Brittany K. Barnett

Brittany K. Barnett is an accomplished author, attorney and social justice activist. She is widely credited with spearheading the criminal justice reform movement in the United States and has written widely on the issue. She is the author of A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom, and has written numerous articles and opinion pieces on the criminal justice system and its reform.

Born in Oakland, California, Barnett attended Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and then earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown Law. She was admitted to the bar in 2004 and began practising criminal defense law in Los Angeles County. In 2017, she was named to the California Women’s Law Center’s list of the 100 Most Influential Women Attorneys in California.

Barnett’s passion for social justice has motivated her throughout her career. In 2013, she founded the Buried Alive Project, which aims to bring attention to and provide legal aid for individuals in the U.S. who were unfairly sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. She has worked tirelessly to abolish excessive sentences, particularly those imposed on nonviolent drug offenders. She has represented clients in high profile cases, such as the case of Alice Marie Johnson, a nonviolent drug offender who was granted clemency after her cause was taken up by President Donald Trump.

Barnett’s writing focuses on criminal justice reform, public policy, and mass incarceration. She is the author of A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom, in which she shares her personal experience with the criminal justice system along with stories of those she’s represented in court. The book was a finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2020.

Barnett also writes opinion pieces for various news outlets, such as The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and The Guardian. In her articles, she expresses her view that extreme sentences for nonviolent offenses, such as life without parole, are unconstitutional and should be abolished. She has also spoken at various events, including TEDx Talks and the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit.

Finally, Barnett is involved with many non-profits and organizations that work with criminal justice reform, such as the Innocence Project, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Bronx Freedom Fund. Barnett is a fierce advocate of criminal justice reform and her work has been cited by the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post, and Forbes. She is a respected voice for criminal justice reform in the US and is committed to promoting a fairer criminal justice system.