Ask a Mitigation Specialist

Please only sign up for AMS if you can commit to attending, as this helps us and our advisors manage scheduling and keeps spots available for those who can fully participate. If an emergency or unexpected conflict arises, please notify us as soon as possible so we can adjust plans and honor the time our volunteer advisors generously offer.

If you need to speak with an Advisor but are unavailable during core Ask A Mitigation Specialist hours (3 p.m.–5:10 p.m. ET), or if you are an international practitioner who can only meet outside the times offered, please contact Reginald Lanier at [email protected]. We will do our best to accommodate requests outside of standard hours; however, availability for such calls cannot be guaranteed.

Holly Clifton

Holly Clifton joined the Arizona Capital Representation Project (ACRP) in 2013 as an investigator and mitigation specialist. She is a licensed attorney and obtained her law degree in 2004 from the University of New Mexico School of Law. Holly worked as a trial attorney with the New Mexico Public Defenders Office for seven years before relocating to Tucson, Arizona in 2011. After relocating, Holly decided to explore investigation as an alternative career path and began working with a Tucson investigation firm. Soon after, she partnered with the Project and began her work with capital and JLWOP clients.

Since 1989, the Arizona Capital Representation Project has provided assistance in some form to most inmates on Arizona’s death row and has directly represented dozens of death-sentenced prisoners. The Project provides free consulting (including client relations, issue identification, legal research, drafting pleadings, developing and distributing general legal materials, hosting moot courts in preparation for oral arguments, and referring appropriate expert assistance) to capital defendants and their lawyers. In addition, the Project hosts free legal training seminars, which provide capital defense lawyers with the education and tools necessary for competent representation. The Project also provides community education about Arizona’s death penalty.

Kristen Samuels

Kristen Samuels joined the Southern Center for Human Rights as an Investigator in August 2014. She investigates death penalty cases and other excessive, cruel, and long-term sentences in Alabama and Georgia at all stages of litigation, including pre-trial and post-conviction. In 2021, Kristen established and implemented SCHR’s Training Program to foster and advance equity in training opportunities and staff development.

Kristen was awarded the 2023 Emerging Leader Award from Advancing Real Change Inc. (ARC) for her ability to connect with clients and commitment to best practices in the mitigation field. Kristen has been a member of the National Alliance for Sentencing Advocates and Mitigation Specialists (NASAMS) since 2017. She has completed training and conference programs including: the 2015 Defender Services Capital Mitigation Skills Workshop in Kansas City, Missouri; the 2016 Bryan R. Shechmeister Death Penalty College in Santa Clara, California; and the 2017 and 2023 Legal Defense Fund Capital Punishment Conference (Airlie) in Virginia.
Prior to the Southern Center, Kristen studied Sociology and Criminology at Spelman College in Atlanta, GA.

Ask a Mitigation Specialist – August 26

Ask A Mitigation Specialist

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