Shelby Calambokidis

Senior Counsel

Shelby Calambokidis is Senior Counsel at the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. Since joining ICAP in 2021, Shelby has litigated at all levels of both state and federal court and has practiced in nearly every one of ICAP’s issue areas. Among other work, Shelby has represented victims of police violence both on the streets and in schools; has fought to combat the criminalization of poverty in cases challenging anti-homelessness ordinances as well as the predatory collection of court debt from the indigent; has litigated a wide array of First Amendment claims, ranging from retaliation in response to lawful recording and criticizing of police officers, to challenges to laws that limit charitable bail activity, impede court transparency, and restrict speech related to abortion access; has defended gun-safety legislation; and has represented those fighting to protect immigrants, including a broad coalition of religious organizations that have challenged the rescission of DHS’s sensitive locations policy and several local law enforcement agencies that have sought to limit involvement with federal immigration enforcement.

Prior to joining ICAP, Shelby served as a law clerk to Judge Henry F. Floyd on the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and to Judge Amit P. Mehta on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.  She also served as a law fellow at the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO). While in law school, she interned at the Southern Poverty Law Center, where she worked on a federal class action challenging the provision of constitutionally inadequate medical and mental health care in Alabama’s prison system, and where she cemented her desire to pursue a career working in the public interest to defend civil rights.

Shelby received both her B.A. and J.D. summa cum laude from The University of Alabama. During law school, she earned a Certificate of Public Interest Law and served as an Executive Editor for the Alabama Law Review as well as Vice President of the Public Interest Student Board. Between college and law school, she worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer on various initiatives throughout the state of Alabama.