June 29, 2022
For Immediate Release
San Francisco, CA – The John Paul Stevens Foundation is expanding the Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship program to four nonprofits working on issues of great importance to Justice John Paul Stevens: preventing gun violence, ending the death penalty, and criminal justice reform. The Stevens Foundation has selected four nonprofits to participate in this expansion: Brady, the Capital Appeals Project, the Northern California Innocence Project, and the Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases in Texas.
The John Paul Stevens Foundation is grounded in Justice Stevens’ belief that public interest attorneys are essential to our justice system and guided by the values the Justice demonstrated in his life and work. By promoting and supporting law students, lawyers, and others working in the public interest, the Foundation seeks to build a world that protects and cherishes equality, access to justice, and the rule of law.
The Justice John Paul Stevens Public Interest Fellowship Program invests in the next generation of public interest lawyers by providing financial support to law students working in unpaid public interest summer internships. Historically, the Stevens Foundation has provided grants to law schools that select Stevens Fellows via an application process administered by the law school. The 2022 expansion to fund Fellows at these four nonprofits is a new and targeted strategy to carry on Justice Stevens’ work in these areas of law. The expansion of the Stevens Fellowship to these four nonprofits is made possible by generous funding from the Crankstart Foundation.
“The Stevens Foundation is thrilled to partner with these four nonprofits whose work defends the rights of the accused and convicted, protects civil rights, and promotes common-sense gun control,” says Hannah Mullen, the granddaughter of Justice John Paul Stevens and a member of the Stevens Foundation board of directors. “The Stevens Fellows at Brady, the Capital Appeals Project, Northern California Innocence Project, and Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases in Texas will further my grandfather’s legacy for years to come.”
The inaugural Stevens Fellows selected by the nonprofits are:
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Brady: Kiana Stallworth, Howard University School of Law
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Capital Appeals Project: Sydney Calas, Emory University School of Law
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Northern California Innocence Project: Andaiye McAndrew, Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law
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Regional Public Defender for Capital Cases (Texas): Nainika Ravi, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
These students will be working full-time at the nonprofits this summer, joining a cohort of 159 Fellows working in public interest internships in a variety of areas of law across the country. The Stevens Foundation will announce the full cohort of 2022 Stevens Fellows on its website and social media on June 30, 2022.
Founded in 2010, the John Paul Stevens Foundation seeks to build a more just and equitable society. As a living tribute to Justice Stevens, the Foundation works to protect and promote democracy and the rule of law, access to justice, and equality by supporting law students, lawyers, and others working in the public interest. Over the past 25 years, the Stevens Fellowship has supported 680 Fellows working at more than 300 public interest nonprofits and governmental agencies. Nearly 74% of former Stevens Fellows are now working in public interest legal positions.
The Stevens Fellowship Program was created in 1997 in honor of United States Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, reflecting his deep belief that a dynamic and effective justice system depends on a cadre of talented lawyers committed to the public interest. In 2010, in celebration of Justice Stevens’ retirement from the Supreme Court, a group of his former law clerks established the Foundation to provide a formal home for the Stevens Fellowship Program.
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Information about the Four Nonprofits
Brady: https://www.bradyunited.org/
Capital Appeals Project: https://capitalappealsproject.org/
Northern California Innocence Project: https://ncip.org/
Regional Public Defenders for Capital Cases (Texas): http://rpdo.org/
About Justice John Paul Stevens
Justice John Paul Stevens was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1920. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1941 and then enlisted in the Navy. For his exemplary service on a Navy code-breaking team, Justice Stevens earned the Bronze Star. After World War II, he entered Northwestern University Law School, where he became editor in chief of the law review and graduated with the highest grades in the school’s history.
After law school, Justice Stevens worked as a law clerk to Justice Wiley Rutledge of the Supreme Court of the United States. He then entered private practice in Chicago. In 1969, he served as chief counsel for a special commission investigating a bribery scandal in the Illinois Supreme Court. His widely praised performance in that role led to his appointment in 1970 to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
In 1975, President Gerald Ford named him to the U.S. Supreme Court. First seen as a moderate on many issues, Justice Stevens emerged as a consistently independent thinker over the decades of his tenure on the Court. Justice Stevens retired from the Supreme Court on June 29, 2010. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest member of the Court and the third longest-serving justice in the history of the Supreme Court. Justice Stevens remained actively involved in the work of the John Paul Stevens Foundation until his death in July 2019.