ACLU of Illinois
Chicago, IL
Alexis Picard will be a PSVF and Edith Fine Fellow at the ACLU of Illinois. Alexis’ project will involve investigating and litigating against Illinois’ county-run juvenile detention facilities, where children are routinely subjected to unsafe and unconstitutional conditions with inadequate access to medical, mental health, and educational services. To increase the project’s impact, Alexis will also use media and other advocacy tools to educate the public and policymakers about the mistreatment of youth in these detention facilities.
In law school, Alexis was a member of the Harvard Law School Board of Student Advisers, an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, and a semi-finalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition. Alexis is passionate about public interest litigation, civil rights, and criminal legal reform, and she spent both of her summers in law school working on litigation and advocacy addressing mass incarceration, racial injustice and disparities, discriminatory policing, and inhumane prison conditions. Alexis also worked as a student attorney with the Criminal Justice Institute in her final year of law school, representing clients facing criminal charges in Boston courts. In her free time, Alexis enjoys walking her dog Luna, listening to podcasts, and trying new restaurants and recipes with her fiancé.