Post-Graduate Fellow 

Jack Hathaway graduated cum laude from California Western School of Law (CWSL) in 2025, where he was a member of the school’s Competitive Advocacy Program and earned the Gordon & Holmes Oral Advocacy Award for exemplary trial skills.

Jack began working with the California Innocence Advocates in 2024 through the Innocence and Justice Clinic at CWSL where Professor Megan Baca served as interim director.  Jack continued on as a clinical extern throughout the year. His focus throughout law school was criminal law, where he gained experience at both the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and the Writs and Appeals Division of the Office of the Public Defender. These experiences in prosecution and defense deepened his commitment to advocating for individuals neglected by the justice system.

Born and raised in San Diego, Jack learned the values of perseverance and communication in a working-class family. He graduated from Gonzaga University with a double major in Criminology and Psychology, where he first studied the systemic problems in America’s prison system—issues exacerbated by the War on Drugs and the War on Terror. Influential works such as Dead Man Walking and The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison inspired him to pursue a legal career dedicated to challenging wrongful convictions and advancing justice reform.

When not working, Jack enjoys weightlifting, yoga, time by the ocean, and running games of Dungeons and Dragons.