WASHINGTON, DC — Holly Thompson, a member of the 2017-2018 Douglass Fellowship cohort, has been selected for a summer position with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. She will work in the Criminal Section of the Department’s Civil Rights Division.
After a competitive application process, Thompson learned of her selection in December. Thompson applied due to her interest and desire work with prosecutors who focus on areas are often ignored by a majority of society, such as human trafficking and hate crimes. She initially learned about the work of Department’s Civil Rights Division from attorneys who have previously worked there including the Institute’s John Richmond, Victor Boutros, and Kyleigh Feehs.
[At the Department of Justice], I want to work with attorneys that I know and respect and can learn from — not only in terms of good lawyering but also in terms of having good character and maintaining mental health in a difficult work environment. – Holly Thompson
Thompson is currently a second-year law student at Vanderbilt Law School and a member of the Institute’s inaugural Douglass Fellowship cohort. Douglass Fellows support the Institute’s efforts to provide clear, data-driven materials to scholars and criminal justice practitioners who are fighting human trafficking.
Thompson says of her experience as a Douglass Fellow, “My favorite thing has been drafting a memorandum on a forced labor case. I became very familiar with the law and now have a solid grasp on it. Few of my peers at Vanderbilt can say that. [The Douglass Fellowship] has been a tremendous learning experience.”
The Human Trafficking Institute is currently accepting applications from law students for the 2018-2019 Douglass Fellowship class. Applications are due by Friday, April 13, 2018. Read more about the Douglass Fellowship here: www.douglassfellowship.org.
Pictured: Thompson (left) speaking at the Douglass Fellowship advocacy event at Vanderbilt University Law School on March 13, 2018, Chelsea Rice, USAO Northern District of Ohio (center), and Stacie Jonas, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (right).
