Washington, DC (Oct. 21, 2016) – Tonight, Project Manager for Clemency Project 2014 Cynthia W. Roseberry will receive the Church of Scientology Humanitarian Award in Washington, DC at the Church of Scientology National Affairs Office at 6 pm. The Scientology Humanitarian Awards recognize outstanding work by people with whom Scientology has worked in the preceding year from a variety of subject matter areas, such as criminal justice reform. Ms. Roseberry will be honored for her work as Project Manager for Clemency Project 2014 and as a member of the Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections.
Clemency Project 2014 is a partnership among the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, American Civil Liberties Union, the American Bar Association, Families Against Mandatory Minimums and the Federal Community and Public Defenders created in response to Deputy Attorney General James Cole's request to the legal profession to provide pro bono assistance for clemency to federal prisoners who would likely receive a shorter sentence if they were sentenced today.
"If care for the forgotten, passion for justice, and dedication to the reunification of families long divided by misguided criminal justice policies is what it means to be a humanitarian, then no person deserves this award more than Cynthia Roseberry," said Norman L. Reimer, Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a member of the Clemency Project 2014 Steering Committee. "Ms. Roseberry's devotion to Clemency Project 2014 and her steadfast leadership of it has helped restore the freedom of hundreds and the dreams of thousands. She is a role model for the legal profession and our entire society."
The Charles Colson Task Force on Federal Corrections was created by Congress. This nine-person, bipartisan, blue ribbon task force was mandated to examine the drivers of incarceration in the federal corrections system and develop practical, data-driven policy responses. The Task Force met throughout 2015 to conduct its work and present its findings and recommendations to Congress, the Department of Justice, and the President.
"Ms. Roseberry brought both her extensive knowledge of the federal defense bar and her compassion for the needs of the incarcerated to the Task Force's deliberations," said Nancy La Vigne, Director of the Policy Institute at the Urban Institute. "In a decision making process that was grounded in empirical research and data, Roseberry continually reminded fellow Task Force members of the human face of federal prisoners and the power of redemption. She was instrumental in the Task Force's shaping of bold, comprehensive policy recommendations that advise to use incarceration sparingly and focus the goals of sentencing on rehabilitation."
Prior to joining Clemency Project 2014, Ms. Roseberry served as Executive Director of the Federal Defenders of the Middle District of Georgia, Inc. For more than ten years she practiced federal and state criminal defense in Georgia, then Ms. Roseberry founded the Misdemeanor Clinic, and taught Advanced Criminal Procedure and co-taught in the Death Penalty Clinic at DePaul University College of Law in Illinois. Ms. Roseberry earned her B.S. from Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio and her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law in Atlanta, Georgia. She is a founding board member of the Georgia Innocence Project and a past president of the Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
If you are interested in attending, you can RSVP here.
Contacts
Ivan J. Dominguez, NACDL Director of Public Affairs & Communications, (202) 465-7662 or idominguez@nacdl.org for more information.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers is the preeminent organization advancing the mission of the criminal defense bar to ensure justice and due process for persons accused of crime or wrongdoing. A professional bar association founded in 1958, NACDL's many thousands of direct members in 28 countries – and 90 state, provincial and local affiliate organizations totaling up to 40,000 attorneys – include private criminal defense lawyers, public defenders, military defense counsel, law professors and judges committed to preserving fairness and promoting a rational and humane criminal legal system.