Bio
Patrick Higgins serves as Senior Policy Counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. In this role, he combines his legal training and love for good policy to advocate for impactful changes at the federal, state, and local levels. Patrick works on issues related to the ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice which is a multiyear effort to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population and combat racial disparities in the criminal legal system. He enjoys learning from and working with a dedicated team of advocates and community members to advance the mission of the ACLU of Ohio.
During his time at the ACLU of Ohio, Patrick has worked on campaigns related to pretrial fairness, driver’s license suspensions, adult-use cannabis, alternative crisis response, criminalization of poverty, and more. He enjoys leveraging his past legal work and training to bring a practical perspective to big picture policy work.
Prior to joining the ACLU of Ohio, Patrick was a legal aid attorney. He started his career as an Ohio Access to Justice Foundation Justice for All Fellow at the Ohio Poverty Law Center before joining the Legal Aid Society of Columbus as a Staff Attorney. In both roles, Patrick empowered his clients to overcome and eliminate the many barriers resulting from involvement with the criminal legal system.
Patrick received his BA from New York University and JD from the University of Cincinnati College of Law, where he was an Arthur Russell Morgan Fellow in Human Rights. As a Morgan Fellow, Patrick was part of the editorial staff for Human Rights Quarterly. When he's not working, Patrick enjoys hiking, camping, running, bluegrass music, and cheering for the Columbus Crew.
