Sarah Carthen Watson

Sarah Carthen Watson

Sarah Carthen Watson is an experienced civil rights litigator with a background in fair housing law and policy advocacy. She serves as the Movement Lawyer for the Shriver Center on Poverty Law’s Legal Impact Network (LIN). With over 30 members, the LIN is a collective of groups from across the country that work on racial and economic justice issues. Sarah guides the network’s legal advocacy strategies and engagement with people affected by systemic oppression.

She found her passion for housing justice as a law student at Washington University in St. Louis. She started law school just after the Black Lives Matter uprising in Ferguson, Missouri. Sarah’s early legal experiences taught her that racial equity begins with the right to stable, affordable, and accessible housing.

Most recently, she served as the Legal Director for the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center. In this role, she represented clients in fair housing and eviction cases in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Previously, at the Lawyers’ Committee on Civil Rights Under Law, Sarah litigated challenges to housing discrimination and engaged in policy advocacy at the state and federal levels.

Sarah received her undergraduate degree in Social Policy and African American Studies from Northwestern University. Currently, she lives in New Orleans with her husband and fur-baby Bodie. During the pandemic, Sarah became an accomplished potter, and she recently sold her first piece. She also enjoys cooking and baking for her friends and family.