Board of Directors
TRACEY BRAME is the assistant dean of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Grand Rapids Michigan. Before joining the faculty at Cooley, Professor Brame served as a staff attorney for Public Defender Services for the District of Columbia, a research and writing specialist with the Federal Defender Office, and an assistant defender with the State Appellate Defender Office in Detroit.
Professor Brame came to Cooley Law School in February 2006 from Legal Aid of Western Michigan, where she was a staff attorney. She advised and represented low-income clients on family law, housing, and consumer law issues. She collaborated with other programs to address legal issues faced by ex-offenders re-entering the community. She also translated for Spanish-speaking clients.
She has served as a law clerk to the Hon. Julian Abele Cook, Jr., U.S. District Court, Detroit, with the Federal Defender Office, and with Scott Correctional Facility. She has also been an adjunct professor at Grand Rapids Community College.
WILLIAM FLEENER lives in Grand Ledge, Michigan. Bill is an attorney with the Innocence Project and an adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School. He is the Chancellor for the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan. Bill is also on the state and local board of the Michigan American Civil Liberties Union. Bill is a graduate of Western Michigan University and Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
TANYA GREENE presently serves as Advocacy and Policy Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Ms. Greene is a member of the state bars of Georgia, Alabama, the District of Columbia, and New York. She also is a member of the bars of various federal district courts, the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court. Ms. Greene has worked in the area of criminal and capital defense throughout her career. Past positions have included representing defendants in death penalty cases with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, GA, and the Capital Defender Office in New York. She also has served as training counsel with the National Consortium for Capital Defense Training and consulted on capital cases nationwide. From June 2009 until taking her position with the ACLU in January 2011, Ms. Greene was the Director of Domestic and Pro Bono Programs and Acting Director of the public interest office at Columbia Law School. She is a member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the National Conference of Black Lawyers and serves on the Board of Directors of the Gulf Region Advocacy Center, a non-profit death penalty defense law office, in Houston, TX.
JOHN GROSS is Indigent Defense Counsel for The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As the staff attorney leading NACDL’s ongoing indigent defense reform efforts, Mr. Gross helps the association devise legislative and litigation strategies, works closely with NACDL’s leadership, committees, affiliates and pro bono outside counsel, and serves as the liaison with other legal and professional organizations. Prior to joining the NACDL, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law and Acting Director of the Syracuse University College of Law’s Criminal Defense Clinic. Prior to his teaching and clinical career, he was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society in New York City in the Criminal Defense Division, where he represented indigent defendants at all stages of prosecution, from arraignment through disposition. A 1999 graduate of Hofstra University College of Law, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University in 1995.
A law review article by Mr. Gross, “Dangerous Criminals, the Search for Truth and Effective Law Enforcement: How the Supreme Court Overestimates the Social Costs of the Exclusionary Rule,” was recently published in Volume 51 of the Santa Clara Law Review. In addition, he has given numerous presentations on ethical issues related to the practice of criminal defense.
RUTH LLOYD HARLIN is the sister of Eddie Joe Lloyd, a man who spent 17 years in prison for a rape and murder he did not commit. Mr. Lloyd was later exonerated with the help of the Innocence Project. Ms. Harlin has spoken numerous times on behalf of the Campaign for Justice and is featured in the documentary film Publicly Defended. Ms. Harlin lives in Highland Park, Michigan and works for the Highland Park School District. She is the mother of 3 sons and the grandmother of 6 grandchildren.
KENNETH M. MOGILL is a partner in the law firm Mogill, Posner & Cohen. He has been a prominent criminal defense attorney in Michigan for nearly 40 years. In addition, he currently has a substantial practice in the field of professional ethics. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1968 and his juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1971. Since 2002 he has been an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School, where he teaches professional responsibility and previously taught criminal procedure. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow of the Michigan Bar Foundation and a past president of Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (1990-1994). He is the author of Examination of Witnesses (2nd ed) (Thomson West), a co-author of Michigan Criminal Law and Procedure (2nd ed) (Thomson West) and Michigan Non-Standard Jury Instructions (Thomson West) and the author of many articles on various aspects of criminal law and procedure, legal ethics and attorney discipline. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences, seminars and law school classes on subjects related to legal ethics and attorney discipline. He has for many years been listed in the Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers and has been listed in Michigan Super Lawyers since 2006 and Best Lawyers since 2010. He is a frequent cooperating attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan. He is also president of the Board of Trustees of the Waldorf Institute of Southeastern Michigan, the regional teacher training program for teachers in Waldorf schools.
