Hello! My name is Shelby Boyer and this summer I am a legal intern at Restoring Justice, a non-profit organization in Houston providing holistic representation and focused on ending mass incarceration. I want you to know why this is important to me, explained below, and that I will be asking you to donate to support my work.

To learn a little about me, I just completed my first year of law school at SMU Dedman School of Law and I have an incredible passion for indigent defense. When I was in undergrad, I often thought of what I wanted my life to look like and where my true passions lied. In determining that law was the path for me I thought of the atrocities I had seen in the criminal justice system in its treatment of family, friends, and people in my community. Realizing the incredible oppression that indigent persons face in our legal system I wanted to do all that I could to ensure that people receive adequate representation, someone truly fighting for them when so often they may be pushed aside or forgotten. This passion grew as I completed my first year of law school, and particularly my criminal law class. In a country that is supposed to see the accused as innocent until proven guilty, I have seen just how little that view is actually upheld and it is my deepest hope that this will be restored to our society.

In accepting this internship I have been able to work on a multitude of cases, with a variety of clients and have learned so much more about criminal defense and what it means to be a litigator. I have also gotten the opportunity to be a part of a "Freedom Day" where this organization was able to post bail for individuals and host a resource party celebrating their freedom. I have looked into policy issues regarding jail phone costs and overall have gained an immense amount of knowledge and experience already. However, because I live in Dallas and Restoring Justice is in Houston, I had to secure summer housing for 7 weeks while also maintaining my apartment in Dallas. Thankfully, I received Restoring Justice's Bail Fund Fellowship that I used to secure housing. This organization is full of wonderful people who inspire me daily and I am starting this campaign to raise money for the fellowship I received. I am so thankful that this organization took a chance on me and helped get me here when I could not have done it myself. In order for this incredible non-profit to continue to do the amazing work it does it needs funding and my hope is that this campaign could help cover the fellowship I received so that the money can be used to help more clients.