Civil Legal Needs of Gun Violence Survivors

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Gun violence has plagued urban areas across the U.S. for generations, disproportionately affecting Black and Brown, low-income communities, the direct result of systemic racism leading to the complete disinvestment in those neighborhoods currently devastated by daily shootings. Recent investments in gun violence prevention and intervention by the Biden Administration have made new funding available for gun violence prevention and intervention. Presenters will discuss the most common civil legal needs of gun violence survivors (of non-fatal shootings and homicides), funding available to support those services, research that supports that such services can contribute to reducing gun violence, and critical partnerships to reach this very underserved and vulnerable population. Other topics include: this work as a critical component of criminal justice reform; partnering with indigent defense organizations; the potential for federal civil rights litigation/systemic advocacy; and federal regulatory changes re: victims' compensation.

Upon completion, participants will be able to articulate the civil legal needs of gun violence survivors and funding available to support those services.
Upon completion, participants will be able to identify partnerships in their communities to meet the civil legal needs of gun violence survivors.
Upon completion, participants will be able to plan for the identification of systemic issues (related to biased policing, criminal justice reform, partnerships with indigent defense organizations) that they might address.
Upon completion, participants will be able to identify ways to contribute to victim's compensation reform efforts in their states.

Albert Stancil, JD

Staff Attorney

Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at UMB

Staff attorney Albert L. Stancil comes from a long line of compassionate “helping” professionals from whom he inherited empathy and a commitment to standing alongside those who may be denied their rights without someone to champion their cause. Before joining ROAR, he worked as an attorney in the Housing and Consumer Law Unit at Maryland Legal Aid. Albert specializes in housing law and feels pride each time he intervenes to prevent a single parent family from facing eviction or helps an elderly client navigate the intricacies of the recertification process. Albert brings a sense of fun to the ROAR team and is always up for a round of golf, a karaoke night, or a travel adventure. Albert is inspired by the belief that every individual, regardless of their background, deserves to be heard, supported, and empowered.

Tianna Mays, JD

Legal Director

State Democracy Defenders Action

Tianna Mays is Acting Director for the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Prior to joining the Lawyers’ Committee, Tianna was the Managing Attorney at the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault’s Sexual Assault Legal Institute. While there she represented survivors of sexual assault in civil cases throughout the State of Maryland. As Managing Attorney, she was a member of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office Sexual Assault Evidence Kit Committee, and assisted with obtaining funding for the testing of Maryland’s backlogged rape kits. She also filed and litigated the first Rape Survivor case in Maryland, assisting a teenage mother in terminating the parental rights of the man who assaulted her. Prior to working at the Sexual Assault Legal Institute, Tianna gained substantial litigation experience working as a public defender representing parents and children in termination of parental rights cases in Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. As a public defender in New Jersey, she successfully challenged the state’s application of the American with Disabilities Act that resulted in a published New Jersey Appellate Court decision. Tianna graduated magna cum laude from West Virginia University with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Social Work and a minor in Spanish and American Politics and Policy. She earned her J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law in 2011, where she received the W.E.B. DuBois Fellowship. She was a member of the Women’s Law Caucus, and President of the Black Law Student Association. Tianna is originally from Charleston, West Virginia.

Carly Pick, PT, DPT

Manager, Center for Injury Prevention and Policy

UMMC, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center

Carly Pick, DPT is the Manager of the Center for Injury Prevention and Policy at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, MD. She oversees the Injury Prevention Program and Violence Prevention Programs for Shock Trauma. She brings over 12 years of bedside acute care experience as a physical therapist at University of Maryland Medical Center. In her current role she oversees the Hospital Violence Intervention Program where she has taken on an active role in helping to strengthen the greater Baltimore City hospital community violence ecosystem. She is passionate about prioritizing patient care and prevention of injury including falls, violent injury, and pediatric/teen injury.

Lydia Watts, JD, MPH

Executive Director

Rebuild, Overcome, and Rise (ROAR) Center at UMB

Lydia Watts has spent the past 30 years working with survivors of crime, primarily in the Maryland and DC area. Lydia has been at the helm of the ROAR Center since its launch in 2019. As a victims’ rights attorney, advocate, and leader of the ROAR Center, Lydia wishes everyone understood that survivors deserve all the compassion and grace they would want for themselves or their loved ones. As founder and executive director of Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), Lydia pioneered a multidisciplinary approach to serving teen and adult victims of domestic violence in Washington, DC, by offering an innovative range of services, including legal, counseling, clinical case management, economic literacy, and empowerment, outreach, and education. The vision of that model has been replicated with Lydia’s assistance at other organizations, including now ROAR. Lydia’s work with crime survivors includes leadership roles at the Network for Victim Recovery (NVRDC) in DC, DC Access to Justice Commission, National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA), Massachusetts Alliance on Teen Pregnancy, and the Victim Rights Law Center. In her spare time, Lydia likes to read, knit, crochet, and spend time in nature, especially with family and friends. Inspiration: The strength and resilience of people who have experienced so much hardship and still feel love in their hearts.