JULIE A. NORTH is a partner in the Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP Litigation Department. Julie’s practice encompasses a wide range of litigation matters. She has worked with Time Warner, Ashland, Massey Energy Company, BP, Alcoa, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Over the past year, Ms. North has represented various financial institutions in connection with litigation over several high profile leveraged finance transactions including URI, Clear Channel and Huntsman. Ms. North has also advised outside directors of financial institutions in connection with the recent credit crisis.
Ms. North’s pro bono efforts have been focused on working with the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) and other national organizations to reform the manner in which states provide legal services to indigent citizens. Having succeeded in bringing about reform in the State of Montana, Ms. North is currently working with the ACLU (and others) to reform the indigent defense system in the State of Michigan.
Ms. North has served on the Board of Trustees at Hamilton College and the Board of Visitors at Syracuse University College of Law. She is currently on the board of Central City Chorus, an organization with which she has been singing for about 15 years.
Ms. North was born in Canberra, Australia. She received a B.A., cum laude, from Hamilton College in 1984, and a J.D., magna cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law in 1989 where she was Notes and Comments Editor of the Law Review and a member of the National Appellate Team. Ms. North joined Cravath in 1989 and became a partner in 1997.
DR. H. DAVID SCHURINGA is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church with wide-ranging experience as a pastor, professor and theologian. He is a graduate of Trinity Christian College (B.A.), Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia (M.A.R.; M.Div.), Calvin Theological Seminary (Th.M.) and the Theologische Universiteit te Kampen, The Netherlands (Ph.D.). Dr. Schuringa served as senior pastor of two established churches in West Michigan and planted a church in Southern California. He taught for nine years at Westminster Seminary California and served as an adjunct professor at Calvin Theological Seminary and Kuyper College in Grand Rapids. He has guest lectured in various seminaries and has served on a variety of boards and committees.
Dr. Schuringa is a member of the Speakers Bureau of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, serves on the Communities of Faith Advisory Council of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University of Law and is a board member for the Campaign for Justice, as well as Faith Alive Christian Resources.
In 1999 Dr. Schuringa accepted the appointment to head the rapidly growing ministry of CBI. He founded The Center for Advanced Studies at Crossroad Bible Institute (2005) and Crossroad Correctional Services (2010). David travels extensively to speak in churches, schools, prisons as well as at seminars and conferences. He is also the host of the weekly radio program Crossroad Connection, a voice for restorative justice (www.cbi.fm).
REGINA DANIELS THOMAS graduated cum laude from Tennessee State University in 1991 and was awarded a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1994. She began her legal career at Legal Aid and Defender Association assigned to the Civil Law Group representing children in child protective proceedings as well as juvenile delinquency proceedings in the Third Circuit Court, County of Wayne. In 2002, Ms. Thomas joined the Michigan Department of Attorney General as an Assistant Attorney General assigned to the Children and Youth Services Division representing the Department of Human Services in Child Protection Proceedings in the Third Circuit Court, County of Wayne. In 2004, she returned to Legal Aid and Defender Association as Chief Counsel of the Juvenile Law Group. The Juvenile Law Group represented children in the Third Circuit Court, County of Wayne in Child Protection and Juvenile Delinquency Proceedings. As Chief Counsel for the Juvenile Law Group of Legal Aid and Defender Association, Attorney Thomas testified before the United States House of Representative Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security March 26, 2009 at a hearing on Representation of Indigent Defendants in Criminal Cases: A Constitutional Crisis in Michigan and Other States? After the closure of the Juvenile Law Group of Legal Aid and Defender Association in June 2009, due to a loss of funding, Attorney Thomas began a private practice continuing her representation of parties in Juvenile Court. In June 2010, Attorney Thomas joined the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office as a part of its Safe Schools Project. Attorney Thomas is responsible for partnering with her assigned schools to provide prevention services and Law related education, to identify students who would benefit from diversion programs and the prosecution of cases arising out of her assigned school.
