Leah Fessler

Leah Fessler is a 2024-2025 Justice Catalyst Fellow working at MacArthur Justice Center Missouri in St. Louis, where she will fight to end Missouri Department of Corrections’ discriminatory policies of denying access to all three medications for opioid use disorder in Missouri prisons. Opioid overdose is the leading cause of death for individuals under age 50 in America, and by MDOC is severely exacerbating this crisis by forcing individuals with legally prescribed buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone prescriptions to experience excruciating withdrawal upon entering prison. Access to MOUD within prison decreases the chance of overdose within weeks of release by over 75%. Leah seeks to enjoin MDOC’s present policies and secure access to MOUD for all incarcerated individuals in Missouri as the ADA and Eighth Amendment require. 

Leah will graduate with her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2024. At Yale, she focused on civil rights litigation, including working for the Yale Law Veterans Legal Services Clinic. Leah grew up in Massachusetts, and holds a B.A. in English and American Literatures from Middlebury College (2015). Prior to Yale, Leah worked as a journalist covering civil rights abuses for Quartz, The New York Times, and The Atlantic.

Fellowship type: Justice Catalyst

Organization: MacArthur Justice Center Missouri

Project name: End Missouri’s Discriminatory Policy of Denying Life-Saving Medication to Incarcerated People with Opioid Use Disorder