Vera Institute of Justice

Jamila Hodge was the director of the Reshaping Prosecution Program at the Vera Institute of Justice. She joined Vera in April 2018, after serving for 12 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in Washington, DC. During her tenure at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Jami handled both local and federal crimes and tried more than 30 cases. Jami also served detail assignments as a senior advisor in the Department of Justice Office of Legal Policy, and as an Advisor for Criminal Justice and Drug Policy in the White House Office of the Vice President during the Obama administration. In addition, Jami served as a community prosecutor where her work focused on crime prevention and intervention. In that role, she represented the U.S. Attorney’s Office on criminal justice policy committees; trained DC residents on topics including domestic violence, financial fraud, and knowing their rights during a police encounter; and regularly trained police officers on various legal issues. Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2006, Jami worked as a litigation associate at Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

As the former director of the Prosecution Reform Program, Jami and her team worked with elected prosecutors to end mass incarceration, address racial disparities, and to make their offices more accountable to the communities they serve. Jami holds a JD from Duke University School of Law, and a BA in psychology and sociology from the University of Michigan.