LISA L. MILLER
March 2023
______________________________________________________________________________
Department of Political Science miller[at]polisci.rutgers.edu
Rutgers University www.lisalmiller.com
89 George Street 848.932.9382
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1411
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Professor, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2016-present.
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2016.
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2004-2008.
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice, 2000-2004
Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science, 2000-2004
Pennsylvania State University, 2000-2004.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Government
University of Puget Sound, 1999-2000.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Washington, 1999
M.A. University of Washington, 1994
B.A. Political and Social Thought, University of Virginia, 1987
FELLOWSHIPS
John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Politics, Rothermere American Institute
University of Oxford, 2015-16.
Visiting Research Scholar, Program in Law and Public Affairs
Princeton University, 2012-2013.
Visiting Fellow, All Souls College
University of Oxford, 2011-2012.
ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Faculty Director, Lloyd Gardner Fellowship in Leadership and Social Policy, Rutgers University, 2017-2022.
Acting Graduate Program Director, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University,
Spring 2019, Spring 2017.
Acting Director of Undergraduate Studies, Program in Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Spring 2015.
Program Director, Law, Justice and Society Fellowship, Rutgers University, 2009-2012.
Acting Director, Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University, 2009-2010.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics.
2016. New York: Oxford University Press.
The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty and the Politics of Crime Control.
2008. New York: Oxford University Press.
The Politics of Community Crime Prevention: Implementing Weed and Seed in Seattle.
2001. Burlington, VT: Dartmouth/Ashgate Press. Law, Justice and Power Series.
Edited volumes
Theoretical Criminology: Special Issue on the State of the State 41(4). November 2017. With Vanessa Barker, co-editor.
Journal articles (peer-reviewed)
Miller, Lisa L. 2023. “Checks and Balances, Veto Points, and Constitutional Folk Wisdom.” Political Research Quarterly forthcoming.
Johnson, Richard and Lisa L. Miller. 2022. “The Conservative Policy Bias of Senate Malapportionment.” PS: Political Science and Politics 56(1): 10-17.
Miller, Lisa L. 2021. “Racialized Anti-Statism and the Failure of the American State.” The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 6(1): 120-143.
Miller, Lisa L. 2018. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14: 381-396. Translated into Burmese.
Miller, Lisa L. 2015. “What’s Violence Got to Do With It? Inequality, punishment and state failure in American politics.” Punishment and Society 17(2): 184-210.
Miller, Lisa L. 2014. “Racialized State Failure and the Violent Death of Michael Brown.” Theory and Event 17(3), Supplement.
Miller, Lisa L. 2013. “Power to the People: Violent Victimization, Inequality and Democratic Politics.” Theoretical Criminology 17(3): 283-313.
Miller, Lisa L. 2011. “The Local and the Legal: American federalism and its implications for the carceral state.” Criminology and Public Policy: Mass Incarceration 10(3): 725-732.
Miller, Lisa L. 2010. “The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Racial Inequality in Criminal Justice.” Law and Society Review 44 (3/4): 805-842.
Miller, Lisa L. 2007. “The Representational Biases of Federalism: scope and bias in the political process, revisited.” Perspectives on Politics 5:2: 305-321.
Miller, Lisa L. and James Eisenstein. 2005. “The Federal/state criminal prosecution nexus: a case study in cooperation and discretion.” Law and Social Inquiry 30 (2): 239-268.
Miller, Lisa L. 2005. “Re-thinking bureaucrats in the policy process: criminal justice agents and the national crime agenda.” Policy Studies Journal 32 (4): 569-588.
Silver, Eric and Lisa L. Miller. 2004. “Sources of informal social control in Chicago neighborhoods.” Criminology 42: 551-583.
Silver, Eric and Lisa L. Miller. 2002. “A Cautionary note on the use of actuarial risk assessments tools for social control,” Crime and Delinquency 48: 138-161.
Miller, Lisa L. 2001. “Looking for postmodernism in all the wrong places: Implementing a new penology.” British Journal of Criminology 41: 168-184.
Miller, Lisa L. “Taking it to the streets: reframing crime prevention through race and community.” 2000. Studies in Law, Politics and Society 20, 207-238.
