Alicia Yass, serves as the Policy Advocacy Director. Before coming to the ACLU-DC, Alicia was Chief Counsel for the Democrats on the House of Representatives, Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. There, she led work investigating COVID origins, NIH grant processes, and NY State’s COVID response in nursing homes. Prior to that, she was Deputy Executive Director for the DC Office of Police Complaints, providing oversight and guidance to DC’s MPD and HAPD. She was previously with the American Constitution Society (ACS), leading the lawyer chapters. Alicia started her legal career as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and was co-assigned as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where she prosecuted child pornography and child sex trafficking crimes. Alicia received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from George Washington University, and her law degree from New York University School of Law. In her free time Alicia teaches barre and puts on shows with the St. Mark’s Players.
Melissa Wasser is Senior Policy Counsel at ACLU-D.C.. Prior to joining the ACLU-D.C., Melissa worked as a Policy Counsel for the Project On Government Oversight and as a Policy Analyst for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Melissa has testified before Congress on whistleblower reform and court access issues, and she has been cited in various news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, POLITICO, Bloomberg, Roll Call, Government Executive, Courthouse News Service, Law360, and the National Law Journal.
Melissa earned her J.D. from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, where she served as Technology Editor of the Ohio State Law Journal, and her M.A. in Public Policy and Management from The Ohio State University John Glenn College of Public Affairs in 2017. She earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science at Youngstown State University in 2014, where she graduated summa cum laude.
In her free time, Melissa serves on The Ohio State University Alumni Association Board of Directors, plays Pokémon Go around the DMV, and is an avid bowler, having once bowled a 300 game.
In this episode, we discuss the impact of D.C. Home Rule and the future of D.C. statehood. Host Alicia Yass, Policy Advocacy Director, is joined by Melissa Wasser, Sr. Policy Counsel, to discuss the history of Home Rule and how protecting Home Rule is protecting democracy.
Later, Yass is joined by Keya Chatterjee, Executive Director of Free DC. Here they discuss why D.C. needs Statehood, how Congress has a history of deciding the fate of D.C. and its residents, and the journey for equal representation for D.C. residents.
