Heather J. Garretson
Muskegon,
Michigan
Heather J. Garretson is the coordinator of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan's Smart Justice Campaign, which is a multiyear effort to eliminate racial disparities in the criminal legal system and reduce Michigan's jail and prison population by 50 percent. She is a former professor of law and a member of the State Bar of Michigan's Access to Justice Committee. Ms. Garretson returned to Michigan in 2007 from Kansas City, Missouri, where she enjoyed a career litigating in federal court. As a special assistant U.S. attorney, she prosecuted violations of federal narcotics laws and successfully argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. When she worked as a private practitioner, her practice included white-collar criminal-defense work and commercial litigation with an international law firm. Ms. Garretson clerked for both the federal court and the Nebraska State Supreme Court. Her published works include "Legislating Forgiveness: A study of post-conviction certificates as policy to address the employment consequences of a conviction," 25 BU Pub Int LJ 1 (2016); "Beyond Punishment for the Crime: Collateral Consequences of a Conviction," Center for Public Justice (Jan 25, 2016); and "Federal Criminal Forfeiture: A Royal Pain in the Assets," 18 S Cal Rev L & Soc Just 45 (2008). Ms. Garretson speaks across the country on the criminal legal system and collateral consequences of criminal convictions.
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