Berliner, Lucy, Donna Schram, Lisa L. Miller, and Cheryl Darling Milloy. 1995. “A Sentencing Alternative for Sex Offenders: A Study of Decision-Making and Recidivism.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 10(4):487-502.
Special Issues, Book Chapters, and Review Essays
Miller, Lisa L. 2022. “Up from Federalism: Danielle Allen’s Democracy in the Time of Corona Virus and Jacob Grumbach’s Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics, Boston Review, July 2022. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/up-from-federalism/
Miller, Lisa L. 2020. “American Exceptionalism or Exceptionalism of the Americas? The Politics of Lethal Violence, Punishment and Inequality.” In Lacey, Nicola, David Soskice, Leonidas K. Cheliotis, Sappho Xenakis, eds., Tracing the Relationship Between Inequality, Crime and Punishment: Space, Time, and Politics. London: The British Academy, Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2019. “Amending Constitutional Myths.” 67 Drake University Law Review 101-127.
Miller, Lisa L. 2018. “Making the State Pay: Violence and the Politicization of Crime in Comparative Perspective.” In Kevin Reitz (ed), American Exceptionalism in Imprisonment. New York: Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2018. “Review symposium: The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics.” With Insa Koch, Tim Newburn, Richard Sparks, and Vanessa Barker (coordinator), and a response by Miller. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 57(1): 124-134.
Threadcraft, Shatema and Lisa L. Miller. 2017. “Black Women, Victimization, and the Limits of the Liberal State.” Theoretical Criminology: Special Issue 41(4): 478-493.
Miller, Lisa L. 2016. “Violent crime, constitutional frameworks, and mass publics.” In Dzur, Albert, Ian Loader and Richard Sparks eds. Democratic Theory and Mass Incarceration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2016. “Crime, Punishment and Urban Governance in Contemporary American Politics.” In Amy Bridges and Michael Fortner, eds. Urban Citizenship and American Democracy: The Historical and Institutional Roots of Local Politics and Policy. SUNY Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2016. “Response to Paul Hirschfield.” Sociological Forum 31(1).
Miller, Lisa L. 2014. “The (Dys)Functions of American Federalism.” Tulsa Law Review 49(2): 267-278.
Miller, Lisa L. and Kevin Woznial. 2013. “Criminology and Political Science.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Criminology. Ed. Richard Wright. New York: Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. and William T. Lyons. 2012. “Putting Politics in its Place: Reflections on Political Criminology, Immigration and Crime.” In Austin D. Sarat, ed. The Legacy of Stuart Scheingold, Special Issue of Studies in Law, Politics and Society 59: 123-154.
Book reviews (all sole authored)
Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration. Rachel Elise Barkow. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.
Reviewed in Current History 118(811): 325-327, 2019.
Nordic Nationalism and Penal Order: Walling the Welfare State. Vanessa Barker. New York: Routledge 2018.
Reviewed in Punishment and Society 23(1): 139-142, 2020
Prison Break: Why Conservatives Turned Against Mass Incarceration. David Dagan and Steve Teles. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. Vol. 27(4): 67-72, 2017.
Solitary Confinement: Social Death and its Afterlives. Lisa Guenther. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.
Reviewed in Perspectives on Politics 13(4): 1126-1128, 2015.
The Politics of Imprisonment: How the Democratic Process Shapes the Way America Punishes Offenders. Vanessa Barker. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. Vol. 21 No. 4, April, 2011.
Race to Injustice: Lessons Learned from the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case. Michael L. Seigel (ed). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 19, No. 8, August 2009.
Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do About It. Mindy Thompson Fullilove. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.
Reviewed in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 30 (5), 985-989. October 2005.
Imprisoning America: The Social Effects of Mass Incarceration. Edited by Mary Pattillo, David Weiman and Bruce Western. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004.
Reviewed in the Journal of Politics 67 (3), 943-44. August 2005.
Deviant Knowledge: Criminology, Politics and Public Policy by Reese Walters. 2003. Portland, OR: Willan Publishing.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 14, No. 11, November 2004.
Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration by Marc Mauer and Meda Chesney-Lind (Editors). 2002. New York: The New Press.
Reviewed in Punishment and Society 6 (4), 458-161. October 2004.
