Nikki Baszynski is a lawyer and writer with over ten years of criminal justice experience. Most recently, Nikki worked at the Ohio Justice & Policy Center as a senior attorney representing clients in post-sentencing matters including clemency, record sealing, parole, and registration.

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Prior to joining OJPC, Nikki served as a managing editor for The Appeal, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to exposing the harms of the U.S. criminal legal system. Nikki also served as senior legal counsel at The Justice Collaborative, a national policy and media organization that worked in partnership with organizers, elected officials, academics, and reporters to help local communities understand the policies, practices, and people responsible for mass incarceration.

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Nikki began her legal career as the Greif Fellow in Juvenile Human Trafficking and then joined the Ohio Public Defender’s Appeals and Postconviction Department. While at OPD, Nikki founded the office’s Racial Justice Initiative, an agency-based team focused on identifying racially discriminatory practices and collaborating across departments to address them. Her work in the initiative centered around the criminalization of poverty and municipal court reform.

 

Nikki is also an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where she has taught courses on appellate advocacy and reimagining public safety. She received her B.A. from Loyola University Chicago, and her J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.