Marllon Sousa
SJD Program Graduate
Dr. Marllon Sousa, an SJD Graduate of American University Washington College of Law, worked on his dissertation titled, “Plea Bargaining in Brazil: [Im]proving Criminal Trials by Balancing Utilitarian Justice and the Defendants Fundamental Rights." His academic interests and professional expertise include: Criminal Procedure, Criminal Law, Comparative Criminal Procedure, Brazilian Constitutional Law, and Brazilian Election Law.
Currently, Dr. Sousa is a federal judge of the First District Circuit in Brazil. He is the main Judge of the 2nd Federal Criminal Court of the Amazonas State, which is specialized in organized crimes and money laundering cases. He has also worked as an auxiliary judge at the 3rd Section of the First Federal Circuit of Appeals, dealing with criminal appeals since 2018. He taught Criminal Procedure in a local law school until July 2016. Prior to being nominated as a federal judge, he worked as a detective at the Federal District Department of Police (Brasilia-BRA-2006) and as a procedural analyst at the District Election Court of Minas Gerais (2006-2011). He was a member of the Brazilian BAR Association from 2004 to 2006, but then went on to cancel his association in order to start working as a public servant (Executive and Judiciary Branches).
Degrees & Universities
S.J.D., American University Washington College of Law
Master of Laws, Faculdade de Direito da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais – UFMG, Belo Horizonte Brazil, 2014
Bachelor of Law, Escola de Direito da Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Brazil, 2003
Certificated Specialization (360h), Election Law and Procedure, Centro Universitário Claretiano, Brazil, 2008
Areas of Specialization
Comparative Criminal Procedural Law
Brazilian Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure
Brazilian Election Law
Languages
Portuguese (native), English (advanced) and Spanish (functional).