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Dr. Aleksandra Chauhan
In the fall of 2019 Dr. Aleksandra Chauhan obtained an OJJDP grant to start a Juvenile Defender Advocate position at the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense. In this position Dr. Chauhan focuses on South Carolina juvenile justice data collection and training and support of juvenile defense attorneys in the state. Prior to that, Dr. Chauhan was an assistant public defender in Richland County, SC. In 2015-2016, she obtained two federal grants to open a Youth Reentry Program at the Public Defender’s Office. The Youth Reentry team that she supervised consisted of a social worker, youth advocates and a civil attorney. It focused on holistic representation of the youth. Dr. Chauhan received her Ph.D. from the Department of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. During her doctoral studies she focused on researching the Convention on the Rights of the Child. After obtaining her Ph.D., she studied law and in 2013 received her J.D. at the USC School of Law. In addition to representing youth, Dr. Chauhan is on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers’ Committee for Children’s Rights and is on the Advisory Committee of the Southern Juvenile Defense Center. Dr. Chauhan has presented keynotes and workshops on issues of reentry and trauma at local, national and international conferences. She is actively involved in creating systemic change in her community and raising awareness about needs and challenges youth face in their communities. Dr. Chauhan was recognized as a 2017 Juvenile Public Defender of the Year and is a 2020 recipient of the Ambassador for Racial Justice scholarship.
Samantha M. Luck, Esq.
Samantha Luck recently joined the SC Human Affairs Commission as a staff attorney. Prior to joining SCHAC, she served nearly six years as a juvenile public defender for both Richland and Lexington Counties where she became well-versed in the area of juvenile defense and advocacy. In addition to her work as a juvenile defender, Ms. Luck has served as an attorney for Richland County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), representing court-appointed Guardians ad Litem for children in the foster care system. Having started her legal career as a youth advocate, Ms. Luck also has extensive knowledge in the area of special education. She worked for a number of years at Disability Rights South Carolina (formerly Protection and Advocacy for People with Disabilities, Inc. – P&A), where, she represented students with disabilities in public primary and secondary education, ensuring the protection and enforcement of students’ rights under the IDEA, Section 504, and the ADA.
Ms. Luck obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and her J.D. from the University of South Carolina. During law school, she clerked for the Richland County Public Defender Office, juvenile division, and during that time, she also became a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem. Ms. Luck serves on the S.C. Bar’s Children Law Committee, is a Certified Juvenile Training Immersion Program (JTIP) Trainer and was a participant in the 2017 JTIP Summer Academy. Throughout her legal career, Ms. Luck has been a strong advocate for youth in S.C. and believes wholeheartedly in fighting for the rights of children. She believes that by investing in community services and programs aimed at addressing the needs of youth, rather than incarceration, youth will have greater success at rehabilitation and better future outcomes. While her role as an attorney has changed, she continues to offer support to juvenile defenders by sharing her knowledge and assisting with training those on the front line.
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