The Ottinger Family Foundation
Host: Rhode Island Legal Services
Host: James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy
Sponsor: DLA Piper