Vera Institute of Justice

Sam joined Vera in September 2019 as a John Gardner public service fellow and worked on two policy priorities: bail and sentencing reform. On bail, Sam worked with jurisdictions across the country to research, develop, and advocate for policies that seek to reduce the use of money bail, decrease jail populations, and eliminate pretrial racial disparities. On sentencing, Sam was co-authoring a white paper that puts forth a new vision for achieving wide-scale decarceration.

Prior to joining Vera, Sam worked for his hometown congressman in Washington D.C., the ACLU National Prison Project, and Google’s global public policy team. At the ACLU, Sam documented, tracked, and responded to grievances from inmates represented in the ACLU’s Parsons v. Ryan settlement. At Google, Sam explored the intersection of artificial intelligence, social good, and criminal justice reform. Sam received a bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University and is an aspiring attorney.