Ruth Friedman

Ruth Friedman has dedicated her career to representing men and women on the nation’s death rows, most recently as the founding director of the Federal Capital Habeas Project. Under her leadership, the Project became a national center for policy, strategic advocacy and direct representation in post-conviction proceedings for individuals on federal death row. Ruth previously represented condemned prisoners at the Equal Justice Initiative and the Southern Center for Human Rights, bringing to the fore systemic issues in the administration of capital punishment including racial bias and prosecutorial overreach.  She has been recognized with the Southern Center’s Frederick Douglass Award and the ABA’s John Paul Stevens Guiding Hand of Counsel Award for her decades of advocacy.