Crime Control and Community: The New Politics of Public Safety by Gordon Hughes and Adam Edwards (Editors). 2002.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 12, No. 11, November 2002.
RESEARCH GRANTS AND AWARDS
Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence, Rutgers University, 2008.
National Science Foundation Research Award. Jim Eisenstein, John Kramer, Jeff Ulmer and Lisa L. Miller, co-principal investigators. “Uncharted Territory: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Inter-District Variation in the Federal Court System,” 2001-2003.
Research Award, Research and Graduate Studies Office, The Pennsylvania State University. “Federalism, Crime Politics and the Political Representation of Urban Neighborhoods,” 2001.
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
“Deal with It! Democracy, Violent Crime, and State Responsiveness.” Conference on Crime, Politics and Citizenship, University of Sheffield, April 11-12, 2017.
“American exceptionalism? Race, crime and democracy in the United States.”
John G. Winant Inaugural Lecture, Rothermere American Institute
University of Oxford, February 24, 2016.
COMMENTARY/MEDIA
“Abolishing the Police Won’t Solve Violent Crime but Neither Will the Carceral State,” Rising, The Hill, December 27, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhilQtcTyX8
“Taking Violence and Government Seriously,” Niskanen Center, December 6, 2022. https://www.niskanencenter.org/taking-violence-and-government-seriously/
“Heat: What’s rising crime doing to American politics?” July 17, 2022 (interview by Michael Bluhm) The Signal. https://www.thesgnl.com/2022/06/violent-crime-midterm-elections-us-lisa-miller/
“Fear Factor: How is rising violence affecting U.S. politics?” An interview with Lisa L. Miller, February 11, 2022 (by Graham Vyse), The Signal. https://www.thesgnl.com/2022/02/violent-crime-politics-us-lisa-miller/
“Murders Spiked in 2020: How will that change the politics of crime?” A FiveThirtyEight Chat, October 6, 2021. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/murders-spiked-in-2020-how-will-that-change-the-politics-of-crime/
“Homicide Impunity, Human Rights, and State Failure.” Niskanen Center Webinar, September 24, 2021. With Wesley Lowery, Roxanna Altholz, Jeff Asher, and Michael Javen Fortner. https://www.niskanencenter.org/webinar-homicide-impunity-human-rights-and-state-failure/
“The U.S. Presidential Election of 2020: Consequences and Prospects.” Mile End Institute Podcast, January 20, 2021. Queen Mary College, University of London. https://anchor.fm/mile-end-institute/episodes/The-US-Presidential-Election-of-2020-Consequences-and-Prospects-ep6aq6
“Race, Violence, and the Failed American State.” Scarlet Speakers in the Heart of your Home, Rutgers University on-line lecture, June 30, 2020. https://sas.rutgers.edu/news-a-events/events/events/past-events/3278-scarlet-speakers-in-the-heart-of-your-home-with-lisa-miller
“Federalism is Unlikely to Save Progressive Politics,” Law and Political Economy blog, July 11, 2019. https://lpeblog.org/2019/07/11/federalism-is-unlikely-to-save-progressive-politics/
“Mob Rule,” Roundtable with David Foster, TRT World TV, January 15, 2019.
“Calling a Fascist a Fascist,” Lawyers, Guns and Money, August 17, 2017. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/08/calling-fascist-fascist
“It’s Time to Talk about Power, Part II” March 1, 2017. OUPBlog, Oxford University Press.
https://blog.oup.com/2017/03/healthcare-reform-obamacare-checks-balances
“It’s Time to Talk about Power, Part I,” February 17, 2017. OUPBlog, Oxford University Press.
https://blog.oup.com/2017/02/electoral-college-checks-balances
“Black Activists Don’t Ignore Crime,” Op-Ed, New York Times Op-Ed, August 6, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/opinion/black-activists-dont-ignore-crime.html?_r=0
“Gun Control Failed in the senate. But it wasn’t a fair vote.” The Guardian Opinion. June 21, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/21/gun-control-reforms-senate-vote-not-fair-republican-congress
“Tyranny of the Losers and the Politics of Gun Control.” Lawyers, Guns and Money. June 16, 2016. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/06/tyranny-of-the-losers-and-the-politics-of-gun-control
“Race, violence and the failure of the American state.” Discover Society, Issue 33, June 1, 2016.
