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Shana founded Due Process Institute because, after years of first-hand defense work and criminal legal reform advocacy, she became convinced the Constitution needed and deserved its own lobbying firm–particularly in the area of procedural due process rights for the accused.
Prior to founding DPI + Clause 40 Foundation, Shana O’Toole served as a Policy Director for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) where she led many of their criminal reform strategies + strategic partnerships with other organizations. Shana has also frequently served as a consultant + advisor to other justice partners on numerous research + legislative efforts.
Prior to moving to D.C., Shana practiced for many years as a criminal defense lawyer + served as pro bono counsel for political refugees seeking asylum.
Shana received her J.D., magna cum laude. While in law school, she served as a Note Editor for the Law Review + worked in the anti-discrimination legal clinic. Following law school, Shana had the honor of clerking for Justice Joette Katz on the Connecticut Supreme Court–the first woman to have served as Chief of Connecticut’s Public Defender Office.
Before she found her legal calling, Shana lived in New Orleans where she received an M.F.A in fiction writing. She also taught literature + writing at both Xavier University of Louisiana + the University of New Orleans. Shana holds a B.A. from Sweet Briar College–an all women’s college in the Blue Ridge Mountains founded in 1901.
Shana lives with her husband (a former public defender who has prevented over a dozen state-sponsored capital deaths) + a mischievous french bulldog in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of D.C. When she’s not fighting on behalf of fundamental fairness, Shana enjoys snowboarding, watching the Washington Nationals play baseball, and listening to live music (particularly in New Orleans).
Favorite Fun Fact: Every 40 years or so, it snows in the Sahara desert–a reminder to Shana of what is possible even when it doesn’t seem very likely.
Jason Pye joined Due Process Institute in 2021, bringing many years of lobbying experience to the team. His views on criminal legal reform are partially formed by his own life experiences, the advocacy work he has done, and his libertarian/classical liberal convictions. He has worked on several pieces of legislation that have become law, including the First Step Act + the Fair Chance Act.
The son of a Vietnam veteran who passed away in 1993, Jason believes his life could have taken a very different direction considering that addiction issues are present in his family. Thankfully, his mother guided him down the right path. In addition, through his criminal legal reform advocacy, Jason has met several individuals who were incarcerated and heard their stories. These stories have guided his work through which he hopes to see a fairer legal system and preservation of civil liberties.
Prior to joining DPI, Jason served as the Vice President of Legislative Affairs for FreedomWorks. In this role, he was responsible for lobbying on federal legislation, forming relationships with congressional offices, and keeping tabs on congressional activity. Policy issues in his portfolio at FreedomWorks included criminal justice reform and civil liberties.
Jason has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, and numerous radio programs. He has contributed commentary to Forbes, The Hill, and Washington Examiner and has been cited or quoted in pieces published by The New York Times, Politico, Roll Call, and The Wall Street Journal.
Jason lives near Richmond, Virginia, with his wife, stepdaughter, and a menagerie of pets (four parakeets, three cats, two hedgehogs, and a dog). When he isn’t working, he enjoys spending time with his wife and stepdaughter, listening to and playing music, watching the Atlanta Braves and the University of Georgia Bulldogs, and getting tattooed.
Favorite Fun Fact: Although Jason primarily plays guitar these days, he was the drummer in a punk rock band, Style Over Substance, until 2004. You can listen to two of his old band’s EPs on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Prior to joining DPI, Tamara served as Director of Events for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). In that capacity, she was responsible for the Association’s quarterly board meetings, CLE seminars, seminar site-selection, + the planning of social events. During her tenure, she was involved in the planning + execution of nearly 175 different events. She also managed the entire online website presence for all events, CLE registration, and speaker database.
Tamara is a native of Serbia where she lived for 23 years before graduating from law school and moving to D.C.
Serbia’s specific political + economic conditions shaped Tamara’s education + involvement in civil rights and social justice movements. Throughout her law school years, she attended trainings on human rights, democracy, and conflict resolution. She canvased the country + conducted public opinion polls on political issues. She joined the very first organization for free elections (CESID) + helped train over 800 election monitoring volunteers for the historic September 2000 election.
Tamara lived in D.C. for 12 years before reluctantly moving to Virginia with her husband + two children. When she isn’t working, Tamara resists requests for various house pets (namely Corgis), enjoys watching real football (soccer), buys books on Amazon that she will never get around to reading, and dreams of retiring to one of the islands of Croatia.
Favorite Fun Fact: Andrew Jackson had a talking pet parrot named Poll. Poll had to be removed from Jackson’s funeral because it screeched obscenities and curse words at the mourners.
Prior to joining DPI, Tray worked at Knox County Public Defender Office where he did investigative work on serious felony cases and advocated on behalf of clients. While attending Tulane University, Tray tutored Lafayette Parish Prison inmates in creative writing and interned as a client advocate at Orleans Public Defenders and an investigator at PDS.
Outside of work, Tray enjoys waking up early to root for Leeds United, reading history monographs, preventing his cat from getting in trouble, and fantasizing about traveling back to Albania where he worked at a beach town hostel.
Favorite Fun Fact: In 148 AD, the world’s first seismograph was invented in China.
The National Law Journal named Due Process Institute’s Founder + President Shana O’Toole a Trailblazer in Criminal Law for her vigorous advocacy to protect the Constitution and advance bipartisan criminal justice reform.
Director of Operations + Events Tamara Kalacevic at DPI’s annual Two Views: An Exploration of SCOTUS’s Criminal Law Docket event. Each year — in celebration of Constitution Day — Due Process Institute provides free or low-cost CLE (and a celebratory lunch) to the nation’s criminal defense lawyers in honor of their work as constitutional warriors.
Due Process Institute has also provided free training to hundreds of in-house counsel at events across the nation on a variety of criminal law topics as part of its In-House Counsel Enforcement Forums.
DPI played a key role in the bipartisan coalition of organizations working together to pass sentencing and prison reforms. Pictured: DPI President Shana O’Toole and Vice President Jason Pye (formerly of Freedomworks) celebrate passage of the most significant criminal reform legislation in almost a decade at the White House in December 2018. #BipartisanWorks