Staff
Stephen B. Bright
President and Senior Counsel
Stephen B. Bright is president and senior counsel of SCHR and teaches at Yale and Georgetown Law Schools. He served as director of the Center from 1982 through 2005, and has been in his present position since the start of 2006.
Subjects of his litigation, teaching and writing include capital punishment, conditions and practices in prisons and jails, legal representation for poor people accused of crimes, and judicial independence. He has twice argued and won cases before the United States Supreme Court, Snyder v. Louisiana, 522 U.S. 472 (2008), and Amadeo v. Zant 486 U.S. 214 (1988). Both cases involved racial discrimination in the composition of the juries.
He has testified on many occasions before committees of both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He has also taught at the law schools at Harvard and Emory. His work with the Center has been the subject of a documentary film, Finding for Life in the Death Belt, (EM Productions 2005), and two books, Proximity to Death by William McFeely (Norton 1999) and Finding Life on Death Row by Kayta Lezin (Northeastern University Press 1999).
He received the American Bar Association’s Thurgood Marshall Award in 1998, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty in 1991, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association’s Kutak-Dodds Prize in 1992, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. The Fulton Daily Law Report, a legal newspaper in Georgia, named Bright “Newsmaker of the Year” in 2003 for his contribution to bringing about creation of a public defender system in Georgia.
Sara Totonchi
Executive Director
Sara Totonchi joined Southern Center for Human Rights in 2001 as the Public Policy Director and became the Executive Director in January, 2010. She represents SCHR at the Georgia General Assembly on a full range of criminal justice and public safety issues including indigent defense, capital punishment, sentencing, prison and probation privatization, sex offender registry restrictions, and alternatives to incarceration and reentry. She collaborates with attorneys to galvanize public support of SCHR's litigation through strategic media outreach. Sara has lead coalition efforts and legislative advocacy for criminal justice reform with concerned citizens including family members of people in prison, attorneys, faith-based communities, survivors of crime and mental health advocates.
Sara is the Chairperson of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, our statewide anti-death penalty coalition, and also serves on the Steering Committee of the International Arab Women's Solidarity Association. Prior to coming to SCHR, Sara worked at the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, an organization that employs a coordinated community response to reduce domestic violence. She has been recognized as a Woman of Achievement by the Georgia Commission on Women. Sara grew up in Chicago and is a graduate of Berry College in Rome, Georgia.
Illy Askia
SPDTC, Program Director
As the Program Director for the Southern Public Defender Training Center, Ilham Askia is responsible for overseeing the program and recruitment aspects of the organization. Prior to her work with the SPDTC, Illy taught elementary and high school in the public schools systems in Washington D.C. and Atlanta. While working with the Fulton County Public School system she designed the first grade math curriculum. In her first year as a Teach For America Corps member she was nominated for new teacher of the year in the District of Columbia. As a second year teacher, Illy taught elementary school practices in Japan as a Mid-Atlantic Regional Japan In Schools Fellow through the University of Maryland. Illy also served as an elementary school representative at the D.C. Superintendent's Roundtable Discussion to refine curriculum and school operations. Illy received her Masters in the Art of Teaching from Trinity University and her Bachelors of Science from Cornell University.
Lauren Brown
Investigator/Paralegal
Lauren Brown joined SCHR as an Investigator/Paralegal in December 2007. Lauren is the primary investigator for a pre-trial capital case, and also investigates conditions and practices at prisons and jails in Alabama. Prior to joining SCHR, Lauren worked for Unite Here as a labor organizer in Pennsylvania and Mississippi. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Mills College in Oakland, California.
Mica Doctoroff
Investigator/Paralegal
Mica Doctoroff, investigator/paralegal joined the Southern Center in November 2005. At the Center, she investigates conditions and practices in prisons and jails in Alabama and Georgia.
Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Doctoroff worked for Legal Services of South Central Michigan as an intake worker. She also served on the executive committee of the Prison Creative Arts Project and facilitated theater and poetry workshops at prisons and juvenile facilities in southeastern Michigan. Ms. Doctoroff earned her B.A. in American Culture from the University of Michigan in 2004.
Sarah Forte
Investigator/Paralegal
Sarah Forte, paralegal/investigator, joined SCHR in June 2006 upon graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. At SCHR, Ms. Forte investigates death penalty cases, at the trial level and in post-conviction proceedings.
Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Forte worked for the Medill Innocence Project investigating possible wrongful murder convictions and other miscarriages of justice.
