My Story

In 2009, I was arrested and charged with Resisting Arrest without Violence. I was held in the back of a police car for an extended amount of hours, and no one knew where I was. The police officers lied to my mother and told her that I was upstairs in a juvenile detention center.

At the tender age of thirteen, I stood boldly in front of a judge and told her that I will take my case to trial. After months of court, my case was dropped.

Fast forward twelve years later, I am blessed with the opportunity to be an intern with the youngest female and the youngest African American to be elected judge in the Second Judicial Circuit. Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper currently presides over the Juvenile Delinquency Division.

I went from standing in front of a judge as a juvenile to sitting beside Judge Baker-Carper .
God has a way of letting things happen the way they did to guide me to where I need to be.
I believe that my academic achievements alongside my interest in strategizing, organizing and pursuing my law degree will help me ascend to the field of civil rights and later public office.

I’m just trying to be the change that I want to see!

Marie Rattigan