DAWN VAN HOEK, Director of the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office (SADO), has practiced criminal appellate law since her graduation from Wayne State University Law School in 1976. Ms. Van Hoek served as the 1989-90 President of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, representing over 1,100 female and male members, following a year as President of WLAM’s Wayne Region. Active in WLAM since 1976, she currently serves as Chair of the WLAM Foundation, whose mission is education for women (on the web at www.wlamfoundation.org.)
Ms. Van Hoek was Recognized as one of ten “Lawyers of the Year” in 2005 by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, an honor awarded to lawyers making a positive impact on the Michigan legal system. In 1990, she was recognized by readers of Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of two dozen of the state’s most influential lawyers. She also received the 2005 “Right to Counsel Award,” from the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan.
Ms. Van Hoek’s State Bar of Michigan activities include serving as Reporter and Chair of the Criminal Jury Instructions Committee, Chair of the Domestic Violence Committee, Co-Chair of the Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Issues in the Courts and Legal Profession, member of the Appellate Task Force and Open Justice Commission, and Co-Chair of the Bar’s Annual Bar Leadership Conference. Ms. Van Hoek was appointed as a hearing panelist for the Attorney Discipline Board in 1987, and presently chairs a tri-county panel. Elected to the Bar’s Representative Assembly in 1989, she served as Chair of the Assembly in 1992.
Ms. Van Hoek serves on the board of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan (CDAM), and previously chaired CDAM's Amicus Committee, assisted in development of CDAM's 2003 Strategic Plan, and has provided training at annual skills conferences for many years. Her commitment to the training of Michigan's criminal defense attorneys is also demonstrated by her decades-long service on the Criminal Advocacy Program Board of Wayne Circuit Court, providing training to attorneys in Michigan's busiest trial court. Current activities include membership on the Michigan Public Defense Task Force and board membership on the Campaign for Justice, coalitions seeking reform of the state's defense services system, ranked among the worst in the nation.
FRANCISCO A. VILLARRUEL is a University Outreach and Engagement Senior Fellow and Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. Villarruel is recognized nationally for his research and policy work that focuses on Latino youth and juvenile justice systems reform as well as youth development. Villarruel has published over 50 journal articles and book chapters, edited 7 books, and coauthored 8 state or national policy reports. He is co-author of the nation’s first report that focuses on analysis of disproportionate and disparate treatment of Latino and Latina youth by the U.S. justice system. The report, entitled ¿Dónde Está la Justicia? A Call to Action on Behalf of Latino and Latina Youth in the U.S. Justice System as well as the recently published report that examines the waiver of Latino youth to adult systems entitled America’s invisible children: Latino youth and the failure of justice.
Villarruel serves on the national board of several national organizations, including the Campaign for Youth Justice, Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency, The National Juvenile Justice Network Leadership Development Institute Advisory Board, the National Association of Hispanic Education, Child Trends, Transparent Media, and the National Center for Victims of Crime. In the spring of 2010, the Governor of Michigan appointed Villarruel Michigan Juvenile Justice Commission.
Villarruel has received numerous awards and distinctions during his career, including a W.K. Kellogg Foundation National Fellowship, an MSU-Lilly Foundation Teaching Fellowship, the HACU-ETS Policy Fellowship, the National Council on Family Relation’s Marie Peters Award for a lifelong contribution and commitment to research on and for ethnic minority families, the Michigan State University Teacher-Scholar Award for dedication and skill in teaching and scholarly promise, and the Great Plains IDEA Teaching Fellowship.
HARRY WILSON is the Executive Director for the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency. He has more than 30 years of experience serving youth and communities through leadership positions in federal, state and local governments, associations and community service organizations. He has held positions where he delivered and managed strenghts-based treatment services for youth in the juvenile justice sytem, participated in court-led improvement intiatives, and trained hundreds of youth services workers from across the state.