Vera Institute of Justice

Jon was the director of justice policy at Vera’s New Orleans office. This involved working with government and community leaders on collaborative approaches to improving adult criminal justice practice, especially through a reduction in the overuse of detention. Jon helped open the New Orleans office in the spring of 2008, having started working at Vera in 2002 on efforts to improve public defense systems and serving as senior counsel to the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, among other roles. Prior to joining Vera, Jon was a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society's Criminal Defense Division in Manhattan and law clerk to Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He received his JD from Yale Law School and a BA from New York University.