Rosemary (“Ruby”) Nidiry is a Senior Counsel in the Justice Program. She manages the program’s Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration project, a coalition of nearly 200 police chiefs, correctional officials and federal and state prosecutors from around the country committed to laws and practices that more effectively fight crime while reducing unnecessary imprisonment.
Before joining the Brennan Center, from 2017–2022, Ruby served as the Deputy Director of Fair and Just Prosecution, a national organization that brings together elected local prosecutors as part of a network committed to furthering a new vision for prosecution. Previously, she served for a decade and a half as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York. She has also held positions at the Office of Legal Counsel and the National Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and as Director of Criminal Justice for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
Ruby holds a J.D. from Columbia University School of Law and a B.A. from Princeton University. She began her career as a law clerk for Robert P. Patterson of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and then for Carlos F. Lucero of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Women’s Prison Association, the nation’s first organization for women impacted by incarceration.
