Sonia Kumar is a Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Maryland. Her work focuses on advancing racial justice and combating abuses in the criminal legal system and prisons. She is deeply committed to legal advocacy that shifts power and builds partnerships between people resisting oppressive systems and supporters with access to resources.
For the last decade, Sonia has had the privilege of working closely with people serving life sentences in their efforts to obtain their freedom and people who want to build a system of justice that brings more healing and closure to all. She was a lead attorney on litigation exposing the role of medical examiner determinations in perpetuating police violence, litigation brought on behalf of children sentenced to lifetime incarceration, and the author of several reports documenting racial disparities in marijuana arrests, police violence, and life sentences. She is a co-founder of the Maryland Parole Partnership and the Lifer Family Support Network and serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.
She is a graduate of the University of Maryland and Yale Law School, and a former law clerk to the honorable U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson in Montgomery, Alabama.
Amy Cruice is the Senior Paralegal for the ACLU of Maryland, where she oversees case investigation and provides litigation and legal advocacy support to attorneys. Amy is committed to conducting thorough, ethical, and unbiased investigations in service of the truth and to addressing the systemic inequities faced by marginalized communities. She has led several complex, high-profile investigations and works closely with clients and partners in litigation and advocacy efforts — ensuring clients are heard, informed, and included throughout the course of representation.
Amy began her career with the ACLU as a case investigator and community organizer on the Eastern Shore, following her graduation from Michigan State University with a BA in Criminal Justice. During her tenure, she led the ACLU of Maryland's Election Protection campaign from 2004 to 2024, ran the Know Your Rights training program from 2015 to 2020, and served as the ACLU of Maryland's representative on the Baltimore City Civilian Review Board from 2015 to 2025.
Beyond her work at the ACLU, Amy is active in local community-based advocacy as a volunteer, strategist, and organizer. Recognition of her contributions include the Fannie Lou Hamer Award from the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee of Anne Arundel County, the Her-Story Award from the Caucus of African American Leaders, the Outstanding Service Award from Community Actively Seeking Transparency, the Unsung Legal Hero Award from The Daily Record, and a Leadership Award from the Maryland Justice Coalition.
During these difficult times, the ACLU of Maryland is here to defend and protect our civil rights and civil liberties. We are providing guidance to our elected officials, so they can craft a COVID-19 response that is compassionate and protects the populations most vulnerable to harm, including immigrants and those caught in the legal justice system – as well as all Maryland voters. As always, we will provide people with action items you can do to support this vital work.
This episode features several ACLU of Maryland experts: Sonia Kumar, senior staff attorney; Amy Cruice, legal program manager and director of our Election Protection Program; and Nick Taichi Steiner, staff attorney.
Produced, edited, and hosted by:Amber Taylor, digital communications strategist, ACLU of Maryland
This podcast was recorded on Piscataway land.
Thinking Freely, ACLU of Maryland's podcast, will inform Marylanders about what's happening politically – from the courts to the streets – so they can get involved and realize a more equitable Maryland for all.
