Krystal Rodriguez

Policy Director

Krystal is Policy Director of the Data Collaborative for Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Focusing on the criminal legal system and the overuse of jails, she develops policy recommendations to support evidence-based criminal justice reforms and provides legal analysis and interpretation to inform DCJ’s research. She received her Juris Doctorate from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law. She previously served as the Director of Law and Justice Policy, Jail Reform at the Center for Court Innovation, where she focused on the harms caused by the jails in New York City. Her work included planning and piloting initiatives to reduce jail populations and divert individuals away from pretrial detention, including supporting the expansion of NYC’s supervised release program. She also offered training and technical assistance to municipalities throughout the country seeking to institute reforms. Krystal draws on her years as a public defender with Brooklyn Defender Services, where she represented clients charged with misdemeanor and felony matters, from arraignment to disposition. During law school, she represented non-citizen clients in deportation proceedings, and advised on law enforcement interactions as a part of Main Street Legal Services and CLEAR Project. She also served on the Law Review Editorial Board.

Krystal offers expertise on bail reform efforts, the criminal legal system, and court practices and policies.