Angel E. Sanchez is a Ph.D. in Law candidate at Yale. Angel’s research explores the tensions between democracy, citizenship, and the U.S. criminal legal system. He focuses on how legal frameworks and institutions affect system-impacted individuals, particularly in areas such as voting rights restoration, access to higher education, and socio-economic inclusion. His work is deeply rooted in democratic values and seeks to advance interventions that protect the dignity and equal citizenship of individuals affected by the criminal legal system, especially those from marginalized communities.
His scholarship has appeared in the Harvard Law Review and Yale Law & Policy Review, where he has examined topics like prison abolition and voting rights restoration. He also investigates legal frameworks related to the restoration of Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals and the social mobility of system-impacted people. A key emphasis of Angel’s research is the elevation of directly impacted individuals’ perspectives within legal discourse.
Angel holds a J.D. from the University of Miami and an LL.M. from Yale Law School. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. Prior to his doctoral studies, he served as a BJA Visiting Fellow at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, where he advised on criminal justice reform policy, including the implementation of Pell Grant Restoration for incarcerated individuals. He has also been a pivotal figure in Florida’s voting rights movement through his work with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC), a grassroots organization led by formerly incarcerated individuals, which was nominated for the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in restoring voting rights in Florida.
Drawing on both his professional expertise and personal journey within the criminal legal system, Angel’s work aims to foster transformative change that challenges inequality, strengthens democratic participation, and builds political power and agency for marginalized communities.