Amy Bach
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Amy Bach (born 1968) is an American a journalist, attorney, and author of ''Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court'', for which she won the 2010 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Measures for Justice, a nonprofit that collects and publishes county-level criminal justice performance data. She founded the organization after she published her book.


Background and education

Bach grew up in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where she graduated from
Chapin School Chapin School is an single-sex education, all-girls independent day school on Manhattan's Upper East Side neighborhood in New York City. History Maria Bowen Chapin opened "Miss Chapin's School for Girls and Kindergarten for Boys and Girls" ...
. She earned her bachelor's in English and American Literature at
Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...
in Rhode Island and was a Knight Foundation Journalism Fellow at
Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
where she received her master's degree in law. Bach was the recipient of an Echoing Green Fellowship in 2011 and earned her Juris Doctor from
Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (SLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, Stanford Law had an acceptance rate of 6.28% i ...
in 1998. She has also received fellowships from Soros Media, the
Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...
, and a special J. Anthony Lucas citation. Bach is a member of the New York bar, and has taught as an
adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...
at the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
. In 2020, Bach was awarded the Dial Fellowship, named after a journal founded by
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
and funded by
Laurene Powell Jobs Laurene Powell Jobs ( Powell; born November 6, 1963)United States birth records is an American billionaire businesswoman executive and philanthropist. She is the widow of Steve Jobs, who was the co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc., and she m ...
, through the
Emerson Collective Emerson Collective is an organization focused on education, immigration reform, the environment, media and journalism, and health. Founded by billionaire philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, the collective, which operates under a limited liabilit ...
, a social change organization.


Career

Bach worked as a freelance journalist, writing for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...
'', ''
Slate (magazine) ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In ...
'', ''
The American Lawyer ''The American Lawyer'' is a monthly legal magazine and website published by ALM Media. The periodical and its parent company, ALM (then American Lawyer Media), were founded in 1979 by Steven Brill.New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...
''. In 2001, Bach wrote an article titled "''Justice on the Cheap''," published in ''The Nation''. Chronicling the story of Tasha McDonald and her difficulty in the Georgia court system, it was then, when she began looking closely into the plight of people and how they were treated in the criminal court system. Bach, who spent eight years investigating the failure of the courts, and utilizing her background as an attorney and journalist, wrote her book, ''Ordinary Justice'', which was published in 2009. In 2010, part of an essay, published in The Crime Report, and adapted from a lecture in February 2010, Bach recalled: After the publication of her book, Anthony Lewis of the
New York Review of Books New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
noted that "Bach has done something different: shown us the reality of the criminal justice process in microscopic, human detail. In different places across the country she watched went on in courtrooms. Her accounts of what she saw should open others' eyes to unwelcome reality. It is a revealing and important book," and the ''
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper and also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely read. It was purchased by the G ...
'' wrote that the book "Should be required reading for every judge, prosecutor, defense lawyer, clerk and defendant in courthouses everywhere." in 2011, following the publication of her book, Bach Founded Measures for Justice, a
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
that collects and publishes county-level criminal justice performance data, where she serves as the Executive director.


Awards and recognition

* 2005 Finalist Anthony Lukas Work-In-Progress Award, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. *2009 Green Bag Journal Award, for Exemplary Legal Writing in her book, ''Ordinary Injustice: How American Holds Court.'' *2010 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, for ''Ordinary Injustice: How American Holds Cour''t. *2018 The Academy of Criminal Justice Science's Leadership and Innovation Award. *2018 Charles Bronfman Prize for young humanitarians.


Personal

Bach is married to John Markman, a doctor at the
University of Rochester Medical Center The University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), now known as UR Medicine, is located in Rochester, New York, is a medical complex on the main campus of the University of Rochester and comprises the university's primary medical education, resea ...
. They have one son. They reside in
Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
.


References


External links


Reviews of Ordinary Injustice
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Amy Stanford Law School alumni Brown University alumni 1968 births 21st-century American writers 21st-century American women writers Living people Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni