Marbré Stahly-Butts (she/her), co-founder and former Executive Director of Law for Black Lives has worked closely with organizers and communities across the country to advance and actualize radical policy. She co-founded and served on the Leadership Team of the Movement for Black Lives Policy Table and was one of the chief architects of the Vision for Black Lives Policy Platform. Since graduating from Yale Law School, Marbré has supported local and national organizations from across the country in their policy development and advocacy. She was a co-founder of the National Bail Out Collective and the People’s Coalition for Safety and Freedom. Before her role at Law for Black Lives Marbré worked as Deputy Director of Racial Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD). She joined CPD as a Soros Justice Fellow in Fall 2013. Her Soros Justice work focused on organizing and working with families affected by aggressive policing and criminal justice policies in New York City in order to develop meaningful bottom-up policy reforms. While in law school, Marbré focused on the intersection of criminal justice and civil rights and gained legal experience with the Bronx Defenders, the Equal Justice Initiative, and the Prison Policy Initiative. Before law school, Marbré received her Masters in African Studies from Oxford University and studied in Zimbabwe, where she focused on community responses to violence. She also taught in South Africa at Nelson Mandela’s alma mater. Marbré graduated from Columbia University, with a B.A. in African-American History and Human Rights. In addition to her work to support and build movement Marbré is busy trying to raise two young children to be joyful and purpose-filled people.
Publications
Law Articles
Amna Akbar and Marbré Stahly-Butts, “Reforms for Radicals? An Abolitionist Framework,” 68 UCLA L. Rev. 1544, 2022.
Essays and Editorials
The War on Drugs at 50 demands reparations for Black people, THE GRIO, June 21st, 2021, at https://thegrio.com/2021/06/21/war-drugs-50-reparations-black-people/ (co-author).
The Police Can’t Solve the Problem. They are the Problem, NEW YORK TIMES, September 26th, 2019, at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/opinion/the-police-cant-solve-the-problem-they-are-the-problem.html (co-author).
In the Tradition of Our Ancestors, This Mother’s Day We’re Bailing Out Black Mamas, HUFF POST, May 13th, 2017, at https://www.huffpost.com/entry/in-the-tradition-of-our-ancestors-this-mothers-day-were-bailing-out-our-mamas_b_59173701e4b0fe039b34fda8 (co-author).
Reports
Movement for Black Lives, Reparations Now Toolkit, May 2019, available at: https://m4bl.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Reparations-Now-Toolkit-FINAL.pdf (co-editor and co-author)
National Bail Out, Until Freedom Comes: A Comprehensive Bailout Toolkit, 2018, available at: https://southernersonnewground.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Until-Freedom-Comes-A-Comprehensive-Bailout-Toolkit.pdf (co-editor and co-author)
Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, Color of Change, Movement for Black Lives, Project Nia, Law for Black Lives, SONG, Transformative Bail Curriculum: A Popular Education Curriculum, 2017, available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o9UyprQgHsaNo-zDmsJTaUPgrOJDLBK_/view (primary editor and co-author)
Black Youth Project 100, Center for Popular Democracy, Law for Black Lives, Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in our Communities, May 2017, available at: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5500a55ae4b05a69b3350e23/t/595cf69b1b631b031e0542a5/1499264677929/Freedom+to+Thrive+Web.pdf (co-author)
Movement for Black Lives Policy Table, Vision for Black Lives, 2016, available at: https://m4bl.org/policy-platforms/ (primary editor and contributing author)
Center for Popular Democracy and Policy Link, Building Momentum from the Ground Up: A Toolkit for Promoting Justice in Policing, June 2015, available at: https://populardemocracy.org/sites/default/files/JusticeInPolicing-webfinal.pdf (co-author)
Contact
Marbre.stahly-butts@law.cuny.edu