Human Rights Defense Center Staff

Executive Director: Paul Wright

Paul Wright is the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center. He is also editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), the longest-running independent prisoner rights publication in U.S. history. He has co-authored three PLN anthologies: The Celling of America: An Inside Look at the U.S. Prison Industry (Common Courage, 1998); Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor (Routledge, 2003); and Prison Profiteers: Who Makes Money from Mass Imprisonment (New Press, 2008). His articles have appeared in over 80 publications, ranging from Counterpunch to USA Today. A former prisoner, Paul was imprisoned for 17 years in Washington state until his release in 2003. During and since his incarceration, he has successfully litigated a wide variety of censorship and public records cases against prison systems around the country, both as a pro se plaintiff and on behalf of PLN. Paul is a former military policeman, a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in Soviet history, and the former National Lawyers Guild Jailhouse Lawyer co-vice president (1995-2008). He is a 2005 Petra Fellow; the Freedom Fighter of the Month for High Times magazine in July 2006; a 2007 recipient of the James Madison Award from the Washington Coalition for Open Government; the 2008 inaugural recipient of the National Lawyers Guild's Arthur Kinoy award; a 2011 recipient of the Distinguished Public Interest Service Award from the City of New York Law School; the 2017 recipient of the Julio Medina Freedom Award from Citizens Against Recidivism; and a 2017 recipient of a New York City Council Citation. In 2018 he received the Frederick Douglas award from the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University in Washington DC.  Since 2007 he has served on the Board of Directors of the National Police Accountability Project.

 

Deputy Director: Chris Bailey

 

Litigation Director: Jonathan Picard

Jonathan Picard joined HRDC as Litigation Director in July 2024. Mr. Picard started his legal career litigating professional negligence cases throughout the State of Florida on behalf of medical doctors, engineers, architects, accountants, attorneys, and other professionals. After that, he spent several years working as a Staff Attorney at the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, where he was responsible for making recommendations to appellate panels on the disposition of over five hundred civil and criminal appellate matters. Then he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Florida. He spent six years at the Office of the Attorney General, where he was responsible for a wide range of appellate matters in state and federal court, as well as original proceedings in federal court. As an Assistant Attorney General, Mr. Picard worked on constitutional cases brought under the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Mr. Picard is also Board Certified by the Florida Bar in Appellate Practice—a distinction held by less than 1% of all Florida Bar Members.

 

 

PLN Managing Editor: Emilio Leanza

 

 Emilio Leanza is the managing editor of Prison Legal News. Before joining the Human Rights Defense Center, he served as the Senior Editor at The Progressive. He has spent more than a decade working in journalism, including as a researcher and fact-checker at Rolling Stone and The Nation.

 

 

 

CLN Managing Editor: Richard Resch

Richard Resch is the managing editor of Criminal Legal News. Prior to joining the Human Rights Defense Center, he spent nearly a decade researching and writing about legal issues involving individual rights and liberties, free speech, and government accountability. Earlier in his professional career, he held various positions in higher education publishing with Thomson Learning and Pearson Education. Richard has a diverse legal background as well. He worked at Ruden, McClosky, Smith, Schuster & Russell, P.A. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as an international corporate tax attorney. Additionally, he has experience with immigration law while working at an immigration law firm located in New York City's Chinatown. He also spent time in New York City Family Court, where he worked on child-protective proceedings involving abused or neglected children. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from New York Law School, his LL. M. (taxation) from New York University School of Law, and his B.A. from Florida Atlantic University. He served as notes and comments editor on the New York Law School Law Review.

 

Assistant Editor: Ethan Resch

Paralegal/Records Manager: Tiffany Hollis

Tiffany Hollis joined the Human Rights Defense Center as Public Records Manager in February 2022. She is a graduate of Barry University holding a B.A. degree in Public Administration. She has also earned an A.S. Degree in Paralegal Studies. She previously worked as an Lead Clerk for the Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller’s Office Criminal Division for over 10 plus years. 

Paralegal: Derek Gronquist

 

Derek Gronquist is a senior paralegal at HRDC. He has continuously worked on public records, civil rights, and criminal appellate litigation since 1995. He is the author of the Public Records Act Manual, a treatise on Washington’s Public Records Act. He joined HRDC as a full-time paralegal in September 2023. Prior to his employment with HRDC, Mr. Gronquist was imprisoned within the Washington State Department of Corrections between 1995 and 2022. While incarcerated, he became very skilled at researching and successfully litigating a wide variety of pro se actions including claims related to post conviction relief, conditions of confinement, and public records.

Some of his more significant achievements include: State v. Nichols, 136 WN.2d 859 (1998); Personal Restraint of Smith, 139 Wn.2d 199 (1999); State v. McReynolds, 117 Wn.App. 309 (2003); Gronquist v. Department of Licensing, 175 Wn.App. 729 (2013); and Pitre v. Bon, Cause No. CS-01-004WFN (E.D. Wash. 2002). Starting in 2016, Mr. Gronquist was the founding director of Correctional Oversight Group, a nonprofit corporation working to remedy waste, abuse, and harmful practices of the Washington State Department of Corrections. Following his release from confinement, and before joining HRDC, Mr. Gronquist was also the owner/operator of PRA Legal, a freelance paralegal business specializing in public records.

Public Records Researcher: Tamela Edwards Cleveland

 

 

Customer Service Representative: Henry Pablo Lopez

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