Providing expertise in police practices, criminal justice reform, internal and external investigations, civil rights litigation, and public policy.
About
Emily Gunston has more than 20 years of experience in litigation, investigations, police practices, civil rights, and public policy.
For nine years, Emily served in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, where she helped lead the Division’s group conducting pattern or practice investigations of police departments. There, she led some of the Civil Rights Division’s highest profile and politically sensitive cases, including the enforcement of the consent decree to reform the New Orleans Police Department and the civil investigation of the Chicago Police Department. She has helped select monitoring teams, worked closely with monitoring teams to implement consent decrees and, since leaving DOJ, has consulted with police agencies around the country to improve practices.
Most recently, Emily was the First Assistant Attorney General at the Office of Attorney General for the District of Columbia where she advised the Attorney General on the full range of issues affecting District government and helped manage the agency’s 700-person staff and its annual budget of more than $150 million. Emily also created, developed, and supervised the agency’s Policy and Legislative Affairs Team, managing all the agency’s policy and legislative work and serving as the principal liaison to the Council of the District of Columbia.
Emily also has served as Deputy Legal Director at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, where she directed the Committee’s criminal legal system reform work. In that role, she developed and led complex civil rights lawsuits and engaged in policy advocacy in the areas of police accountability, prison conditions, parole and compassionate release, and the criminalization of poverty.
Emily also served for eight years as a public defender in Contra Costa County, California where she represented hundreds of clients accused of serious crimes and tried more than 40 cases. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.
She has received numerous awards and accolades for her work, including the prestigious Attorney General’s John Marshall Award and the Assistant Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award.
In the News
University of California announces nationally-recognized firm review actions that led to violent events at the UCLA campus. The The 21CP team conducting the investigation include Emily Gunston, former Deputy Chief of the Special Litigation Unit at the United States Department of Justice.
What impact can Trump’s administration have on DOJ investigation into Phoenix police? Emily Gunston weighs in.
What impact can Trump’s administration have on DOJ investigation into Phoenix police?
Fate of Minneapolis federal consent decree uncertain amid a Trump Presidency. Emily Gunston comments on likely outcomes.
It’s been over five years since the District announced a pilot program that would outfit 400 police officers with body cameras to improve transparency and accountability. Guest speaker Emily Gunston, Deputy Legal Director Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs speaks on the Kojo Nnamdi Show.
Opinion: Chief Newsham is wrong. Police oversight is essential. Article by Jonathan Smith, Emily Gunston, and Marques Banks.
Biden, Harris push scrutiny of police. Trump would halt such efforts. Emily Gunston comments on the impact of the election on police reform.
Trump, Harris have starkly different records and visions on policing - The Washington Post