About Decriminalize Developmental Disabilities

Brian Kelmar is the Executive Director and cofounder of the nonprofit Legal Reform for Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled . He is a proud father of an autistic son, and his two other sons. He has been a senior executive of large corporations as well as an entrepreneur. He is a retired Navy Commander and Naval aviator with over 500 carrier landings. As a Department of Defense Military Research Fellow, he coauthored a book, on “A Model for Leading Change”. He was recognized for his advocacy work by the ARC Of Virginia for Catalyst for Change award. He has an undergraduate degree from Penn State University, an MBA from Troy State University, doctoral studies at Nova Southeastern University, and an executive education from Harvard Business School. He is also an avid marathon and ultra-marathon runner in his spare time.

As the mother of an intellectually disabled son, Carol has worked over the years in Illinois advocating for inclusion and the right to a proper education for the
developmentally disabled.

In 2015, along with two other parents from Virginia, she co-founded Decriminalize Developmental Disabilities. Carol has worked to promote
reform in the criminal justice system for the developmentally disabled.

Carol has spoken at several symposiums and conferences regarding the subject of disabled individuals caught up on the criminal justice system and its effects on the families. She has done interviews for the Marshall Project and Reason, along with podcasts with Amplified Voices, Femsplainers and The Uplift as a two time panel member of the Women’s Leadership Roundtable. In 2020 Carol wrote a piece for the Persuasion Publication. She continues to spread the word through the media outlets regarding the dire need for change in the way the developmentally disabled are unfairly treated due to a lack of eduction and training within the criminal justice system.

Carol likes to destress by getting her hands dirty in the garden, hugging her dog and enjoying a glass of a good chardonnay.

Jude is Director of Communications and a cofounder of Decriminalize Developmental Disabilities. Before her autistic son got caught up in the criminal justice system she enjoyed being a wife and mom of two sons, self-employed working from home. She worked for over 15 years as an interior decorator, having her work featured in national publications such as Better Homes & Gardens. Jude’s own home reflects a more lived in and loved in environment.

In 2000 she went through a 3 year life coach training program. She combined her passion for decorating and life coach training together creating a niche working with women who were going through the transition of being “suddenly single”. She helped her clients design their homes to reflect and nurture them.

In 2012 Jude went through her own major life transition when her son was arrested. As their lives turned upside down she put aside her business and focused on advocating for her son. The experience led her to find other parents going through a similar nightmare. In 2018 she spoke for the first time at the Virginia General Assembly and has never stopped advocating.

Jude’s mom named her Judy but because of The Beatle’s song, Hey Jude her nickname was born. She will answer to both but prefers Jude. In addition to her work with Decriminalize Developmental Disabilities she is a certified yoga teacher and might often remind you to take good care of yourself, relax your shoulders and breathe.

Jessica S. Oppenheim, J.D., retired as the Director of the Criminal Justice Advocacy Program of The Arc of NJ, in June of 2021. CJAP is a New Jersey statewide program which provides advocacy for people with developmental disabilities who become involved in the criminal justice system. Prior to joining The Arc of NJ in 2010, she was an Assistant Prosecutor in the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and a Deputy Attorney General in the Division of Criminal Justice, Dept. of Law and Public Safety, from 1985 until 2010. In that capacity, she was Bureau Chief of the Prosecutor’s Supervision and Coordination Bureau, the unit which oversaw the 21 County Prosecutor’s Offices and 600 law enforcement agencies on behalf of the Attorney General. She also drafted and implemented the Attorney General’s Megan’s Law Guidelines, prosecuted Megan’s Law and domestic violence cases and provided training and policies and protocols for law enforcement agencies and prosecutors throughout the State on domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse, internal affairs policies, Megan’s Law and dealing with diverse populations. She is a board member for the NJ Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, and board vice president for Women Aware, Middlesex County’s domestic violence agency. The Arc of NJ and NJATSA have partnered to produce 10 webinars, The Equal Justice Talks, about people with developmental disabilities who are involved in sexually inappropriate behavior. These well received webinars have covered a wide range of issues from distinguishing paraphilia from developmental disability to working with juveniles with I/DD, who engage in sexually inappropriate behavior. She has provided training for county Crisis Intervention Team Trainings, attorneys, courts and support provider professionals about people with developmental disabilities and the criminal justice system.

Nick Dubin was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (now ASD level 1) in 2004. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Oakland University, a Master’s Degree in Learning Disabilities from the University of Detroit Mercy, and a Specialist Degree in Psychology and Psy.D. from the Michigan School of Professional Psychology. Nick had a profound speech delay where he was nonverbal until age 4, poor fine motor skills, jumped up and down and flapped his arms, was in special education from K-12, and had significant developmental delays that effected him all through his childhood and teenage years. In spite of that, he has authored many books on autism spectrum disorders including his most current one entitled Autism Spectrum Disorders, Developmental Disabilities and the Criminal Justice System. He co-wrote a peer reviewed article in 2009 with Professor Janet Graetz on how Spirituality can manifest itself in autistic people published in the journal of Religion, Disability & Health. He has co-authored two forthcoming academic book chapters with defense attorney Elizabeth Kelley that will be published in Carolina Academic Press and the Springer Publishing Company. Nick has personal involvement in the criminal justice system and knows intimately how the process works. He advocates strongly for D3’s mission and philosophy of prevention, intervention, and diversion.

Maria LaBarbera Lamb holds a BSSp. in Business and Organizational Communications from Emerson College, a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology and is a member of Mensa International.  She currently sits on the board of directors of the Autism Society of Maine and is newly appointed to the Maine Developmental Disabilities Council.  Maria switched focus from her prior career in property management and real estate when her son became unwittingly involved with the criminal justice system in 2019.  Her awesome son has encouraged her to speak out so no other family is forced to face the same heartache and challenges that her family has over the past few years.  She and her husband, Gary, moved to very rural Maine several years ago, after raising their children on Cape Cod.  Maria and Gary are the parents of two adult children, both with developmental disabilities.  When she’s not fighting for fairness and justice, Maria enjoys swimming, kayaking, ambling and dabbles in real estate investing and interior design.

Nicci T. Dowd, Ed.D. is a Marymount University alumna and an Assistant Professor for the School of Education. Dr. Dowd has worked as a Language Arts and Learning Strategies middle school and high school special education teacher. She enjoys raising awareness about community resources for students with disabilities and their families. Dr. Dowd is passionate about exploring barriers related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in education and the community. Additionally, she collaborates with community stakeholders to identify recommendations for facilitating diversity in education and the community. She has served as a board member on several boards including the Arc of Northern Virginia, the Autism Society of Northern Virginia (ASNV), and the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE).

Dr. Joette James completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, her internship at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, and a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at Children’s National Medical Center (CNMC) in Washington, DC. Dr. James is board-certified in clinical neuropsychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) and currently serves on the DC Board of Psychology. Through the Stixrud Group, Dr. James provides individualized clinical assessments for individuals of all ages with neurodevelopmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, and Intellectual Disability, as well as for individuals with acquired injuries to the brain. She also maintains a private forensic consultation and evaluation practice and has testified as an expert on the federal, state, and local level on matters including death penalty litigation (Atkins cases), juvenile life without parole, competency to stand trial, juvenile waiver/transfer, and general mitigation.

Cary Citronberg is a partner at Johnson/Citronberg, located in Alexandria, Virginia. Cary focuses his practice on criminal defense in state and federal courts. With respect to autistic individuals charged with sex offenses, he has secured several of the lowest sentences in the country at the federal level, as well as numerous outcomes at the state level involving no jail, no sex registration, the dismissal of charges or the reduction of charges to misdemeanors. Additionally, Cary has worked over the past few years to help draft legislation intended to provide more flexibility for courts and prosecutors to show mercy to autistic defendants in criminal cases. Cary is a results-driven attorney who has been recognized for his achievements by several publications including the Washingtonian, Super Lawyers, and Best Lawyers.

Russell Lehmann is an award-winning and internationally recognized thought leader, speaker, poet, and advocate contextualizing autism, mental health, disabilities, and the overall human condition. His words have been featured in the USA Today, LA Times, NPR, Yahoo! News, Success Magazine and archived in the Library of Congress.

A graduate of MIT’s “Leadership in the Digital Age” course, Russell sits on numerous boards such as the national Board of Directors for The Arc of the United States and is a lead council member for the Autism Society of America. He also serves as an advisor to NEXT for Autism and is a consultant for the US Department of Justice, restructuring our criminal justice system in a more equitable fashion for those with disabilities.

Additionally, Russell has been the Youth Ambassador for the mayor of Reno, Nevada, and a member of the Nevada Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities as well as the Nevada Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders. Russell is also a contributor for Psychology Today.

Russell showed signs of autism as a newborn, however, he was not formally diagnosed until the age of 12 after suffering through 5 weeks in a lockdown psychiatric facility.

His new book, “On the Outside Looking In” recently hit bookstores nationwide.

In 2018, Russell was named as Reno-Tahoe’s “Most Outstanding Young Professional Under 40”.

In 2019 & 2020, Russell lectured for the prestigious King’s College of London and the Mohammed bin Rashid Center for Special Education in Abu Dhabi, respectively. In 2022, Russell was invited to the Finnish Parliament to discuss government supports that are needed in Finland for individuals on the spectrum.

Named the 2022 Advocate of the Year by the Autism Society of America, Russell currently travels the world spreading hope, awareness, and compassion in a raw and dynamic fashion, while also setting his sights on erasing the stigmas and stereotypes that come with having a disability. Russell’s passion is to be a voice for the unheard, for he knows how difficult and frustrating it is to go unnoticed.