Christina Mathieson is the founder and executive director of the National Habeas Institute, a non-profit dedicated to improving the quality of representation for anyone seeking relief under a writ of habeas corpus. She is an Adjunct Professor for Georgetown’s Habeas Corpus Post Conviction Practicum, a project-based course designed to provide students with the practical skills necessary to effectively represent clients who wish to challenge the constitutionality of their confinement. Professor Mathieson views each case holistically—examining the case through the lens of the client’s background, the client’s future, and societal factors—to understand and explain the humanity of each client to the courts and the public.

Before founding NHI, Professor Mathieson practiced capital habeas litigation. She worked with Professor Olson-Gault at the American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project, where Professor Mathieson led the ABA’s systemic litigation efforts to improve death row prisoners’ access to quality lawyers. Prior to her work at the ABA, Professor Mathieson worked as a capital defender in Georgia and Florida. Over the course of Professor Mathieson’s career, she has assisted clients at all levels of habeas representation and was on the frontline of litigation regarding lethal injection, mental illness, intellectual disability, and stays of execution.

Professor Mathieson graduated with a joint degree in Law and Theology from Emory University School of Law and Candler School of Theology in 2007. She has a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vanderbilt University School of Engineering.