Maritza Perez Medina, Director of Federal Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance – Interview Series

Since December 2019, UC-Berkeley School of Law graduate Maritza Perez Medina has served in the vital role of the Director of Federal Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, D.C. In this crucial position, Medina organizes groups of advocates to meet with important elected officials on possible and proposed pieces of federal legislation that would greatly change the current deeply problematic drug policies in America, along with many other advocative duties.

Tell me a bit about yourself and what defining moments and/or people inspired you to attend law school.

My first memories are of experiencing injustice and feeling angry about it. I always had a deep sense that it was important to fight for justice for marginalized people, even as a toddler! In high school, I became an activist for immigrant rights because I grew up in a very conservative part of the country in rural Nevada where the Mexican immigrant community was often disrespected and discriminated against. As a first-generation American with roots in Mexico, I was motivated to stand up for my community and other marginalized people. These early experiences inspired me to want to become a civil rights lawyer.

When attending University of Nevada, Reno, what were some of your most noteworthy accomplishments? It appears you were incredibly involved in many different law and policy-related organizations even before attending any law school classes.

I was academically ambitious in college, graduating with double majors and double minors in the Honors Program in just four years. I received the Excellence in Honors Senior Award and the Honors Undergraduate Research Award for my Honor Thesis, which focused on economic inequities experienced by immigrant Latinas. I was very involved in student life too. I participated in student government, joined a sorority, started my own club that served the local Latino community, and was the Director of Legal Services for students in my senior year of college.

On top of that, I was an organizer for the Obama Campaign, coordinating several events for student and Latino communities and registering more than 700 voters for the 2008 Presidential election. I also served as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) intern for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. At graduation, I was one of two students at my school to receive the University’s Outstanding Senior Award and the sole student to receive the College of Liberal Arts Dean’s Exemplar Award.

What made you decide to attend the University of California at Berkeley’s School of Law, and what legal organizations were you involved with during law school? How were those organizations influential in finding work after graduating from law school?

I wanted to attend Berkeley Law given its rich social justice history and culture. While a law student, I worked at the ACLU of Northern California and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund where I conducted legal research on police and prison reform. I participated in several student legal clinics, including Berkeley Law’s Death Penalty Clinic, where I conducted mitigation research to help remove a client from death row; the Post-Conviction Advocacy Project, where I successfully helped an incarcerated client gain parole; and the Immigration Clinic of the East Bay Community Law Center, where I assisted clients to apply for DACA and win relief from deportation. I also spent a summer in chambers, working as a judicial clerk for a judge at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. These were valuable professional experiences.

When first being a Legal Intern for the ACLU of Northern California and then a Law Clerk for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, what were some valuable lessons you learned about being an attorney and how deeply flawed the criminal justice system is?

Academia and life experiences taught me that our criminal legal system is flawed, and I gained an even deeper understanding of this through my work experiences. These work experiences solidified for me that I wanted to work in the field of policy and legislative advocacy as a lawyer. I learned that providing direct legal services and pursuing impact litigation were not things I particularly enjoyed, but I was very passionate about policy and national politics.

What were some of the most groundbreaking or far-encompassing cases and pieces of federal legislation that you were involved in advocating for while working for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund? From your experience, why do you believe that the work of MALDEF is important?

At MALDEF, I was most proud of the fact that I got to bring a Latino lens to the federal criminal justice field. This was an exciting time to be a federal advocate for criminal legal reform. It was during President Obama’s second term where he was pursuing far-reaching criminal justice reform, from pardons and clemencies to working with Congress on federal legislation. I engaged in all of it! MALDEF’s work is incredibly important because it protects the constitutional and civil rights of Latinos in the US.

When I was reading about your previous experience, I read the infographic article about the FIRST STEP Act that you authored with the Center for American Progress. As a lawyer and steadfast advocate for criminal justice reform on the federal level, how effective of a bill has the FIRST STEP Act been in furthering sensible criminal justice reform?

Around 30,000 people have been released from prison due to the reforms found in the FIRST STEP Act. Yet the bill—like any Congressional bill—had its flaws. Nonetheless, it provided hope to many advocates that bipartisan support for far-reaching criminal justice reform is possible.

How would you describe the overall experience of being the Director of the Office of Federal Affairs with the Drug Policy Alliance? And since I noticed you’ve served that role during two different presidential administrations, how would you say the duties of your role changed from the Trump administration to the Biden administration?

My experience at DPA has been wonderful and it has helped me grow into a stronger, sharper advocate. I started at DPA at the tail end of Trump’s first presidency. My first couple of years at DPA were marked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the social movement for Black lives as a result of George Floyd’s murder. While starting a new role in the midst of all of this came with its own set of challenges, there was also a renewed appetite in Washington DC to push forward criminal justice reform legislation.

With Donald Trump moving into the Oval Office again in January, do you see your position’s duties changing again? And if so, how? Do you think the second Trump administration would be more open to federal cannabis/other drug and criminal justice reform measures since it doesn’t appear he’s going to appoint any ridiculously staunch prohibitionists like Jeff Sessions?

Our work under President Trump will undoubtedly be more challenging than it currently is. Trump has promised to drastically alter how the government traditionally functions and he has threatened to further criminalize and stigmatize vulnerable communities, including people who engage in drug activity. We will be playing more defense under the Trump Administration, including in Congress where we will face a conservative House and Senate. I think there may be an opportunity to continue to work productively toward marijuana reform, given Trump’s support of some aspects of it.

While serving in this role with the Drug Policy Alliance, what have been some of the most crucial measures and pieces of legislation that the organization has advanced or advocated for? Also, what have been some of your most notable professional highlights with the Drug Policy Alliance?

There are too many to count! But I’ll share some of what we’ve accomplished on the marijuana front. I led the coalition that successfully pushed for the passage of the MORE Act in the U.S. House of Representatives in December 2020 (116th Congress) and April 2022 (117th Congress), marking the first and only times in history a Congressional chamber voted to deschedule marijuana. Our coalition was recognized by the National Cannabis Festival with the Community Changemaker Award. I also received Latino Justice PRLDEF’s Latina Trailblazer Award in recognition of my contributions to the criminal legal reform field and positive impact on the Latino community.

When it comes to the future cannabis policy on the federal level, how do you envision a rescheduling from Schedule I to Schedule III would change overall federal cannabis law? Do you ever see a bill similar to The MORE Act passing in both chambers of the United States Legislature and being signed by either President-elect Trump or whomever his successor will be?

Shifting marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA would result in tax benefits for marijuana businesses and potential changes to research restrictions, but would ultimately maintain federal criminalization and its associated harms. The next Congress will be Republican controlled. There are some bills, including the MORE Act, that enjoy bipartisan support. However, Republicans in Congress generally do not support comprehensive federal marijuana to the extent Democrats do, particularly when it comes to equity-centered reform. And while Trump supports some aspects of reform, his public statements limit his support to state reform and federal marijuana rescheduling. As a result, it’s unlikely a bill like MORE will be signed into law anytime soon. But we will continue to build support for it and other bills in Congress that center equity and justice in federal marijuana reform.

Thank you for joining us, Maritza! To stay updated on the Drug Policy Alliance, please follow its website.