Jason Szanyi, Staff Attorney

Jason Szanyi is a staff attorney at the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, where he advocates for safer and more humane conditions for youth in juvenile facilities and promotes policies and practices that reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system.  Jason’s current work includes partnering with Connecticut officials on strategies to create a fairer and more effective juvenile justice system for youth in the state’s two largest cities, Bridgeport and Hartford. He is also helping the District of Columbia’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services develop strategies to prevent sexual misconduct in its secure facilities and support youth in community-based placements without jeopardizing public safety.

Jason joined CCLP in 2009 upon receiving a Skadden Fellowship, which funds two years of legal advocacy to improve the lives of the poor and those deprived of their civil and human rights. As a Skadden Fellow, he worked at CCLP and at the District of Columbia Public Defender Service’s Juvenile Services Program, representing detained and incarcerated youth in a variety of legal proceedings and.engaging in policy advocacy for children in the juvenile justice system. Jason has also served on the Skadden Fellowship Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Prior to joining CCLP, Jason attended Harvard Law School, where he worked with the Government of India on reforms to its juvenile justice system as part of the law school’s Child Advocacy Program. He earned his BA in psychology from Northwestern University in 2006.

Publications

Sentencing Children to Die in Prison is Cruel and Unusual Punishment, JURIST, Apr. 9, 2012, http://jurist.org/hotline/2012/04/jason-szanyi-juvenile-sentencing.php.

Bringing Justice to India’s Children: Three Reforms to Bridge Practices with Promises in India’s Juvenile Justice System, 14 U.C. Davis Journal of Juvenile Law & Policy 107 (2010) (with Erika J. Rickard).

Presenting a “Strong Basis in Evidence”: How Lawyers Should Use Statistics to Shape the Impact of Ricci v. DeStefano on Title VII Litigation, 4 Harvard Law & Policy Review Online 1 (2010) (with Katarina Guttmannova), available at http://www.hlpronline.com/2010/02/szanyi-guttmannova.

Brain Food: Bringing Psychological Insights to Bear on Modern Nutrition Labeling Efforts, 65 Food & Drug Law Journal 159 (2010).

Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problem Scores: Cross-ethnic and Longitudinal Measurement Invariance of the Behavior Problem Index, 68 Education & Psychological Measurement 676 (2008) (with Katarina Guttmannova & Philip W. Cali).

Contact