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Person

Sharon Brett

Nationality:

American
Occupation:

Legal Director of ACLU Kansas

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Sharon Brett is the legal director of ACLU Kansas, the Kansas state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Unions. She is also a part-time lecturer at the University of Kansas School of Law, teaching “social justice lawyering” to students. 1 2

Brett previously worked for the Forum for Youth Investment, Vera Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice, and Harvard Law School. 3

She has written opinion editorials for the Kansas Reflector, one of which claims decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court mean that “religious freedom for non-Christian people hangs in the balance.” 4

Education

Sharon Brett graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and criminal justice in 2005. During her degree, Brett studied abroad in Spain, was part of a “prison creative arts project,” and took part in a program on “organizing women and empowering relationships.” 5

Brett received a law degree from the University of Michigan in 2012. During that time, she was an article editor of the Michigan Journal of Gender and Law, was a student attorney for the Michigan General Clinical Law program, co-founder and president of the Prisoners’ Rights Organization of Students, and was on the executive board for American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan Law. 6

Career

Brett began her career in May 2006 as a special assistant to the managing director of the Forum for Youth Investment, a nonprofit organization focused on preparing children for college throughout the United States. She left the organization in January 2007 to become a program analyst for the Vera Institute of Justice, a left-of-center advocacy organization that opposes mass incarceration. Much of its work now focuses on immigration issues. Brett left in May 2009. 7 8

She was a summer law clerk for the ACLU’s National Prison Project from May 2010 until August 2010, and also a summer law clerk for the special litigation division of the Public Defender Service from May 2011 until August 2011, when she became a fall extern at the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice until December 2011. 9

Brett spent a year as a law clerk for a judge on the U.S. federal district in Washington, D.C. She returned to the Department of Justice’s civil rights division in 2013 as a trial attorney, a position she held until 2018. During this time, Brett investigated and litigated cases involving police misconduct and prison conditions. She also assisted in leading the Department of Justice’s investigation into the Chicago Police Department. 10 11

Brett then became a senior staff attorney for the criminal justice policy program at Harvard Law School in May 2018 and remained in that position until August 2020. During her time at the school, Brett conducted policy advocacy and research on criminal justice issues. 12 13

Brett began her career at the ACLU Kansas as a senior staff attorney in August 2020. ACLU Kansas is the Kansas state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, a nearly 100-year-old left-leaning activism organization focused on issues related to civil liberties. 14

She remained a senior staff attorney until January 2021 when she became ACLU Kansas’ interim legal director, a position she kept until becoming the official legal director in February 2021. Brett remains legal director for ACLU Kansas as of April 2023. In addition, since August 2020 she has worked as a part-time lecturer at the University of Kansas School of Law, teaching “social justice lawyering.” As the legal director of ACLU Kansas, Brett focuses on civil rights and liberties litigation but prioritizes criminal legal system reform. 15 16 17

Brett volunteered for one month at Kansans for Constitutional Freedom, and was a board member of Kansas Holistic Defenders, a position she held from January 2020 until January 2022. 18

Political Activities

Brett wrote an opinion piece for the Kansas Reflector, a nonprofit news organization based in Kansas that reports on the state’s government and politics. The opinion piece, titled “With abortion rights at stake across the U.S. and Kansas, whose religious freedom do we value?” focused on Supreme Court decisions regarding the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and allowing religious prayer at public school sporting events. According to Brett, these decisions “signal an alarming shift toward allowing personal religious beliefs to dominate public policy,” claiming later in the op-ed that “religious freedom for non-Christian people hangs in the balance.” 19

References

  1. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/.
  2. “Sharon B.” ACLU of Kansas. August 14, 2020. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.aclukansas.org/en/biographies/sharon-b.
  3. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  4. Brett, Sharon. “With abortion rights at stake across U.S. and Kansas, whose religious freedom do we value?.” Kansas Reflector. July 12, 2022. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://kansasreflector.com/2022/07/12/with-abortion-rights-at-stake-across-u-s-and-kansas-whose-religious-freedom-do-we-value/.
  5. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/.
  6. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/.
  7. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  8. “About Us.” Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.vera.org/who-we-are/about-us.
  9. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  10. Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  11. “Sharon Brett.” University of Kansas School of Law. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://law.ku.edu/people/sharon-brett.
  12. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  13. “Sharon Brett.” School of Law. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://law.ku.edu/people/sharon-brett.
  14. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  15. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/details/experience/.
  16. “Sharon B.” ACLU of Kansas. August 14, 2020. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.aclukansas.org/en/biographies/sharon-b.
  17. “Sharon Brett.” University of Kansas School of Law. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://law.ku.edu/people/sharon-brett.
  18. “Sharon Brett.” LinkedIn. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharon-brett-93bb202/.
  19. Brett, Sharon. “With abortion rights at stake across U.S. and Kansas, whose religious freedom do we value?” Kansas Reflector. July 12, 2022. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://kansasreflector.com/2022/07/12/with-abortion-rights-at-stake-across-u-s-and-kansas-whose-religious-freedom-do-we-value/.
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