Sarah Geraghty
Senior Attorney
Sarah Geraghty has been a Staff Attorney at the Southern Center since 2003. Her work at the Center focuses on litigating prison and jail conditions, the provision of indigent defense, and other cases involving the rights of people in the criminal justice system. Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Geraghty was an attorney at the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York City. Ms. Geraghty clerked for Judge James Zagel on the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, her M.S.W. from the University of Michigan School of Social Work, and her B.A. from Northwestern University. She is a member of the Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and New York bars.
Patricia Hale
Administrative Assistant
Ms. Hale joined SCHR as administrative assistant in 1999. She formerly worked for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (1990-98) where she served as Documents Coordinator, Senior Administrative Assistant, and Receptionist.
Ms. Hale received her A.S. in Specialized Business from ICM School of Business in Pittsburgh, PA (1990).
Vivianne Guevara
Investigator/Paralegal
Kathryn Hamoudah
Public Policy Associate
Kathryn Hamoudah joined SCHR as Public Policy Associate in January 2010. She supports the efforts of the Center through media, legislative and community advocacy. Prior to SCHR, she worked at the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities. Kathryn is Vice-Chair of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and is Amnesty International's Southern Regional Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator. In addition, she is an organizer for a local Palestine Solidarity organization. She received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas.
Barbara Horwitz
Development Director
Barbara, a veteran fundraiser joins SCHR as the Development Director, after 8 years as senior major gifts/planned giving officer with The Nature Conservancy’s Georgia program working with individuals, foundations and corporations. Barbara’s previous development experiences included serving as development director for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation’s Georgia chapter and Special Programs Director for Georgia Public Broadcasting.
She is involved in projects which advance and promote environment sustainability, women’s issues, including Planned Parenthood of Georgia and The White House Project, and tutors at the International Community School in Decatur. Barbara holds a B.A. in American Studies from Wellesley College. She and husband, Jerry Banks, are avid cyclists and former competitive runners and live in Decatur with Tigger, Squirt and Gatto, their cats.
Mary Sidney Kelly
Investigator/Paralegal
Ms. Kelly, investigator/paralegal, joined SCHR in April 2002. Ms. Kelly investigates the provision of indigent defense in Georgia.
Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Kelly worked as a journalist and editor, and as a researcher and educator for environmental and wildlife issues. She earned her M.A. in Journalism from New York University in 1997 and her B.A. in Biology from Hollins College in 1992.
Lauren Sudeall Lucas
Staff Attorney
Lauren Sudeall Lucas joined SCHR in September 2007. Her primary focus is on capital litigation in Alabama and Georgia, although she is also focused on using other strategies - both legal and non-legal - to reform the system in which such litigation is conducted.
Ms. Lucas graduated from Harvard Law School in 2005. During law school, she worked as an intern at SCHR, represented indigent defendants in municipal court as part of the Criminal Justice Institute, and served as Treasurer and Vice President of the Harvard Law Review where she authored a note entitled "Effectively Ineffective: The Failure of Courts to Address Underfunded Indigent Defense Systems."
Upon graduation, Ms. Lucas served as a law clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court. During the latter, she was awarded a Kaufman Fellowship from Harvard Law School in honor of her commitment to public interest work and selected as a 2007 Soros Justice Fellow by the Open Society Institute. She received her B.A. from Yale University in 1999 and is a member of the Georgia and Alabama bars.
William R. Montross, Jr.
Senior Attorney
William R. Montross, Jr., staff attorney, joined the Southern Center in 2003. Mr. Montross works on behalf of death row clients in Georgia and Alabama, as well as challenging the quality of legal representation provided to poor people.
Prior to joining SCHR, Mr. Montross served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gary S. Stein of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and was subsequently chosen as an E. Barrett Prettyman Fellow at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he supervised and taught third-year law students enrolled in the Criminal Justice Clinic. Mr. Montross received an L.L.M. in trial advocacy from the Law Center. Following his fellowship, Mr. Montross practiced as a public defender in Philadelphia and New York City, at both the trial and appellate levels. Mr. Montross has litigated numerous felony jury trials. Mr. Montross is a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School.
Mr. Montross is the co-author of "The Calling of Criminal Defense," 50 Mercer L. Rev. 443 (1999), and has regularly appeared on national television, offering the perspective of the defense. He is a member of the bars of Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Georgia, and Alabama.
Patrick Mulvaney
Staff Attorney
Patrick Mulvaney, staff attorney, joined SCHR in 2008, initially as a Reprieve Fellow. He focuses on appellate and post-conviction capital litigation in Georgia and Alabama. He also serves as a supervisor to SCHR's internship program.
