Biography:
Jennifer M. Kinsley dedicates her practice to fighting governmental abuse of civil and constitutional rights. She has a passion for the underdog and works tirelessly to protect and defend the impoverished, the improperly silenced, and the wrongfully accused.
Ms. Kinsley obtained her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Florida, where she graduated with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa and was involved in numerous campus and community service organizations. She graduated from the Duke University School of Law in 1999. While at Duke, Ms. Kinsley headed the Prisoners Rights Project, founded the Criminal Law Society, acted in and directed plays for the Duke Law Drama Society, and volunteered her time in defense of now-exonerated death row inmate Rex Dean Penland.
Ms. Kinsley began her practice as an assistant public defender for the Hamilton County Public Defender's Office, where she primarily handled juvenile delinquency cases. She joined the firm in April 2000, working under the tutelage of H. Louis Sirkin, and was named a partner in January 2008. In her time with the firm, Ms. Kinsley has been successful at invalidating local, state, and federal regulations of adult businesses; has obtained class action relief for Ohio's incarcerated juveniles and acquittals for numerous criminal defendants; and has worked to develop a protocol for protecting the constitutional rights of the homeless that is currently being adopted by cities across the country. In addition, she recently persuaded the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to vacate the death sentence for Ohio inmate Dewaine Poindexter. She is also a key member of the Free Speech Coalition's legal team challenging the record-keeping requirements of 18 U.S.C. 2257.
Ms. Kinsley currently serves as the Treasurer of the First Amendment Lawyers Association and is an active member of the Greater Cincinnati Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Ohio Bar Association, and the Cincinnati Bar Association. She lectures frequently on free speech and civil rights issues and teaches a class in habeas corpus each fall at the University of Cincinnati Law School. Ms. Kinsley has also addressed the adult entertainment community at AVN's Internext conference, at Association of Cabaret Executive meetings, and through online journals and blogs. She was named a 2007 Rising Star by Ohio SuperLawyers Magazine and was the 2007 recipient of the Children Law Center's Advocacy Partnership Award. In addition, Ms. Kinsley recently testified as an expert witness before the United States District Court for the District of Vermont.
In her spare time, Ms. Kinsley is immediate past president of the Board of Directors of Contemporary Dance Theater and is an active member of Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church, where she chairs the early childhood committee and offers volunteer legal advice to the church and its members. She also volunteers her services through the Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.
Ms. Kinsley is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; Supreme Court of Ohio; the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits; the United States District Courts for the Southern and Northern Districts of Ohio, the District of Colorado, and the District of Connecticut; and all courts in the State of Ohio. She has been admitted pro hac vice in over ten states and accepts cases from across the country.
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