Project Staff

Sarah E. Turberville is Director of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. In this position, she encourages bar associations to press for moratoriums in their jurisdictions and encourages state government leaders to establish moratoriums and undertake detailed examinations of capital punishment laws and processes. Sarah previously worked as a staff attorney on the project where she conducted extensive research and analysis on capital punishment practices and procedures in various U.S. states. She has also served as an assistant public defender for the State of Maryland, representing indigent defendants at trial and on the “Evaluation and Review” docket, handling issues of competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility. She has represented individuals wrongfully incarcerated during and after Hurricane Katrina and she has also served as a law clerk to the defense bar in the Hague, assisting in the representation of members of the Kosova Liberation Army before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Sarah is a graduate of Tulane Law School and is a member of the Maryland Bar.

Kirstin J. Ramsay is the Senior Staff Attorney for the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project.  In this position she assists state assessment teams in conducting a detailed examination of their capital punishment laws.  Kirstin previously worked as a staff attorney at the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center where she represented indigent defendants facing capital charges and assisted indigent defenders in all phases of capital litigation.  She graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law, where she served as the Membership Editor and a Staff Writer for the Connecticut Law Review and was awarded the Public Interest Law Group Fellowship for excellence in and commitment to public service.  During law school, she interned with the Federal Defender for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in the Capital Habeas Unit. Kirstin also participated in the Indigent Criminal Trial Clinic, and the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic, where she successfully obtained Asylum for a Guatemalan woman.  Before her legal career, Kirstin was an investigator at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia.

Paula Shapiro is a Project Attorney of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. In this position, she conducts extensive research and analysis on capital punishment practices and procedures in various U.S. states. Paula previously worked at Workplace Flexibility 2010, where she focused on the development of innovative state and federal policy in the area of workplace flexibility, including the importance of flexible work arrangements and time off for military families and domestic violence survivors.  Paula graduated cum laude from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law, where she served as a Note and Comment Editor for the Catholic Law Review. During law school, Paula was the Governor of the 11 th Circuit of the ABA’s Law Student Division 2007-08, and Executive Lt. Governor of the 11 th Circuit in 2006-07. Paula also spent a year as a certified student attorney in Columbus Community Legal Services’ Families and the Law Clinic, where she represented survivors of domestic violence in all aspects of emergency and long-term litigation. Before law school, Paula was the American Bar Association’s Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities Staff Assistant.

Rachel Bays is a Project Attorney of the American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project. In this position, she conducts extensive research and provides analysis on the capital punishment practices and procedures in various U.S. states. Rachel previously worked for the Office of State Courts Administrator in Missouri, compiling research on capital punishment case reversals during the previous ten year period, as well as analyzing the problems plaguing the Missouri court system during death penalty trials. The research and written analysis was compiled into a manual that was distributed at a conference attended by prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges from across Missouri. Rachel graduated in May 2009 from the University of Missouri – Columbia, where she was a member of the Missouri Law Review. In addition, Rachel also spent a semester as a certified student attorney for the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office in Columbia, Missouri, aiding in the preparation for an upcoming jury trial. Rachel also served as an ambassador for the University of Missouri - School of Law for three years, as well as aided in the foundation of a non-profit for students in Africa.