Mr. Mulvaney earned his B.A. from Saint Joseph's University in 2002, his M.A. in journalism from New York University in 2004, and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2008. Upon graduating from Penn Law, he received the Summer Jackson-Healy Award for Public Service.
Prior to law school, Mr. Mulvaney spent a year on the staff of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty in Washington, D.C. He subsequently worked as a journalist in New York, contributing writing and reporting to various publications.
In 2009, Mr. Mulvaney co-authored, with SCHR's William Montross, an article in the Stanford Law Review on the virtues and vices of criminal justice reporting. Mr. Mulvaney is a member of the Georgia and Alabama bars.
Jeric Murphy
Investigator/Paralegal
Jeric Murphy became a member of the SCHR team in November 2009. He works as a investigator/paralegal with the Capital Litigation Unit. As an investigator Jeric provides assistance to staff attorneys and investigates capital cases throughout the various stages of litigation. Prior to joining SCHR he worked with a number of community programs in the Atlanta area such as The Man-Up Organization and Hosanna Therapeutic Support Services. Most recently he served as a canvass director for the Kasim Reed for Mayor Campaign and AFL-CIO labor union in the 2009 Atlanta mayoral race. Jeric earned a Bachelors of Science degree in theology from Oral Roberts University in 2004.
Renee Floyd Myers
Operations & Staff Development Director
Renée Floyd Myers joined SCHR in June 2007 as Operations & Staff Development Director. She was previously the Director of Finance and Communications for the Center for Law & Renewal, where she was co-editor of the book Transforming the Field of Law & Justice - A Collection of Essays. Renée has been a public relations consultant for nonprofit organizations and a freelance graphic designer. She received an M.P.A. in Nonprofit Leadership & Administration from Western Michigan University and a B.S. in Psychology from Michigan State University.
Jessica Oats
Staff Attorney
Jess Oats rejoined SCHR in 2009 as a SPILF-SLS Public Interest Fellow and staff attorney. Jess now represents indigent clients on Alabama’s death row in appellate and postconviction litigation. For the four years before she attended Stanford Law School, Jess worked at SCHR as an investigator on capital cases in Georgia and Alabama; for the last two of those four years, she also served as a defense-initiated victim outreach specialist in pretrial capital murder cases in Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.
While a law student, Jess served on the executive board of the Stanford Law Review, heading a symposium on issues of criminal justice and the media. For her demonstrated commitment to public interest law, Jess was awarded the 2008 Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship, the California Bar Foundation 2008 Public Interest Scholarship Award, and the 2007 Sonnenschein Scholars Foundation Scholarship. She wrote briefs to the United States Supreme Court as a member of the Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, and represented low-income clients in housing, employment, and expungement matters as a member of the Stanford Community Law Clinic. Jess served as an intern at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, Legal Services for Children, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Jess earned her A.B. from Harvard University in 2002; she is a member of the California bar.
Amanda Parks
Staff Attorney
Amanda Parks, staff attorney, joined SCHR in March, 2007. Her primary focus is on post-conviction capital litigation in Alabama. She also serves as supervisor to SCHR's internship program.
Ms. Parks graduated from UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall in 2006. Following her graduation, she worked as a trial attorney at the Contra Costa County Public Defender's office in Northern California. During law school, Ms. Parks interned with the Boalt Hall Death Penalty Clinic where she helped to represent an Alabama death row inmate in his state post-conviction proceedings. For her work on that case, Ms. Parks was awarded the Brian M. Sax Prize for Excellence in Clinical Advocacy. She also worked as a law clerk at the Contra Costa County Public Defender's office and the First District Appellate Project, where she did trial and appellate level research and writing. She earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego in 2002. During college, Ms. Parks interned as a criminal investigator at the Public Defender Service in Washington D.C. and for a Magistrate judge in the Federal District Court.
Celestine Patton
Development Associate
Celestine joined SCHR as Development Associate in September 2009. In her position she assists with grant writing, special events, and donor recognition. Prior to joining SCHR Celestine served as Program Coordinator for The Muscular Dystropy Association. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Communications from Hampton University.
Jonathan Rapping
SPDTC, Founder & CEO
Jonathan Rapping recently joined SCHR as CEO of the Southern Public Defender Training Center, a training center for public defender offices throughout the South. Jon received a Soros Fellowship to design and implement the SPDTC, which is a project of the SCHR.
