Rachel Rossi to Head Revamped DOJ Access to Justice Office
The former Los Angeles public defender. who worked with Washington DC legislators to pass the First Step Act, will lead federal efforts to improve justice services for poor and underserved Americans.
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Rachel Rossi
A former Los Angeles public defender who worked with Washington DC legislators to pass the First Step Act has been appointed to lead the revamped federal Office for Access to Justice.
Rachel Rossi, currently a Deputy Associate Attorney General, will be in charge of reviving an office first established in 2010 to further the goals of achieving racial equity in justice services.
“Disrupting the devastating connections between race, poverty and injustice is hard work that requires exactly the kind of dedication and vision we’ve seen in Ms. Rossi’s work at the department,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said in announcing the appointment.
“Ms. Rossi’s leadership will help us build on the department’s work to make justice more accessible to all.”
The office was originally established in 2010 to improve the federal government’s ability to address the most urgent legal needs of underserved and at-risk communities, was shut down by the previous Trump Administration.
The eight-person office was revived in October, with a $6 million budget, to address the housing and eviction crisis.
“There can be no equal justice without equal access to justice,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the renewal of the office. “And because we do not yet have equal access to justice in America, the task before us is urgent.”
The decision came after a strategic review led by the Justice Department revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had exacerbated “longstanding gaps” in meeting the justice needs of low-income Americans.
According to a 2017 “Justice Gap Report” by the Legal Services Corp, around 85 percent of the civil-legal problems that low-income Americans face receive inadequate legal assistance or none at all,
Over the past six months, the office has worked on improving equal access to justice for veterans and service members; and removed barriers to successful reentry for previously incarcerated individuals.
Rossi served as assistant public defender in the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, both with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office and the Alternate Public Defender’s Office.
Rossi subsequently served as Counsel to the Democratic Whip, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, where she participated in developing the 2018 First Step Act,
“I have seen firsthand how access to justice can make the difference in keeping families together, people in their homes and victims safe from violence,” Rossi said.
“I look forward to working closely alongside dedicated public servants across the department as we examine and reimagine the tools and systems, we rely on to make justice more accessible for all.”
