Claudette R. Spencer-Nurse – Administrative Coordinator/Legal Consultant

Ms. Spencer-Nurse was born in Brooklyn, New York. She attended Lincoln University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1971. She then went on to Temple Law School and received a Juris Doctor Degree in 1978. After graduation, she worked for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in Philadelphia working on housing and employment discrimination cases. In 1984, she moved back to New York and began working for the Legal Aid Society Prisoners Rights Project (PRP). At PRP, she worked on class action litigation challenging conditions of confinement in city and state prisons. The case that she is most proud of is Santiago v. Miles, where the federal court found that Elmira Correctional Facility had discriminated against African-American and Hispanic people in prison in jobs, housing and discipline and ordered systemic changes to remedy the discrimination. In 2001, she transferred to the Criminal Defense Division and did criminal defense work for a year before leaving Legal Aid in 2002 to go into private practice.

In 2003, Ms. Spencer-Nurse moved to Trinidad with her husband and daughter where she currently resides. In Trinidad, she attended the Hugh Wooding Law School’s six month conversion program in order to be licensed to practice law in that country. Ms. Spencer-Nurse has been a community activist for most of her life. She was active in campaigns against police brutality in Philadelphia and New York City. She is one of the co-founders of CPR.

Mark McPhee – Community Outreach Coordinator

Mark McPhee was born and raised in Harlem. While still in High School, he began taking college courses at Columbia University. After graduation, he attended the State University of New York at New Paltz and where he majored in Economics and Black Studies. Mark developed his socio-political activism while writing for his college newspaper, “The Fahari.” After graduation from college, he began working in the corporate sector at the law firm of Skadden Arps. He then moved on to working with non-profit organizations. He has worked at Acorn and Neighborhood Housing Services as a Certified Housing Counselor helping to prepare community residents for home ownership. He also worked to assure that banks were in compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act obligating them to serve low-moderate income families. He became a member of CPR while working to provide housing for men and women returning from prison.

Mark has served CPR tirelessly for several years and has been the face of CPR in the community where he networks with other criminal justice agencies. In his capacity as Community Outreach Coordinator, he hosts the monthly support group.