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Project on Addressing Prison Rape

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Brenda V. Smith

Brenda V. Smith, J.D.

Professor
Project Director
The Project on Addressing Prison Rape
Washington College of Law
4300 Nebraska Avenue, NW Y110C
Washington, DC 20016
(202) 274-4261 (Phone)
(202) 274-4182 (Fax)
bvsmith@wcl.american.edu

Brenda V. Smith is a Professor at the Washington College of Law at American University where she co-teaches in the Community Economic Development Law Clinic. Professor Smith is also the Project Director for the United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Corrections Cooperative Agreement on Addressing Staff Sexual Misconduct with Offenders. In November, 2003, Prof. Smith was appointed to the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission by the United States House of Representatives Minority Leader, Nancy Pelosi (D. CA). Prior to her faculty appointment at the Washington College of Law, Prof. Smith was the Senior Counsel for Economic Security at the National Women's Law Center and Director of the Center's Women in Prison Project and Child and Family Support Project. Prof. Smith is a 1984 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, and a magna cum laude graduate of Spelman College in 1980.

Prof. Smith is an expert on issues affecting women in prison and has published and spoken widely on those issues. Recent publications include: Battering, Forgiveness and Redemption: Exploring Alternative Models for Addressing Domestic Violence in Communities of Color, in Domestic Violence at the margins : Readings on Race, Class, Gender, and Culture (Rutgers University Press, 2004); Watching You, Watching Me, 15 Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 225 ( 2003); Battering, Forgiveness and Redemption, 11 American University Journal of Gender Social Policy and the Law 921, Volume 2 (2003); An End to Silence: Prisoners--Handbook on Identifying and Addressing Sexual Misconduct, (2d Ed., Washington College of Law, 2002); A Sexual Abuse Against Women in Prison, @ American Bar Association Criminal Justice Magazine, Vol. 16. No. 1, Spring, 2001; An End to Silence: Women Prisoners--Handbook on Identifying and Addressing Sexual Misconduct (National Women's Law Center: April, 1998); A Incarceration," in Women's Health Across the Lifespan: A Comprehensive Perspective (Lippincott: 1997); A Vision Beyond Survival: A Resource Guide for Incarcerated Women (National Women's Law Center: Fall, 1995); and Female Prisoners and AIDS: On the Margins of Public Health and Social Justice, 9 AIDS & Public Policy Journal 78 (Summer, 1994).

Prof. Smith has received numerous honors, including the prestigious Kellogg National Fellowship in 1993. Professor Smith was inducted into the D.C. Women's Hall of Fame in 1998 for her work on behalf of low-income women in the District of Columbia. Most recently, Professor Smith was awarded the Emalee C. Godsey Research Award for her article, Battering, Forgiveness and Redemption.

Eric Rico

Eric Rico

Dean's Fellow

Eric Rico is originally from Southern California and is currently a 3L. In undergrad, he attended UC San Diego where he studied Communication, Law & Society, and Spanish Literature. Before law school, Eric taught kindergarteners and first graders and initially thought he would spend the rest of his career as a teacher. However, he came to law school in hopes of doing something related to juvenile justice, public defense, and criminal justice/prison reform. Throughout law school, he has worked at various non-profits specializing in juvenile justice policy and public defense as well as teaching constitutional law to high schoolers through the Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. He is also currently the co-President of the Juvenile Justice Society and the Treasurer for LALSA. In his free time, he enjoys traveling (when he has the money to do so), attending music festivals, going to basketball games, and watching food and travel documentaries.