EUGENE dey (he/him), pOLICY SPECIALIST
Holding a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from California State University, Sacramento, Eugene carries over a quarter-century of experience and leadership from his time with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR). In collaboration with CROP founders, he was instrumental in forming Inside Solutions, a pioneering initiative that provided a platform for long-term offenders to develop solutions to the broken systems that perpetuated mass incarceration. This work led to a cost-effective CROP program to train incarcerated people to become state-certified Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) counselors.
During his incarceration, Eugene's twin roles as a literary and litigious activist brought light to the grim realities of mass incarceration. He's credited with over 50 publications on the criminal justice system, served on the editorial board of a peer-reviewed academic journal, and has a successful track record with habeas corpus litigation. Notably, he penned the white paper "Convict Clinician", underscoring the significance of training long-term offenders as state-certified AOD counselors — this became a foundational piece for the creation of Inside Solutions and the broader CROP Organization.
Upon his 2013 release, Eugene collaborated with CROP to expand the Inside Solutions program. Backed by the Ready 4 Life curriculum and the dedication of incarcerated CROP founders, this initiative achieved the certification of over 30 long-term offenders. Many of these individuals have since achieved remarkable success within and outside the criminal justice sphere. All of the current CROP founders are graduates of this program and Ready 4 Life is the centerpiece of CROP’s current platforms.
Eugene has also been at the forefront of designing clinics addressing the needs of the reentry community. Concurrently, he's a strong voice in policy discussions that have been pivotal for significant criminal justice reforms. As a Policy Fellow with CROP, he ardently believes that those who have been involved with the justice system should play a central role in placing people over punishments and reimagining reentry in this pivotal era of American history.