Laurie Levenson is a household name as a legal commentator for high-profile, televised criminal cases. While her knowledge and passion for criminal law keeps her on speed dial for CBS, Laurie’s passion is educating and helping kids. She believes “there are no disposable people” and practices that philosophy through her Loyola Marymount Law School Innocence Project and the Girl Scout Troops she leads for homeless girls. In this episode of B.S.: Beyond Stereotypes, Laurie talks to Merle Vaughn about growing up white in Inglewood, other pivotal personal experiences, and why we all need to look in the mirror and face our stereotypes.

While in law school, Laurie Levenson was chief articles editor of the UCLA Law Review. After graduation, she served as law clerk to the Honorable James Hunter III of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 1981, she joined the United States Attorney's Office for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, where she practiced as a trial and appellate lawyer and served as Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division. Levenson joined the Loyola faculty in 1989 and served as Loyola's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 1996 to 1999. She has been a visiting professor at UCLA School of Law and USC Law School, and a D&L Straus distinguished visiting professor at Pepperdine School of Law. In 2019, she co-founded (with Judge Sandra Klein) Girl Scout Troop 1085, a troop for girls experiencing homelessness.  At Loyola, Professor Levenson is the Founding Director of the Loyola Project for the Innocent, the Loyola Center for Ethical Advocacy, and the Fidler Institute on Criminal Justice, and Senior Faculty for Loyola's Journalist Law School.