Cynthia is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of Kentucky. Her current research explores judicial behavior in comparative perspective, focusing on how political violence and media attention influence Supreme Court decision-making. She is particularly interested in high-salience cases—those that draw significant public and media scrutiny—and how these external pressures affect both judicial conduct and perceptions of court legitimacy. Her work compares the U.S. Supreme Court and Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (Supremo Tribunal Federal).

Originally from Belém do Pará, Brazil, Cynthia received her J.D. from the Federal University of Pará in 2016 and passed the bar examination that same year. She earned her M.A. in Law (summa cum laude) in 2020, with a focus on Human Rights and Labor Law. Before entering the Ph.D. program, she practiced law for 8 years, taught labor law, and worked with unions and small businesses—experiences that continue to inform her research on institutions, rights, and representation. She is the founding partner of Campello Brasil Advocacia, a law firm headquartered in Belém, Pará, Brazil, with more than nine years of experience in civil and labor litigation.