Bio
Kanya Bennett is a former senior legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union, serving from 2014 to 2020. In this capacity, Kanya advanced criminal justice reform at the federal level.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Kanya spent over three years at the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy as the Director of Policy Development and Programming where she focused on civil and criminal justice issues. Kanya also served as Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for over eight years and completed a fellowship at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation immediately following her graduation from law school. She holds an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and earned her law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Featured work
Jul 29, 2020
Communities Deserve Better Than Bayonets and Grenade Launchers: The Defense 1033 Program Must End Now
![Militarized federal agents deployed by the president to Portland, fire tear gas against protesters](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/07/Defense-1033-Program-Header-Image-400x400.jpg)
Jun 12, 2020
Congress Can Lead the Charge on Divesting From Law Enforcement
![Police force stands guard in riot gear in front of Hall of Justice in Los Angeles.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/06/Congress-Police-Reform-400x400.jpg)
Apr 29, 2020
Federal Bill Would Release Vulnerable People from Prisons to Help Stop Spread of COVID-19
![Prisoners are seen walking in a hallway in a prison, one in a wheelchair](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/04/web20-prisonv2-BlogImage_Wordpress_1110x740-400x400.jpg)
Apr 13, 2020
Federal Wardens Must Immediately Flatten the Curve in our Nation's Prisons
![Inmates walk around a recreation yard of a California prison.](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2020/04/BOP-COVID19-Header-Image-400x400.jpg)
Dec 20, 2019
A Fair Chance at Opportunity: The U.S. Government Bans the Box
![](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/12/Fair-Chance-Act-Blog-Header-Image-400x400.jpg)
Oct 25, 2019
The First Step Act was Exactly that, a First Step. What Comes Next?
![](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/10/AP_16237814475582_opt-400x400.jpg)
May 16, 2019
Our Government Has Failed to Defend the Sixth Amendment
![Public defender meeting with jailed client](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web19-counsel-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
Jan 15, 2019
Can the Trump Administration Use Asset Forfeiture Funds to Build the Border Wall?
![Border Wall](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web19-borderwall4-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
Jan 10, 2019
Trump’s Labor Department Wants to Drug-Test Applicants for Unemployment Benefits
![Specimen sample cups](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web19-drug-test-1160x768-400x400.jpg)
Nov 9, 2018
Before Resigning, Jeff Sessions Handcuffed the Justice Department’s Ability to Police the Police
![Jeff Sessions at a podium](https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2019/09/web18-jeffsessionspodium-1160x768-400x400.jpg)