Event details

Panelists:

Cynthia Coe

Cynthia Coe is deputy chief with the Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She specializes in conducting pattern-or-practice investigations of law enforcement agencies and negotiating and enforcing agreements to resolve those investigations under 34 U.S.C. § 12601. She has supervised and participated in numerous investigations and enforcement matters involving law enforcement agencies, including the Baltimore Police Department, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, the Ferguson Police Department, the Chicago Police Department, and the Minneapolis Police Department. Prior to joining the Civil Rights Division, Ms. Coe was a litigation partner with McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, LLP. She clerked in federal district court for the Honorable Earl B. Gilliam in the Southern District of California. Ms. Coe is a graduate of Yale Law School, where she received the Potter Stewart Moot Court prize.

Maureen Johnston

Maureen Johnston is a trial attorney with the Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. There, she enforces 34 U.S.C. 12601, which grants the United States the authority to address patterns or practices of misconduct by law enforcement officers. Ms. Johnston currently leads the investigation into the city of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department and is part of the team enforcing federal court orders against the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. Previously, she was part of the team that investigated the Baltimore Police Department. Outside of her police matters, she served on the litigation team that prevailed in the United States’ suit against the state of Mississippi for discriminating against adults with mental illness. Ms. Johnston began her legal career at the Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program and is a proud graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, where she was awarded the Dean’s medal for academic excellence and extraordinary contributions to the law school.

Megan Marks

Megan Marks is a trial attorney with the Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. There, she enforces 34 U.S.C. 12601, which grants the United States the authority to address patterns or practices of misconduct by law enforcement officers. Ms. Marks currently plays a leading role in the investigation into the city of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department. She also enforces consent decrees with the New Orleans Police Department and the city of Ferguson, Missouri, where she focuses on the Ferguson Municipal Court. Ms. Marks serves on the Civil Rights Division’s Artificial Intelligence Working Group and is looking at the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology, and policing. She previously worked on investigations and enforcement matters involving prisons and jails. Ms. Marks began her legal career at the Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma and Harvard Law School, Ms. Marks received the Harvard Law School Dean’s Award for Community Leadership and was named a Heyman Fellow, which recognizes graduates committed to federal government service.