Rachel Rossi
{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1983)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Rachel Rossi
| image = Rachel Rossi, 2022.jpg
| caption = Rossi in 2022
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1983}}
| birth_place = San Gabriel Valley, Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = Bethany University (BA)
Pepperdine University (JD)
| office = President of Alliance for Justice
| term_start = May, 2025
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
Rachel Rossi (born 1983) is an American lawyer and public official. She is the President of Alliance for Justice and formerly served as the Director of the Office for Access to Justice at the United States Department of Justice. Rossi has worked as a public defender in Los Angeles County, and as criminal justice counsel to Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and for the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Rossi was the first former public defender to run for the nonpartisan seat of Los Angeles District Attorney.
Early life and education
Rossi grew up in the San Gabriel Valley region of Southern California. She attended Claremont High School before earning her bachelor's degree from Bethany University and a Juris Doctor from the Pepperdine University School of Law. She has lived most of her adult life in Los Angeles County, California and is a daughter of immigrant parents born in the Dominican Republic and Greece.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.lamag.com/article/rachel-rossi-district-attorney-2020/|title=Meet Rachel Rossi, the Progressive Ex-Public Defender Running for DA|first=Brittany|last=Martin|magazine=Los Angeles magazine |date=January 22, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://laist.com/2019/11/13/former_public_defender_is_latest_reformer_to_challenge_la_da_lacey_rachel_rossi_promises_to_end_arch.php|title=Rachel Rossi Wants To Be LA's Next DA. She's Promising To End 'Archaic' Approach To Justice|last=Stoltze|first=Frank|website=LAist|date=November 14, 2019|access-date=2020-02-28}}
Career
From 2011 to 2019, she was a county and federal public defender in Los Angeles;{{Cite news |first=James |last=Queally |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-12/former-public-defender-rachel-rossi-latest-to-enter-crowded-los-angeles-da-race|title=Former public defender Rachel Rossi latest to enter crowded L.A. County D.A.'s race|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=November 12, 2019 |access-date=January 30, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://lasentinel.net/judge-denies-challenge-to-rachel-rossis-ballot-designation-as-public-defender-in-race-for-l-a-district-attorney.html|title = Judge Denies Challenge to Rachel Rossi's Ballot Designation as 'Public Defender' in Race for L.A. District Attorney|date = January 3, 2020}} she has said that defending clients who were generally low-income and people of color, many of whom had suffered homelessness, mental illness or drug abuse, gave her a passion for justice and reform.
She then became criminal justice counsel to Dick Durbin, Senate Democratic Whip and Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, working on Supreme Court nominations including those of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. She served as lead staffer on the 2018 First Step Act, which seeks to reduce recidivism and established federal prison reform.
Rossi was then recruited to be Counsel to the United States House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lamag.com/article/rachel-rossi-district-attorney-2020/|title=Meet Rachel Rossi, the Progressive Ex-Public Defender Running for DA|first=Brittany|last=Martin|date=January 22, 2020}} She worked with Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and Crime Subcommittee Chair Karen Bass on criminal justice reform legislation and congressional hearings.
In November 2019, Rossi announced she was running as the first former public defender candidate for Los Angeles County District Attorney. Rossi faced incumbent Jackie Lacey and former San Francisco DA, George Gascón.{{Cite web|url=https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/02/17/jackie-lacey-george-gascon-rachel-rossi-la-county-district-attorney-race/|title=Election 2020: Jackie Lacey, George Gascón, Rachel Rossi Vie For LA County District Attorney Seat|date=2020-02-17|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-28}} During her campaign, she criticized the Los Angeles legal system, pointing out that 80% of prisoners there are black or Latino, and one in three suffers from some form of mental illness.{{Cite web|url=https://abc7.com/5950324/|title=Former public defender runs for LA County District Attorney|date=2020-02-20|website=ABC7 Los Angeles|language=en|access-date=2020-02-28}}{{Cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/02/27/us/ap-us-election-2020-los-angeles-district-attorney.html|title=High-Stakes Los Angeles DA's Race: Status Quo vs. Reform|date=2020-02-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-02-28|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Rossi was five points shy of qualifying for the runoff election, receiving almost half a million votes.{{Cite web|url= https://www.ballotpedia.org/Rachel_Rossi|title=Ballotpedia Rachel Rossi}}
In November 2020, Rossi was named a member of the Agency Review Team for the Presidential transition of Joe Biden to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of Justice. {{Cite web|url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/|title=The White House|website=The White House}} In 2021, Rossi was appointed Deputy Associate Attorney General in the Office of the United States Associate Attorney General, Vanita Gupta. On May 20, 2023 President Biden and Attorney General Garland appointed Rossi as Director of the Office for Access to Justice in the United States Department of Justice. {{Cite web|url= https://www.justice.gov/atj/staff-profile/meet-director|title=Meet the Director|website=United States Department of Justice|date=June 8, 2022 }}
In May of 2025, Rossi was named the President of Alliance for Justice, a progressive judicial advocacy group in the United States. {{Cite web|url= https://afj.org/meet-our-new-president-rachel-rossi/|title= Meet Our New President|website=Alliance for Justice}}
Honors
In 2019 Rossi was recognized by the National Bar Association as one of the United States' top 40 lawyers aged under 40.{{Cite press release|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/2019-national-bar-association-40-under-40-award-recipients-announced-300867568.html|title=2019 National Bar Association "40 Under 40" Award Recipients Announced|author=National Bar Association|website=www.prnewswire.com|access-date=January 30, 2020}} She has been recognized as a Lawyer of Color during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation conference.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cohen-williams.com/people/rachel-rossi|title=Of Counsel|website=www.cohen-williams.com}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Rachel}}
Category:Pepperdine University School of Law alumni
Category:Bethany University alumni
Category:American women lawyers
Category:21st-century African-American lawyers
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:National Bar Association
Category:20th-century African-American lawyers
Category:20th-century African-American women