Damien Granderson is a lawyer and an expert on criminal defense. He graduated from Columbia Law School and has worked in the public defender’s office, where he helped minors and adults with misdemeanor arrests. He also trained over 300 lawyers in juvenile law and specialized in child welfare advocacy.
Damien was a Senior Fellow at the American Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Center, where he provided legal services to incarcerated children or at risk of incarceration. He also served as Director of Parenting for The Parenting Project, which provides services to pregnant women or parenting a minor, including programs for post-incarceration parents.
Damien Granderson´s Achievements
He is a lawyer specializing in child welfare, juvenile detention, and juvenile justice. He also advocates for juveniles’ rights and is working on reforms to improve how the state handles all youth (juvenile and otherwise) in court.
He is on the board of the New York State Defenders Association and its Children’s Committee. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals, including the Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy, and co-edits an annotated bibliography on juvenile law. Damien Granderson has received awards from numerous organizations, including the National Juvenile Defender Center, for his work to improve juvenile justice.
In 2011, he was awarded a $5 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation to represent abused children in court and help effect change in how they are treated. In 2013, his team won “The Guardian” newspaper’s Children’s Rights Award for their work for abused children. Damien Granderson has been a speaker at conferences and events, including the New York Bar Association’s Juvenile Justice Conference and the National Conference on State and Local Juvenile Justice Funding.