How Prosecutors Can Protect The Vote

Friday, October 18, 2024 • 12:30 PM EST

Our October webinar featured a panel discussion on the role of prosecutors in protecting the right to vote. Our panelists brought robust backgrounds in election and voter protection work. Joining our discussion were:

  • Joshua Barnett, Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office;

  • Orion Danjuma, Counsel, Free and Fair Elections at Protect Democracy;

  • Tyler Mann, Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, DeKalb County (Georgia) District Attorney’s Office; and

  • Rachel Marshall, IIP Executive Director (moderator).

This timely webinar included an overview of the current election landscape with special focus on opportunities for prosecutors to take on a greater role in safeguarding democracy. How can prosecutors ensure access to the vote, prevent voter intimidation, and respond to cases of political violence or incidents of fraud and disinformation intended to mislead voters? Our panelists will draw on case studies from the Philadelphia (PA) and DeKalb County (GA) District Attorneys’ Offices, along with examples from Protect Democracy’s advocacy and legal work. This webinar equipped prosecutors with tools to ensure voter safety and champion the integrity of the vote during the upcoming election, including after the polls close on Election Day.

Joshua Barnett

Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office

Joshua Barnett is originally from Biloxi, Mississippi. He served in the Army National Guard for 10 years as Military Police, achieving the rank of Staff Sergeant and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. After several student practice experiences representing indigent clients, he graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019 and began his career as a prosecutor at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. He has been involved with the office’s Election Task force since 2019, with a brief stint in private practice before returning to the DAO. He is currently Chief of the ETF and assigned to the Special Investigations Unit where he investigates and prosecutes public corruption.

Orion Danjuma

Counsel, Free and Fair Elections at Protect Democracy

Orion Danjuma serves as counsel at Protect Democracy, focusing on voting rights, protecting election officials, preventing voter intimidation, and ensuring free and fair elections. For six years prior to that, he was a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Racial Justice Program working on issues at the intersection of voting rights and racial justice. Before joining the ACLU, Orion clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Rachel Marshall

Executive Director, Institute for Innovation in Prosecution at John Jay College

Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs, DeKalb County (Georgia) District Attorney’s Office

Tyler Mann

Tyler Mann is the Director of Policy and Legislative Affairs in the DeKalb County, Georgia District Attorney’s Office.  Previously, Mann served for seven years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Georgia – investigating and prosecuting transnational drug trafficking and cartel activity, violent crime, and child exploitation – and three years in the DeKalb DA’s Office as a trial-line prosecutor.  Mann began his career in private practice at Troutman Pepper in Atlanta before serving as a chief of staff and Democratic Caucus counsel in the Georgia Senate.  He received a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.S. in biomedical engineering and political science from Yale University.

Rachel Marshall is the Executive Director of the Institute for Innovation in Prosecution.

Rachel previously served as the Director of Communications and Policy Advisor at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, following nearly a decade working as a public defender in Alameda County, California.  Rachel has extensive expertise in the criminal legal system and efforts to reform it, as well as experience in media, policy, and advocacy.

Rachel graduated from Stanford Law School and Brown University.  After law school, she clerked for federal District Court Judge David O. Carter in the Central District of California.  Prior to law school, she taught high school history for three years in the Bronx