Cassandra’s journey with the criminal legal system began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she reported on prison conditions for the COVID-in Custody Project. She corresponded with dozens of incarcerated people whose experiences and stories profoundly impacted her perspective on justice, fueling her passion for free speech in prison, re-sentencing policies, and ending indentured servitude.

As a former researcher, Cassandra believes that creating lasting, systemic change requires a rigorous understanding of the structures that fail to produce justice for all. Previously, at the Council on Criminal Justice, she helped bring together the top justice-oriented minds in the nation to create action plans addressing women’s justice, veterans justice, AI in policing, and more. Additionally, she managed a research lab at the University of California, Davis, where she led efforts to produce a book examining when and how major media outlets cover major political and social tragedies, including police use-of-force cases. In addition to independently hiring, training, and supervising volunteer researchers, she developed the coding protocols for the lab’s book, published by Cambridge University Press.

Cassandra is a proud alumni of the University of California, Davis, where she was named the most outstanding woman of her graduating class. On weekends, you can find her knitting at a coffeeshop or cycling on the gorgeous NorCal bike trails.