Jennifer M. Atzberger

Jennifer has been an attorney focusing on the protection of constitutional rights and access to education for over a decade. As an Assistant County Public Defender, Jennifer handled a substantial caseload representing indigent clients in both the juvenile and criminal justice system. As a supervising attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Jennifer led a team of attorneys whose focus was stemming the School-to-Prison Pipeline by defending children against expulsion from school and representing families of children with disabilities in disputes with school districts regarding the need for special education services. As the senior staff attorney for the ACLU Jennifer worked to protect the constitutional rights of Ohio citizens by challenging government practices that infringed upon First Amendment rights of free speech, Fourth Amendment rights against illegal searches and seizures, violations of due process rights in the court system, and challenged practices that violated federal laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).

Practice Areas

Admitted

• 2000, Ohio

 Education

• J.D., Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, 1999
• B.A., English, Occidental College, 1994

Representative Cases

I have argued an appeal of probation orders that violated a client's constitutional rights before the Ninth District Court of Appeals, and filed numerous Amicus Briefs with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and Ohio Supreme Court in support of issues ranging from reproductive rights to protection of the Freedom of Information Act. In addition, I filed a Writ of Prohibition with the Ohio Supreme Court to seek protection for juveniles forced to appear indiscriminately before the court in shackles when charged with delinquency complaints.