NACDL - National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

Monica Milton serves as Public Defense Counsel and assists with all aspects of NACDL’s Public Defense Reform and Training portfolio with a focus on the Bureau of Justice Assistance grant titled “Justice For All: Supporting the Sixth Amendment.”  This grant is aimed at assessing state and local jurisdictions’ ability to safeguard fundamental protections of the Sixth Amendment with an emphasis on speedy trial rights, impartial and representative juries, and access to witnesses and evidence.

Monica has over six years of experience in criminal and public defense work, with a heavy focus on appellate and post-conviction relief.  Prior to joining NACDL, she served as a Criminal Justice Act attorney with the D.C. Court of Appeals representing indigent defendants in a wide range of cases including ineffective assistance of counsel claims, misdemeanors, drug offenses, assault, and murder.

Monica is a proud graduate of Northeastern University School of Law.  While at Northeastern University, she participated in the Prisoner’s Rights Clinic which included representing an indigent client before a seven-member panel of the Massachusetts Parole Board.  She also completed internships at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

After receiving her law degree, Monica clerked at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court for Chief Justice Roderick Ireland (ret.).  Following her clerkship, Monica continued to fight diligently for those who have been counted out.  One of her proudest moments was securing clemency for a client who had been sentenced to life without the chance of parole for a non-violent drug offense as a part of the Clemency Project.

Monica also believes in giving back to her community and has served as a writing coach for disadvantaged students in the D.C. area.

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