Our Team
Samuel (Nye) Winslow is Policy Counsel at DC Justice Lab. In this role, he shapes DC Justice Lab’s policy campaigns and offers legal expertise on policy issues. His work includes engaging with policymakers, drafting legislative proposals, formulating strategies to influence local legislation, organizing community members, and sharing testimony.
Nye’s career in law has been shaped by his passion for defending the rights of Black people and marginalized communities through litigation and community engagement. Prior to DC Justice Lab, Nye worked as a Legal Consultant at the NAACP’s Office of the General Counsel, where he focused on claims of racial discrimination in voting rights, policing, redistricting, and child welfare. Within this role, he conducted investigations, interviewed witnesses, issued cease and desist letters and disciplinary notices, reviewed contracts with external partners, and managed outside litigation counsel. He filed a landmark complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services regarding racial discrimination in the Minnesota child welfare system and also represented plaintiffs alleging racial discrimination in South Carolina’s process of redrawing voting districts. Notably, he represented Jackson, Mississippi residents in a case challenging state jurisdiction of criminal matters within the Capitol Complex Improvement District. As part of the case, he spoke regularly with Jackson residents about the negative consequences they faced from the racist legislation, an opportunity that reaffirmed his desire to do this type of work.
Prior to working at the NAACP, Nye worked as an Associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. While at the law firm, he gained experience in general litigation with a focus on white collar, antitrust, and complex civil matters. He also maintained an active pro bono docket focused on racial justice issues. During his time there, he joined the New York Justice Task Force to reduce racial bias in the New York state court system. He also partnered with the Manhattan District Attorney and the New York Law School Racial Justice Project to represent the family of Eric Garner and police reform advocates in a judicial inquiry regarding Garner’s death.
Nye earned his JD from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, a 2020 Public Interest Honoree, and a Staff Editor at the Human Rights Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Africana Studies from Rutgers University.
A native of New Jersey, Nye is proficient in Spanish and is a fan of FC Barcelona.