Bio
Emily Follansbee is a senior staff attorney in the ACLU’s Abortion Criminal Defense Initiative. She has devoted her career to compassionate representation of people navigating the criminal legal system.
As a public defender with the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, Emily represented thousands of individuals at the trial level, including those charged with the most serious felony offenses. She zealously advocated for clients through pre-trial litigation, numerous jury trials, and appellate and post-conviction proceedings.
Prior to joining the ACLU, Emily served as legal director at Texas Defender Service, a nonprofit based in Austin, Texas, dedicated to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment, including the death penalty. In that role, she led the organization’s trial consulting strategy for capital defense teams across Texas, managed a team of attorneys providing direct representation to death-sentenced individuals in state and federal post conviction proceedings, and advocated for various criminal law reforms at the state level.