Destiny M. Hibbler

Destiny joined the CFSY in October of 2025. In her role, she leads research projects and coordinates implementation efforts to advance fair sentencing practices for youth. Destiny serves as an internal and external expert on judicial, legislative, and regulatory trends, developing strategic publications and resources for system stakeholders, including litigators, parole board members, judges and advocates.

Her passion for criminal legal reform for youth is deeply personal—rooted in her own experience witnessing her father’s incarceration, beginning when she was two years old and lasting throughout her teenage years. Her father had been incarcerated as a juvenile, a reality that shaped Destiny’s understanding of the profound and lasting impact of extreme sentencing on young people and their families.

Destiny earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Political Science from East Texas A&M University, where she became a proud member of the illustrious Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

She went on to earn her Juris Doctorate from Florida A&M University College of Law. During law school, Destiny gained extensive experience across the justice system, interning with the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, and clerking for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Her interest in policy and advocacy deepened during her time as a Summer Policy Associate with Planned Parenthood’s Office of General Counsel in Central Florida.

Combining her passion for policy and criminal legal reform, Destiny joined the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Justice Division as a Political Advocacy Intern. At the ACLU, she supported national campaigns focused on ending the death penalty, advancing bail reform, increasing prosecutorial transparency, and transforming probation and parole systems. She contributed to state-level legislation addressing pretextual stops in Texas and police use of force in Michigan, and her research helped launch a national campaign to reform jury practices and combat racial bias.

After law school, Destiny joined the Federal Public Defender’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, where she discovered her deep passion for post-conviction litigation. In that role, she secured significant relief for individuals serving life and extreme sentences under outdated drug laws and advocated for the humane treatment of incarcerated indivduals with serious medical conditions. Her work contributed to groundbreaking outcomes, including converting five life sentences to time served, reducing two life sentences to term-of-years imprisonment, achieving a cumulative 375-month sentence reduction across multiple additional cases, securing a sentence vacated before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and obtaining early termination of supervised release for 18 individuals.

Outside of her legal work, Destiny is the Founder of Destined to Dream, a children’s brand designed to inspire Black children to envision their futures and embrace their limitless potential through books, apparel, and events. She is also the author of Dear Little Brown Child, You Will Be Your Wildest Dream A–Z Careers, which introduces children to a wide range of career paths through affirming storytelling. Through this work, Destiny seeks to expand early career exposure and representation, helping to shape brighter futures for Black children everywhere.