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Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth · 3 weeks ago

Policy Counsel

United States

Full-time

Onsite

Mid, Senior Level

The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth is hiring a Policy Counsel to advocate for banning life without parole for children in the United States. The Policy Counsel will lead state-based campaigns and work closely with various stakeholders to ensure pathways to freedom for children interacting with the legal system.

Civic & Social Organization

Responsibilities

Lead the organization’s state-based legislative and administrative agency advocacy to ban extreme sentences for children, including:

Coordinate both internal CFSY team and external partners toward clearly defined reform goals, including leading coalition calls, establishing agendas and goals, and ensuring forward progress during campaigns

Research and evaluate opportunities for reform, including creative ways to leverage existing laws and policies

Draft legislation and legislative amendments

Evaluate existing and proposed administrative regulations

Draft proposed regulations and comments

Develop relationships with government actors, including legislators, prosecutors, parole board members, governors’ offices, agencies, etc

Create coalitions by building relationships with strategic allies towards reform, including formerly incarcerated youth, family members of incarcerated individuals, prosecutors’ associations, defense community, faith community, business leaders, victims’ advocates, etc., with special attention to elevating directly impacted leadership

Testify at committee hearings and coordinate testimony of other supporters

Engage in negotiations with prosecutors, legislators, and opponents; and

Ensure compliance with local lobbying laws

Maintain subject matter expertise and serve as internal and external expert on judicial, legislative, and regulatory trends in extreme sentencing of youth

Partner with Communications Department to develop strategic messaging around legislative trends, including coordinating on development of fact sheets, talking points, action alerts, and other advocacy tools and materials to assist in bolstering federal and state-level reform efforts

Provide technical assistance to local partners leading campaigns to ban extreme sentences and improve quality of life for formerly life-sentenced children

Track legislation occurring nationally to end extreme sentencing for children and improve quality of life for formerly life-sentenced children and serve as subject matter expert

Support CFSY’s federal advocacy efforts

Participate in media interviews as requested

Regularly update and consult with other staff members, including facilitating transition to implementation work as appropriate

Participate in recruitment, hiring, and supervision of team members, including fellows and interns

Perform other duties as assigned

Qualification

Juris Doctor (J.D.)Legislation draftingPolicy reform experienceCommunity organizingCoalition buildingLegal research platformsBill tracking softwareStaff managementExceptional communicationAttention to detailCollaborative workOrganizational skillsInterpersonal skills

Required

Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree (or equivalent)

Demonstrated success in leading community-based efforts towards policy reform

Demonstrated success in community organizing and coalition building across diverse ideological perspectives and communities

Ability to leverage strategic narrative work and genuine relationship building to inspire unlikely allies to support reform efforts

Prior experience drafting legislation, regulations, legislative testimony, and/or public comments to support legislative and/or administrative rule changes

Demonstrated ability to think creatively and critically, explore new and innovative solutions to problems, and problem-solve individually and collectively

Preferred

Prior work in criminal or youth justice reform, particularly reform to harsh youth sentencing practices in the United States, racial discrimination in the youth justice system, and/or human rights in the United States

Experience with legal research platforms (e.g., Westlaw, LexisNexis)

Experience with bill tracking software (e.g., FiscalNote, Quorum)

Exceptional communications skills, including the ability to clearly explain law, research, data, and policy to different audiences verbally and in writing, both for use internally and in communicating with external partners and stakeholders

Strong attention to detail, including the ability to recognize nuances in situations like bill drafting, communication and negotiations with stakeholders

Previous successful participation in organizations and/or movements that are lead by the people most directly impacted by the issue being for advocated for

Experience in managing staff, including day-to-day assistance with project prioritization, review, and implementation, and a welcoming and inclusive attitude

Ability to work collaboratively across interdisciplinary teams to unite towards a common goal

Well-developed organizational skills

Maturity and reliability

Strong communication, interpersonal, and listening skills