http://discoversociety.org/2016/06/01/race-violence-and-the-failure-of-the-american-state/
“Crime and Punishment in Post-War Britain: “Mob Rule” as Democratic Corrective.” London School of Economics, British Politics and Policy Blog, January 21, 2016.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/crime-and-punishment-in-post-war-britain-mob-rule-as-democratic-corrective/
“Reforming police and prisons will not save us,” Rethinking Ferguson Workshop Blog posts, Balkinzation, August 2015.
http://balkin.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/reforming-police-and-prisons-will-not.html
“Violence and the Racialized Failure of the American State.” Guest Post, Lawyers, Guns and Money, December 14, 2014.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2014/12/violence-racialized-failure-american-state-guest-post-lisa-m-miller
“(Mis)Understanding American Politics: Constitutions, Collective Action, Competition, Quiescence,” Policy Brief, Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, August 2012. https://www.fljs.org/uploads/documents/Miller-federalism.pdf
“Mass Incarceration.” With Todd Clear, Ebru TV, December 21st, 2010.
“Opposition or Coalition? Courts and the Political Process in Times of Crisis.” Policy Brief. Foundation for Law, Justice and Society. Oxford University. November 2008. http://www.fljs.org/section.aspx?id=2875
“Too Little Too Late: The Supreme Court as a Check on Executive Power.” Commentary: Foreign Policy in Focus. February 17, 2006. http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3117
Forum: “What are the opportunities and difficulties in using qualitative data to study the Federal criminal justice system?” 2003. Law and Courts, Newsletter of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. With James Eisenstein, Matthew Holden, Jr., Donald K. Stern, Todd Lochner, Daniel Krislov, Richard T. Boylan, Andrew B. Whitford, and Daniel Richman.
INVITED LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS
“American Exceptionalism or Exceptionalism of the Americas: The Politics of Lethal Violence Punishment, and Inequality.” Inaugural presentation of the Workshop Series on The Social Analysis of Penality Across Borders, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and the Crime and Society Program of the National University of Litoral (Argentina), September 28, 2021 (virtual).
“The Politics of Crime and Punishment: Three lectures.” Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina. July 30-Aug 1, 2019.
“The Tragedy of American Politics,” Symposium: Is it time to amend the Constitution? Drake University Law School, Des Moines, Iowa, April 13, 2019.
“Constitutional Myths,” Rutgers University Law School, Camden, NJ, March 25, 2019.
“Constitutional Myths and Political Power,” Temple University Law School, Philadelphia, November 8th, 2018.
“Racial Inequality and Failed States.” James Weldon Johnson Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Oct 1, 2018.
“The Myth of Mob Rule,” Drexel University School of Law, Philadelphia, September 28, 2018.
Author Meets Reader Session for The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics.
Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 30-Sept 1, 2018, Boston. Readers: Mark Graber, Heather Schoenfeld, David Dagan, Amy Lerman.
Annual Meetings of the American Association of Criminology, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia. Readers: Peter Enns, Frank Baumgartner, Peter Ramsey, convened by Steve Farrall.
Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 2017, Mexico City. Readers: Chuck Epp, Megan Ming Francis, Insa Koch, Naomi Murakawa, Tim Newburn, Richard Sparks, convened by Vanessa Barker.
“What’s Violence got to do with it? Inequality, Punishment, and Racialized State Failure in U.S. Politics.” Villanova Law School, Philadelphia, January 31, 2018.
“Lethal Violence as Political Outcome: Racialized disadvantage, inequality, and the politics of state-building.” Tracing the Relationship between Crime, Inequality, and Punishment. British Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, London, December 7-8, 2017.
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” New York University, Department of Sociology, New York, March 10, 2017
“Crime, Punishment, and the Racialized Failure of the American State.” Prison Justice Initiative, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., November 30, 2016
“Crime, Punishment, and the Racialized Failure of the American State.” Workshop on American Punishment, New York University, New York, October 27-28, 2016
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” Center for the Study of Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley, CA, October 17, 2016
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” Cornell University, Department of Political Science, Ithaca, NY, September 30, 2016
“Police Violence and Racialized State Failure.” Police Actions and Citizen Mobilization in Democratic Societies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 21-22, 2016
The Democratic Deficit in American Politics: A Symposium on Lisa L. Miller’s The Myth of Mob Rule: Violence crime and democratic politics. Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, England. February 24-25, 2016.