Jon was formerly the Director of training and recruitment for the Orleans Public Defenders. He also served as the first Training Director for the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council. In that capacity he developed the GPDSC Honors Program, designed to recruit young public defenders to offices throughout the state and to provide them with the training and support needed to help transform indigent defense representation in those jurisdictions. Prior to that, he was the Training Director for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. Jon has designed training programs and supervised new lawyers for the past seven years. He has been a public defender for the last eleven years and has tried a wide variety of cases, both adult and juvenile.
Jon was an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Georgetown University and serves as a visiting professor with Harvard’s Trail Advocacy Workshop. He is a member of the faculty of Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School. Mr. Rapping received a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law, a M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Terrica Redfield
Staff Attorney
Terrica Redfield, staff attorney, joined the Southern Center in September 2004. Her work at SCHR focuses on representing clients on death row in Georgia and Alabama.
Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Redfield completed at two-year fellowship at Fair Trial Initiative (FTI) in Durham, North Carolina. While a fellow at FTI, Ms. Redfield worked with appointed attorneys on trial level capital cases throughout the state of North Carolina.
Ms. Redfield graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law in 2002. As a law student, she volunteered with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center. For her demonstrated commitment to public service, Ms. Redfield was awarded the Mortimer M. Caplin Public Service Fellowship,
Ms. Redfield received a B.A. in English and Humanities from Tougaloo College in 1999. She is a member of the Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama bars.
Julia Robinson-Hicks
Finance Director
Ms. Robinson-Hicks joined SCHR in 1992 as administrative assistant, became the office manager in 1994, and thereafter became responsible for SCHR's finances. She manages all of the Southern Center's financial matters.
Before joining SCHR, she worked as a Personnel Assistant, Lead Agent, and Group Sales Agent with Days Inns of America. Ms. Robinson-Hicks received her A.A.S. in Business Administration from Coastal Carolina College.
Raoul Schonemann
Senior Attorney
Raoul Schonemann joined SCHR in July 2008 as a senior staff attorney in capital litigation.
Mr. Schonemann received his B.A. from Washington University in 1985 and his J.D. from New York University School of Law in 1989. From 1989 to 1991, he was a Prettyman Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught and supervised students in the Juvenile Justice Clinic. He received an L.L.M. degree from Georgetown in 1994.
Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Schonemann represented death-row inmates in Texas and California for 17 years. He began representing death-row prisoners in 1991 as a staff attorney at the Texas Resource Center in Austin. From 1995 to 2001, he was an adjunct professor and supervising attorney of the Capital Punishment Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. From 2001 to 2008, he represented death-sentenced inmates in California as a deputy public defender with the Office of the State Public Defender in San Francisco.
Mary B. Sinclair
Investigator/Paralegal
Ms. Sinclair has worked at the Southern Center as an investigator and paralegal since 1987. She works primarily on SCHR's death penalty cases.
Ms. Sinclair formerly worked with the Clearinghouse on Georgia Prison and Jails (1985-1987), the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity (1983-1985), and the Woodruff Library at Emory University. Ms. Sinclair received her B.A. and M.A. in History from the University of Florida.
Melanie Velez
Managing Attorney
Melanie Velez joined the Southern Center in October 2004 as a staff attorney. Her work at SCHR focuses on litigation challenging prison and jail conditions in Georgia and Alabama.
Prior to joining SCHR, Ms. Velez was a litigation associate with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, New York, where in addition to handling general commercial litigation matters she represented numerous clients pro bono. Her pro bono matters included representing individuals seeking asylum, obtaining orders of protection in domestic violence matters, and she was part of a team that won discharge planning for a class of individuals with mental illness incarcerated in New York City Jails. During law school, she took part in the “Prisoners & Families Clinic” which represented incarcerated mothers who faced termination of their parental rights.
Ms. Velez is a 2001 graduate of Columbia Law School and she earned her undergraduate degree from Williams College in 1995. She is a member of the bars of New York and Georgia.
Gerry Weber
Senior Attorney
Gerry Weber currently serves as a Senior Staff Counsel at SCHR, and is an Adjunct Professor at Emory University School of Law and Georgia State College of Law in constitutional litigation and the first amendment. He is half-time at the Southern Center, and also has a private constitutional law practice http://www.constitutional-litigation.com. Gerry previously served for seventeen years as Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia litigating significant issues of constitutional law. Gerry clerked for the Honorable Carolyn Dineen King, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He was named one of the "21 Young Lawyers Leading Us Into the 21st Century" by the American Bar Association and "Top 40 Achievers under 40" by Georgia Trend Magazine.
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