Mercedes Maharis is the former director of Nevada CURE and co-author of the Spartacus Project Report. She began teaching meditation in the Nevada state prison system in 1997. This led to Maharis advocating for inmates’ rights and the beginnings of the Nevada chapter of CURE. They presented the Spartacus Project Report to state leaders and at the December 5, 2000 Board of Prison Commissioners meeting. She co-authored the Spartacus Project Report along with Donald Hinton, Sr., a prisoner advocate whose son was incarcerated at the Indian Springs prison.