I teach and research about the institutions of criminal adjudication, especially the offices of prosecutors and publicly-funded defense attorneys. I am interested in how these institutions respond to the legal tools available to them (especially sentencing guidelines) and how they respond to other environmental pressures (especially the harsh reality of limited funding).
Law and Society
The Worldwide Accountability Deficit for Criminal Prosecutors (with Marc L. Miller), Washington and Lee Law Review (2011)
In democratic governments committed to the rule of law, prosecutors should be accountable to the...
Public Defender Elections and Public Control of Criminal Justice, Missouri Law Review (2010)
Voters in the United States select some of the major actors in criminal justice, but...
How Prosecutor Elections Fail Us, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law (2009)
There are several methods for holding prosecutors accountable in this country. Judges enforce a few...
The Black Box (with Marc L. Miller), Iowa Law Review (2008)
Classic accounts of prosecutorial discretion, from Herbert Wechsler through the present day, portray charging discretion...
Systematic Content Analysis of Judicial Opinions (with Mark A. Hall), California Law Review (2007)
Our article traces the use of “content analysis” — a standard research technique in political...
Criminal Justice
The Worldwide Accountability Deficit for Criminal Prosecutors (with Marc L. Miller), Washington and Lee Law Review (2011)
In democratic governments committed to the rule of law, prosecutors should be accountable to the...
Public Defender Elections and Public Control of Criminal Justice, Missouri Law Review (2010)
Voters in the United States select some of the major actors in criminal justice, but...
How Prosecutor Elections Fail Us, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law (2009)
There are several methods for holding prosecutors accountable in this country. Judges enforce a few...
Charge Movement and Theories of Prosecutors (with Rodney L. Engen), Marquette Law Review (2008)
The charges filed at the start of a criminal case often move down to less...
Dead Wrong (with Marc L. Miller), Utah Law Review (2008)
DNA-driven exonerations offer many lessons for police, for prosecutors, and for legislatures. Many scholars have...
Criminal Law and Procedure
Mercenary Criminal Justice (with Wayne A. Logan), ExpressO (2013)
Lately, a growing number of bill collectors stand in line to collect on the debt...