Jess is the Douglas T. Kendall Fellow at the Constitutional Accountability Center.

Jess graduated cum laude in 2023 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was a Levy Scholar. While there, Jess was Comments Editor for the Journal of Constitutional Law. Her student comment—on evaluation of substantial burden in free exercise cases—will be published in that journal this fall. In addition, Jess spent a semester as the full-time legal intern for NPR Legal Affairs Correspondent Nina Totenberg, and another semester in Penn’s Legislative Clinic, working for the Senate Judiciary Committee. Jess was also Executive Director of Penn’s Youth Education Project, which provides civics education and organizes moot court competitions for Philadelphia public high school students.

Jess received her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, with High Honors in Government, and a master’s in history from Brown University. Before attending law school, Jess taught high school history for three years.