Mackenzie Halter

Mackenzie Halter is a Justice Catalyst Fellow at The Debt Collective, a debtors’ union.As a Legal Fellow with the Debt Collective, Mackenzie is designing and implementing a Bail Debt Dispute Tool that will allow cosigners on bail bond contracts in California to dispute illegal and unjust bail debts. Not only will this tool allow individuals to dispute debts, but will also collect data on abuses by bail bondsmen to be used in future litigation and legislative advocacy targeting the predatory bail industry in California and across the United States. Mackenzie graduated from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in May 2020. Mackenzie used her law school experience as an opportunity to fight for the rights of marginalized groups, working as a clinical law student at the ASU Immigration Clinic, a Racial Justice Law Clerk with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, a legal intern with the ACLU of Arizona, and a legal intern with the East Bay Community Law Center. She will continue to dedicate her career to these causes, and is specifically passionate about criminal legal reform and prisoners’ rights.

Fellowship type: Justice Catalyst

Organization: The Debt Collective

Project name: Bail Debt Dispute Tool