UCLA’s Criminal Justice Program (CJP) and The Bail Project (TBP) are partnering to host an inaugural Pretrial Justice Fellow. Isabelle Geczy, UCLA Law class of 2022, is the first to serve in this position.

CJP serves as a central hub for the law school’s work in the area of criminal law. TBP, founded by CJP Senior Fellow Robin Steinberg, combats mass incarceration by disrupting the bail system—one person at a time. In recent years, CJP and TBP have collaborated on many efforts including starting the Bail Practicum at UCLA Law. This fellowship is their latest, innovative collaboration.

As a Pretrial Justice Fellow, Geczy will work on timely and impactful policy projects in the pretrial justice space. These projects will include advocating to change pretrial release conditions, creating judicial training resources, and helping establish new bail fund sites for TBP across the country.

“This fellowship will expand our capacity and impact, in order to make change at all levels of the system related to pretrial justice,” says Alicia Virani, The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Director of CJP. “Isabelle’s work will be responsive to the current moment and equip her with important research and policy skills, in her first year as a new lawyer.”

Isabelle brings a remarkable set of experiences to this position, having been deeply involved with social justice work as a student at UCLA Law. She was the Co-Volunteer Director for El Centro Legal Clinics for two years, a Compassionate Release Researcher with the UCLA COVID Behind Bars Data Project, and interned with Hadsell, Stormer, Renick, & Dai as well as the Orange County Public Defender’s Office

"As the inaugural Pretrial Justice Fellow, I am looking forward to working on issues surrounding pretrial detention and bail policy nationally and in California,” says Isabelle. “Having the opportunity to explore crucial interventions for fighting mass incarceration with The Bail Project, a groundbreaking national non-profit, and the UCLA Law Criminal Justice Program, an entity at the forefront of research and policy advocacy at one of the country's best public law schools, is a dream come true."

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with UCLA Law’s Criminal Justice Program,” said Robin Steinberg. “Combining our expertise and experience will support the momentum in Los Angeles, and around the country, for creating a fairer and more just criminal legal system. We all dream of the day when pretrial detention is no longer necessary and people who are presumed innocent can remain in their communities safely. We are excited to welcome Isabelle and look forward to working together toward transformational change.”