Vera Institute of Justice

Maria is a research associate in Vera’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections. She works primarily for the Justice Fines and Fees Project, conducting budget research to uncover how much governments are collecting in fines and fees, who benefits, and how much of the system this revenue supports. Ultimately, the project seeks to develop solutions for eliminating overreliance on fines and fees and identify fair and progressive alternatives to fund the system.

Before joining Vera, Maria was a research analyst at the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she performed investigative research and data analysis in support of criminal justice impact litigation. She holds an AB in Politics from Princeton University.