Angel Harris

Angel is civil rights lawyer, nationally recognized expert on criminal justice issues, and a candidate for Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge, Section L. Angel began her legal career as a Public Defender in Louisiana, first in Orleans Parish then in Calcasieu Parish, where she handled hundreds of cases and became a highly-respected advocate and familiar face in the halls of the Orleans and Calcasieu Parish Criminal District Courts. Angel has experience litigating both criminal and civil cases, including as Assistant Counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, where Angel’s advocacy focused on capital defense, juvenile life without the possibility of parole, and felon disenfranchisement. Angel also served as a Staff Attorney with the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project.

Currently, as Senior Legal Counsel with the Justice Collaborative and throughout her career, Angel has worked with community organizers, stakeholders and grassroots organizations to hold public officials accountable in an effort to implement criminal justice reform and build healthier and safer communities. Angel’s commentary has appeared in the New York Times and the Huffington Post, and she has written and co-authored briefs filed in state and federal courts around the country — from post-conviction release petitions to school desegregation. Angel recognizes the power lawyers and judges have in shaping our criminal justice system, and is running on a three-pronged platform: to ensure equal access to justice, pursue alternatives to incarceration, and stop the criminalization of poverty. Angel graduated from Hampton University with highest honors and Georgetown University Law Center.