Welcoming Justin Martinez To Our Team!
Dear Friends,
We are thrilled to share that Justin Martinez has joined Texas Defender Service as Senior Policy & Advocacy Manager! Justin will advance our policy agenda, with a focus on legislative and agency-level advocacy, coalition building, public education, and grassroots organizing.
Among other projects, Justin will co-lead the Parole Advocacy Coalition of Texas, a grassroots advocacy group of system-impacted individuals, advocates, researchers, and organizers. Justin advances PACT alongside leaders from Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance and the Texas Prisons Alliance. PACT is building collective power to challenge the state’s parole policies and practices, shift public understanding, and move toward a future rooted in dignity, healing, and liberation for all.
An organizer and policy advocate with over five years of experience, Justin centers people most impacted by the criminal legal system while also keeping a clear eye on how to navigate the procedural and political realities needed to move meaningful change in Texas. Justin is guided by the belief that people are more than their worst mistakes or choices, and he believes that lasting safety, care, and accountability require us to think beyond merely punitive solutions.
We will keep you updated on the path ahead as we fight for justice for everyone in Texas!
With gratitude,
Burke Butler & Randi Chavez
Co-Executive Directors
Texas Defender Service
