Cynthia Anderson Barker

Cynthia Anderson Barker began her work as an organizer, first in El Salvador as a staff member with the Lutheran Social Services and later in Los Angeles through Proyecto Pastoral, a project she helped found. It was through her organizing work that she became interested in utilizing the law toward progressive social aims and ultimately enrolled in Loyola Law School. While at Loyola she headed the school’s National Lawyers Guild chapter and, after graduation, remained a member of the guild and started work as an associate at the Working Peoples Law Center in Echo Park. Since then Cynthia has started her own law practice and specializes in lawsuits aimed at ending police misconduct and challenging inhumane conditions in prisons and jails.

She has successfully litigated cases challenging law enforcement for targeting immigrant drivers and impounding their vehicles for 30 days. Most recently she has engaged in public policy advocacy, as well as criminal defense and litigation on behalf of Los Angeles street vendors whose due process rights were violated when their property was confiscated and destroyed by law enforcement.