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” London School of Economics, Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London, England, March 9, 2016
“Violence, mass imprisonment and the racialized failure of the American state.” Black Politics in Color-blind Era.” Nuffield College and the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, December 9-10, 2015.
“The Myth of Mob Rule,” University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, October 17, 2015
“What’s the Matter with American Politics?” American Political Economy in Comparative Perspective conference. Paul Pierson and Kathleen Thelen, co-organizers. MIT, Boston, MA, May 8-9, 2015.
“Mass incarceration as racialized state failure.” American Politics Research Workshop. Department of Political Science. University of California, Berkeley. November 25, 2014.
“What’s violence got to do with it?” Emerging Trends Series, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ January 29, 2014.
Author Meets Reader sessions for The Perils of Federalism:
Annual Meetings of the Social Science History Association, Convener and Chair: Michael Fortner, Discussants: Christopher Mueller, Eric Schneider, Michael Dawson. November 23, 2013, Chicago, IL.
Annual Meetings of the American Association of Law Schools, “The Good, the Bad and the Local: The Changing Face of Federalism in Criminal Justice.” Panel discussion on Lisa L. Miller’s The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty and the Politics of Crime Control. Convener: Tracey L. Meares, with Daniel C. Richman, and Jennifer M. Chacon, January 6th, 2011. San Francisco, CA.
Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 2nd, 2010. Chair: Naomi Murakawa, Discussants: Paul Frymer, Vesla Weaver, Michael Owens. Washington, D.C.
Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 4, 2009. Discussants: Jim Jacobs, Geoff Ward, Franklin Zimring. Philadelphia, PA.
“Multi-level governance and interest group representation: Cautionary tales from the U.S.” Summer School on Interest Groups and Agenda-Setting in Multi-Level Systems of Governance.
Institut Barcelona Estudis Internacionals, IBEI. Barcelona, Spain. July 5, 2013.
“The Promises and Pitfalls of Multi-level Governance: Lessons from the US.” Policing and Governance in Multi-level Societies. University of Oxford, Oxford, England. June 14, 2013.
“Violence and the politicization of crime in comparative perspective.” Conference on American Exceptionalism in Crime and Punishment, Robina Institute, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN, April 25-27, 2013
“What’s the Matter with ‘Our Federalism?’ On Constitutions, Collective Action, Competition and Quiescence.” Department of Politics, University of Texas, Austin, TX, March 18, 2013.
“What’s the Matter with ‘Our Federalism?’ On Constitutions, Collective Action, Competition and Quiescence.” Program in Law and Public Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, November 12, 2012.
“Making the State Pay: Race and the politicization of crime in comparative perspective.” Symposium on the Politics of Immigration, Race and Ethnicity. Yale University, October 12, 2012.
“The Comparative Politics of Violence,” Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, Brown Bag Series, May 28, 2012.
“Should the Mob Rule? Democracy and the Politics of Punishment,” University of Edinburgh School of Law, May 16, 2012.
“(Mis)Understanding American Federalism: On Collective Action, Competition and Quiescence.” The Promise and Pitfalls of Federalism: Constitution-making in the 21st Century.” Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, 20 April 2012.
“In Defense of Mob Rule: Violence, Inequality and Comparative Constitutionalism.” Institute for Comparative Public Policy, University of Manchester, March 21, 2012.
“Power to the People: Violence, Inequality and Democratic Politics,” Centre for Criminology Lecture Series, All Souls College, University of Oxford, February 2, 2012.
“Violence, Inequality and Criminal Punishment.” All Souls College, Visiting Fellows Colloquium Series. November 8, 2011, University of Oxford.
“Punishment as Urban Experience.” Seminar on the City: American Government as Urban Government, Drexel University, June 13th, 2011.
“Inequality, Race and American Federalism,” Rutgers University School of Law – Newark. April 20th, 2011.
