The intersection between government power and individual rights has guided Stephanie Smith’s academic and professional pursuits within the law. This, combined with an interest in intercultural communication and exchange, led her towards advocating on behalf of immigrants.

Stephanie majored in International Studies at Vassar College where she focused on political science, history, Spanish, and Portuguese. Her senior thesis described patterns of urbanization and segregation in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where she studied for her junior year of college. Later, she graduated from the University of San Francisco School of Law, dedicating her time to the Criminal Law Society, the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF), the USF criminal law clinical, the National Moot Court competition, and the moot court case counsel program. She also acted as research assistant to Professor Peter Jan Honigsberg for her two last years, focusing on the legal issues emerging from America’s war on terror and bringing speakers to campus to discuss the legal and moral implications of Bush administration policies in the wake of September 11th.

Stephanie spent the summer after her first year of law school at the capital habeas unit of the Federal Public Defender in Little Rock, Arkansas, gathering mitigation evidence for death row clients and drafting habeas petitions on their behalf. She later worked as a summer law clerk for the Alameda County Public Defender, where she wrote and argued motions in criminal court. Stephanie speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese and enjoys reading good fiction, running, and practicing yoga.