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Kristen Samuels
Senior Investigator

Kristen Samuels

Kristen Samuels joined the Southern Center for Human Rights as an Investigator in August 2014. She investigates death penalty cases and other excessive, cruel, and long-term sentences in Alabama and Georgia at all stages of litigation from pre-trial to post-conviction. In 2021, Kristen established and implemented SCHR’s Training Program to foster and advance equity in training opportunities and staff development.

Kristen has been a member of the National Alliance for Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists since 2017. She has been selected to complete numerous national multi-day training programs such as the 2015 Capital Mitigation Skills Workshop in Kansas City, Missouri; the 2016 Death Penalty College in Santa Clara, California; and the 2017 NAACP Legal Defense Capital Punishment Conference (Airlie) in Virginia. She serves on the Board of Directors for Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty as their Secretary.

Prior to the Southern Center, Kristen studied Sociology and Criminology at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA. She worked with a variety of community organizations and serviced-based centers where she assisted people who needed medical care and housing.