Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Chelsea Becker to the Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee (JJAC).

Becker, of Maple Grove, is completing her first year of law school at the University of Minnesota (U of M). She earned her bachelor of arts degree magna cum laude from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter in 2008. She was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Societies, earned the DeNault Writing Award for outstanding history paper in 2006, was on both the President’s and Dean’s Lists from 2004 to 2008, and received the Gustavus Adolphus State Scholar Award Scholarship. She is currently a U of M LexisNexis student representative, is a member of the U of M Law School’s Asylum Law Project as well as the Minnesota Justice Foundation, and has volunteered as a researcher for the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Cy Pres Handbook. She also served as a volunteer law clerk with the Immigration Clinic through Florida International University in Miami in January 2009. Becker replaces Mary Claire Picard, who resigned, as a youth member to complete a four-year term that expires on January 2, 2012.

The Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee awards grants and carries out the state plan of the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. The committee consists of 18 members appointed by the Governor.