When Sarah Schielke posted her first felony services and products commercial on Craigslist in 2010, few may have predicted this humble starting would result in groundbreaking adjustments in civil rights litigation. Fresh from Boston University Faculty of Regulation and in search of a brand new get started in Colorado, Schielke presented felony help at minimum price, brazenly acknowledging her newcomer standing whilst promising her best possible efforts.
This unorthodox means proved unusually efficient, offering her with in depth sensible enjoy in a short while. By means of 2012, she established the Existence and Liberty Regulation Place of job, specializing in felony protection and civil rights circumstances. Her impartial spirit – opting for by no means to paintings beneath every other legal professional – enabled her to increase distinctive approaches to civil rights litigation that will later grow to be her hallmark.
Schielke revolutionized civil rights advocacy via strategically the use of police frame digital camera photos. By means of making those recordings public, she introduced exceptional consideration to police misconduct circumstances. This means proved in particular efficient in representing Karen Garner, a lady with dementia who suffered accidents throughout a Loveland police arrest in 2020. The discharge of the photos in April 2021 now not most effective garnered nationwide consideration but in addition brought on thorough departmental investigations.
The affect used to be decisive: Officer Austin Hopp won a five-year jail sentence, whilst Officer Daria Jalali used to be sentenced to 45 days plus three years of probation. The case settled for $3 million, a ways exceeding the everyday $100,000 agreement for identical circumstances. Schielke adopted this good fortune with an much more really extensive victory in 2022, securing a record-breaking $7 million agreement for a consumer who Idaho Springs cops tased in his own residence.
Non-public tragedy has deeply influenced her felony philosophy. The lack of her father to most cancers at age 59, in a while after he witnessed her first trial loss, led her to embody a standpoint targeted on gratitude and forgiveness. This enjoy essentially formed her way to legislation and existence, making her the legal professional she is these days.
Her braveness manifests in her decision to deal with injustices, in particular when confronting tough opposition. Schielke believes within the energy of self-trust and unconditional love whilst operating to enhance the sector. As a feminine legal professional, she acknowledges the extra adaptability required in comparison to male opposite numbers, emphasizing the significance of keeping up authenticity while navigating skilled calls for.
A defining second in her occupation got here throughout a Transparent Creek County case when she confronted contempt fees for freeing frame digital camera photos in spite of following the pass judgement on’s orders exactly. Slightly than backing down, she embraced the problem, even dressed in a T-shirt to courtroom highlighting the First Modification violation—a case that in the end ended in a $7 million agreement.
Schielke’s worldview displays her compassionate means: she sees humanity divided merely into excellent other folks and excellent other folks in ache. She believes everyone strives to do their best possible every day, and people who misbehave frequently battle with their demanding situations.
Her leading edge paintings in civil rights legislation earned her reputation as USA TODAY’s Ladies of the 12 months honoree for Colorado. Past her felony achievements, she credit her good fortune to consistent finding out and the fortify of her husband, who remains house with their daughters, enabling her to pursue her difficult occupation.
Schielke’s adventure from a Craigslist newbie to a transformative drive in civil rights legislation demonstrates how determination, innovative pondering, and unwavering rules can reshape the justice device. Her tale is a testomony to the facility of forging one’s trail whilst keeping up a dedication to sure exchange and human dignity.