Demelza Baer

Prior to joining Campaign Legal Center, Demelza was the Director of Public Policy for the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she led the organization's policy work on voting rights, nominations and courts, criminal justice, hate crimes, digital justice, education, economic justice and housing. During her tenure, she significantly expanded the policy impact of the organization, including overseeing invited testimony before Congress dozens of times, helping to shape major federal legislation (including bills that passed one or both chambers); successfully advocating for multiple executive orders issued by the president; and co-leading multiple legislative and nomination coalitions. 

Previously, Demelza was Director of the Economic Justice Initiative for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, where she developed the Institute’s work on employment, housing and access to credit. As a result of model legislation that she wrote and her advocacy, six bills were enacted in the state of New Jersey. She also worked as a Policy Counsel for the Washington Legislative Office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she advanced racial justice, women’s rights, disability rights, human rights and criminal justice reform through federal, state and international advocacy. Demelza was also an Assistant Counsel for the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, where she worked both on civil rights issues for the Subcommittee on the Constitution and on oversight for the full Committee. In addition, she served as an appellate law clerk for the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands, and before attending law school, as a researcher at the Justice Policy Center of the Urban Institute. 

Demelza is the author or co-author of several reports and policy briefs, which have been cited in The New York Times and The Guardian, among other publications. She graduated from Northwestern University with her B.A., double-majoring and receiving Honors in both Political Science and Sociology. Demelza received a Dean’s Scholarship to attend Tulane Law School, where she graduated with her J.D. magna cum laude. During law school, Demelza served as the Chief Justice of the Moot Court Board and as a member of the Tulane Journal of Technology & Intellectual Property. She received her LL.M. from Columbia Law School, graduating as a James Kent Scholar. Demelza joined CLC in 2026.