“Racial Constitutionalism and American Democracy,” The University of Chicago Law and Political Theory Group, University of Chicago Law School, April 5th, 2011.
“Tea Party Politics Redux: Racial Constitutionalism and the Tragedy of American Democracy,” Sawyer Seminar in Law and Politics, Syracuse University. March 4th, 2011.
“Power to the People: American Democracy, Racial Inequality and Criminal Punishment.” Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University, October 26, 2010.
“Competition and Cooperation,” Panel discussion. Allocating Prosecutorial Power: How Prosecutors Compete, Cooperate and Clash. The Prosecution Center, New York University Law School, April 23, 2010.
“The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Inequality in Criminal Justice.” University of Pennsylvania American Politics Workshop, February 4th, 2010.
“Black Invisibility in American Criminal Justice.” Princeton Criminal Justice Working Group, Princeton University. September 30, 2009.
“Black Invisibility: Race, Punishment and American Federalism.” Symposium on The Problem of Punishment, Carter G. Woodson Institute, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, April 16-18, 2009.
“Black Invisibility and Racial Injustice: Politics and Punishment under U.S. Federalism.” Hoffinger Criminal Justice Colloquium. New York University Law School. November 24, 2008.
“The Invisible Black Victim: Race, Punishment and American Federalism.” Emerging Trends Series, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University. November 11, 2008.
“Between Privilege and Poverty: Perspectives on New Jersey Disparities.” Panel Participant, Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University, October 24, 2008.
“Can We Trust the Courts in Times of Crisis?” Aspen Institute, Justice and Society Program. Aspen Institute, Aspen, Colorado. July 7-9, 2008.
“The Politics of (In)Justice and the Pitfalls of Federalism: Moving Beyond a National Civil Rights Strategy through Local Crime Politics,” Paradoxes of Race, Law and Inequality Conference, co-sponsored by the Law and Society Review and the Center for Law, Society and Culture at the University of California, Irvine, May 2-3, 2008.
“Criminal Differences: the Role of Race & Ethnicity in Detention, Juvenile Court, and American Justice.” Roundtable discussion sponsored by the Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University, October 26, 2007.
“The Mobilization of Bias in the Criminal Justice Policy Process,” January 12th, 2005, Master Session at the Institute for Qualitative Research Methods, Arizona State University, January 3-14th, 2005.
“Urban Minorities, Civic Engagement and the Politics of Public Safety.” Color Lines Conference, Harvard University Civil Rights Project. Cambridge, MA, August 31st – September 2st, 2003.
“The High-Cost of Symbolic Politics,” paper presented in annual colloquia sponsored by the Center for Research on Crime and Justice, Penn State University, January 15, 2001.
“The Politics of Law and Order: Towards a Cultural Analysis of Law and Politics, The Scheingold Legacy.” Panel discussant. Conference event honoring Stuart A. Scheingold. Co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Comparative Law and Society Studies Center at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. December 2, 2000.
SELECT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PARTICIPATION
“The Enduring Power of States’ Rights.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Montreal, September 14-18, 2022.
Discussant, Annual Conference on Justice and Injustice: Political Science Perspectives on Crime and Criminal Justice. Institute for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, August 5, 2022.
“The Myth of Checks and Balances.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Lisbon, Portugal, July 13-16, 2022.
Chair, The Constitution and American Political Development. Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings, Chicago, April 7-10, 2022.
“Checks and balances and American veto points.” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings, Chicago, April 7-10, 2022.
“Constitutional folk wisdom and the Anti-Democratic Politics of the American Right.” Oxford-Stanford Conference on the Changing Character of the American Right, September 21-23, 2021 [virtual].
“The Long Civil War: Lethal violence and failed state-building in the United States.” European Society of Criminology Annual Meetings, September 7-10, 2021 [virtual]
“Checks and balances, veto points, and American constitutional folk wisdom.” First Annual American Political Economy Research Conference, August 2-4, 2021 [virtual]
“The Long Civil War: Lethal Violence and the Failure of U.S. State-Building.” Annual Meetings of the European Society of Criminology, September 7-10, 2021. [virtual]
“Checks and balances, veto points, and American constitutional folk wisdom.” First Annual conference on American Political Economy, August 2-4, 2021 [virtual].
