Jeralyn (Jerri) Merritt is a nationally recognized criminal defense lawyer in Denver, CO providing highly skilled and effective legal representation to persons accused of federal and state drug and money laundering crimes, including related civil and criminal asset forfeiture proceedings.
Jerri has testified before Congress and the U.S. Sentencing Commission on marijuana laws and sentences. As a Lecturer-in-Law for six semesters at the University of Denver College of Law, she taught two courses each term, Criminal Defense Techniques and Wrongful Convictions. She has been a frequent speaker at NORML Legal Seminars in Key West and Aspen since the early 1990’s. She provided frequent legal analysis, always from the defense point of view, for more than ten years on national cable and network news channels, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Fox News, and NBC.
She is a life member, past Secretary and Treasurer and two-term board member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). She served as co-Chair of NACDL’s Legislative Committee for several years during which she authored a monthly “Legislation” column for The Champion, NACDL’s monthly magazine.
In 2007, NORML awarded Jerri its prestigious annual Al Horn Award, “in recognition of a lifetime of ceaseless work to advance the cause of justice and for their extraordinary support for NORML.” She has been a member of The NORML Foundation Board of Directors for the past several years and is grateful for the opportunity this year to serve as its President/Chair.