The Bronx Defenders has announced the appointment of Juval O. Scott — a nationally-recognized leader in public defense, civil rights, and sentencing reform — as the next executive director of The Bronx Defenders. Scott will be the first African-American and woman of color to lead the organization in its 27-year history. She will officially assume the role in September of this year.
Scott will depart her role as the director of the National Sentencing Resource Counsel, where she leads a team that formulates sentencing policy, engages with the United States Sentencing Commission, and other agencies and organizations, and provides training and sentencing litigation support to federal defense practitioners throughout the country.
“It is truly an honor to join The Bronx Defenders, an organization that not only innovated the holistic defense approach which has become the standard for public defense nationally, but continues to redefine the profession through its deeply rooted and informed engagement with the Bronx community,” said Scott. “I look forward to bringing my experience working at the federal level and across the country to further strengthen and expand BxD’s holistic representation, policy advocacy, and impact litigation work.”
Prior to her current role, Scott served as the federal public defender for the Western District of Virginia, after appointment by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before that, Scott served as an attorney advisor with the Defender Services Office in Washington, DC., and as Assistant Federal Defender in the Milwaukee office of the Federal Defender Services of Wisconsin, Inc. and with the Indiana Federal Community Defenders in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In addition to her public defense work, Scott is currently an adjunct professor at the Washington & Lee School of Law, and regularly teaches on panel trainings and programs sponsored by the Defender Services Office Training Division, The National Criminal Defense College, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and their state affiliates, and other organizations dedicated to criminal legal and reform issues.
“The Bronx Defenders has revolutionized the field of public defense and become an indispensable lifeline for thousands of New Yorkers living in the Bronx who are one arrest from losing their homes, their families, or their freedom,” said Earl Ward, chair of the board of directors. “We are thrilled that Juval O. Scott will serve at the organization’s helm starting in September and bring her proven and nationally recognized leadership to support the people we represent.”
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