Brandon Treviño (‘18) has been named Assistant District Attorney with the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Treviño officially starts his new position on Monday, June 7.
In his new role, Treviño will be assigned to the Municipal Court Unit to represent the Commonwealth in misdemeanor trials and felony preliminary hearings. Following an initial period in the MCU, Assistant District Attorneys can move onto the Juvenile Court Unit.
In accepting this new position, Treviño is following the lead of his twin brother and fellow Clinton School graduate, Andrew Treviño (‘18), who currently serves as Deputy District Attorney with the Weld County District Attorney’s Office in their hometown of Greeley, Colo.
“I am passionate about law and public service and this is a great opportunity to serve the people of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Treviño said. “I will also be joining one of the most progressive district attorney’s offices in the country that emphasizes systemic criminal justice reform.”
Under the leadership of Larry Krasner, elected in 2017, Philadelphia’s Office of the District Attorney has implemented policies and practices that have led to progressive reform of Philadelphia’s criminal justice system, focusing on exonerating innocent people who were wrongfully accused and convicted, reducing cash bail for petty drug and sex work charges, holding police accountable, creating diversion programs for juvenile defendants, and reducing future years of incarceration and supervision to decrease Pennsylvania’s jail population.
“This emphasis on reform will impact my work as I look to enforce the rule of law and be a zealous advocate for the victims of crime, but also be mindful of the historic inequities of the criminal justice system, especially on Black and brown communities, and how my role in this system can impact hundreds of lives,” Treviño said. “I hope my work can have a positive impact and ensure that all people in Philadelphia can live in a safe and prosperous community regardless of what they look like and where they come from.”
Treviño previously worked with federal law cases with an emphasis on immigration for his family’s law firm, The Trevino Law Firm, in Greeley, Colo. Additionally, he spent time as a Pre-Law Advisor and Career Counselor for the Steinbright Career Development Center at Drexel University.
“Being a prosecutor is perhaps one of the greatest privileges in the American legal system because you get to seek justice in the name of the people for the people,” Treviño said. “Justice doesn’t only look like locking people up but can also come in the form of seeking diversion into treatment for addiction and mental health issues and addressing the root cause of crime.”
Treviño, who earned a concurrent juris doctor through the UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, said he sees this position as the culmination of his desire to be the most effective public servant he can be.
“My dual-degrees and hands-on experiences have prepared me well for this position,” Treviño said. “I possess the foundational legal skills thanks to my intensive studies at the William H. Bowen School of Law, the theoretical and real-world training as a public servant because the coursework and three major public service projects that I completed at the Clinton School, and the practical experience of working with clients navigating the criminal justice system with my family firm.”
As a Clinton School student, Treviño completed public service projects with Awamaki in Ollantaytambo, Peru, and with Asociacion de Mujeres de Arkansas, a nonprofit that provides educational services to members of the Latino community. Shortly after his graduation, he worked with the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Behavioral Health Services in addressing opioid addiction in Arkansas.
“I have been consumed by this idea of the ‘modern-day prosecutor,’” Treviño said. “Someone who is not simply interested in locking people up and throwing away the key, but is also focused on rehabilitation and treating everybody who comes into contact with the criminal justice system with dignity.”
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