California Supreme Court Appoints Nisha Shah Interim Executive Director of the California Habeas Corpus Resource Center

The California Supreme Court has appointed Nisha K. Shah, deputy director of litigation at the California Habeas Corpus Resource Center (HCRC), as interim executive director of that agency effective Feb. 16.

Shah will replace Michael Hersek, the agency’s current executive director, who will step down from his position after nine years of leading that agency.

“To be able to serve the HCRC’s clients and staff in this role is an extraordinary honor. It is especially meaningful to me—a daughter of immigrants and a child of the Imperial Valley—to be the first person of color to lead the office. I am grateful to the Court for this appointment, and to my family, friends, and colleagues for their endless support. I am so proud of the creative, thoughtful, and client-centered litigation this office has done under Michael Hersek’s leadership, and I am committed to carrying that legacy forward.”

Shah has held several key positions at the Habeas Corpus Resource Center, including deputy director of litigation since 2019. Prior to her work at HCRC, she clerked for Judge Joel E. August (Ret.) of the Maui Second Circuit Court of Hawaii from 2005 to 2006. Shah earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 2005, where she later taught a criminal law ethics seminar as a lecturer-in residence from 2022 to 2024.

Under Government Code 68664, the California Supreme Court chooses the HCRC's executive director, who ensures "all matters in which the center provides representation are completed as expeditiously as possible consistent with effective representation."

The Habeas Corpus Resource Center, located in San Francisco, represents indigent individuals under sentence of death in California. Its mission is to provide, through direct representation and the recruitment and training of counsel, timely, high-quality legal representation for indigent petitioners in death penalty habeas corpus proceedings.