Lauren-Brooke Eisen
Lauren-Brooke Eisen is Counsel in the Brennan Center’s Justice Program where she focuses on improving the criminal justice process through data-driven policy and legal reforms. Ms. Eisen comes from the Vera Institute for Justice, where she worked on the U.S. Department of Justice's Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI) to reduce prison populations. As a former prosecutor, she consults with law enforcement and prosecutors in her research to realign the justice system’s financial incentives as well as federal advocacy. She has expertise in state sentencing and correctional reform, bipartisan commissions, state corrections and courts, and implementing evidence-based practices in the states.
Previously, Ms. Eisen worked as a Senior Program Associate in the Center on Sentencing and Corrections at the Vera Institute of Justice. In this role, Ms. Eisen worked on JRI coordinating technical assistance to states and has experience managing federal grant processes. She has also testified before state legislative committees.
Ms. Eisen also previously served as an assistant district attorney in New York City where she served in the Appeals Bureau, the Criminal Court Bureau, and the Sex Crimes Special Victims Bureau. Before entering law school, Ms. Eisen worked as a beat reporter for a daily newspaper in Laredo, Texas where she covered criminal justice issues.
Her work has been published by the Vera Institute of Justice and featured in The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology and the New York Law Journal. She holds an AB from Princeton University and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Publications:
Chasing Gideon: The Elusive Quest for Poor People's Justice, 2013
Reallocating Justice Resources: A Review of 2011 State Sentencing Trends, 2012
A View From the States: Evidence Based Public Safety Legislation, 2012
In Doubt: The Psychology of the Criminal Justice Process, 2012
The Law of Superheroes, 2012
The Collapse of American Criminal Justice, 2011
Blogs:
WA Supreme Court Bars Legal Fees for Poor, 2013
Should Judges Consider the Cost of Sentences?, 2013
Fiscal Constraints Spur New Corrections Policies, 2013
Criminal Justice Debt and Collateral Consequences: Issues and Innovations, 2012
Ohio Takes Step to Roll Back Collateral Consequences, 2012
In Light of Fiscal Constraints, How are Some States Rethinking Sentencing Policy?, 2012
False Confessions, DNA Exonerations, and Efforts to Curb Wrongful Convictions in New York, 2012
Getting Smarter about Sex Offenders, 2012
Should Judges Know the Costs of Sentencing Options at their Disposal?, 2011