Discussant, Punishment in Global Peripheries: Contemporary Changes and Historical Continuities. Centre for Criminology, Oxford University, June 23-25, 2021 [virtual]
“Coming Apart at the (Already Frayed) Seams: Crime, Criminal Justice, and the Failure of the American State.” Vanderbilt University Law School, Criminal Justice Roundtable, November 6-7, 2020 [virtual]
“States’ Rights, Limited Government, and the Constitutional Refuge of American Right-Wing Politics.” Oxford Stanford Conference on The Changing Character of the American Right, October 19, 2020. [virtual]
Discussant and Chair, Author-Meets-Reader, Hannah Walker’s Mobilized by Injustice, Criminal Justice Mini-Conference, September 10-11, 2020 [virtual]
“Checks and Balances and Other Myths of American Politics.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 10-13, 2020. San Francisco, CA [virtual]
“Checks and Balances and Other Constitutional Myths.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, May 28-31, 2020, Denver, Colorado [virtual]
“Exceptionalism of the Americas: Colonialism, Slavery, and the Political Origins of Lethal Violence,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 29 – September 1, 2019, Washington, D.C.
“Colonialism, Slavery, and the Politics of Lethal Violence,” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, May 30 – June 2, 2019, Washington D.C.
Chair, Author Meets Reader, Race and the Politics of Mass Incarceration, Heather Schoenfeld. Readers: Vesla Weaver, Alison McKim, Robert Lieberman. Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Washington D.C., May 30 – June 2, 2019.
Roundtable on Critical Perspectives on the Carceral State, with Timothy Weaver and Rebecca Thorpe. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, Aug 30-Sept 1, 2018,
Lunchtime panel on crime and punishment scholarship in political science, Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, mini conference on political science perspectives on justice and injustice, August 30, 2018.
“Violence, Punishment and the Racialized American State: Or, everything I know about American constitutionalism I learned from studying crime.” Con Law Schmooze, University of Maryland, March 1-2, 2018.
“The Real Politik of Crime and Punishment.” Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia, PA.
Chair, Author Meets Reader for Frank Baumgartner, Marty Davidson, Kaneesha R. Johnson, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Colin P. Wilson, Deadly Justice: A Statistical Portrait of the Death Penalty. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia, PA.
“Violence, State Failure, and the (Il)Legitimacy of Law in the Americas.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31-September 4, 2017, San Francisco, CA.
Discussant and Chair, The Carceral State, The Police and The Politics of Disparity. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31-September 4, 2017, San Francisco, CA.
“Race, Violence, and the Failure of the American Constitution.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
Discussant, “Punishment and Democratic Politic: Theoretical and methodological issues.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
Discussant, “Penal Sub-phenomena in the United States: Theorizing Penal Change from the Ground Up.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
Reader, Author Meets Reader, Daniel LaChance, Executing Freedom: The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment. Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
“Violence, mass imprisonment and the racialized failure of the American state.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
Chair and discussant, “Critical Perspectives on Imprisonment in the U.S.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
“Back to Basics: Constitutions for Ordinary People.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the International Conference on Public Law, June 17-20, 2016. Berlin, Germany.
“Constitutions and Everyday Politics.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, May 28-31, 2015. Seattle, WA.
“The Long Shadow of Watts: Violence, policing and the persistence of Black inequality.” Organizer and participant in roundtable at the Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University. April 29, 2015.
“Mass incarceration as state failure.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 28-31, 2014. Washington, D.C.
Chair and discussant, Panel on Gun Policy in the U.S. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 28-31, 2014. Washington, D.C.
“Whither the riots? The public and political salience of crime in the U.K.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Comparative Agendas Conference, Konstanz, Germany. June 12-14, 2014.
“What’s violence got to do with it? Race, inequality and criminal punishment in American politics.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, WI. May 29-31, 2014.
“Blaming the Victim? Socio-legal scholarship, victims’ rights and political mobilization around crime.” With Josh Eaise. Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, WI. May 29-31, 2014.
“Law, Order and State Failure in American Politics,” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Western Political Science Association, Seattle, WA April 17-20, 2014.
“What’s violence got to do with it?” Comparative Agendas Project conference, 27-29 June, 2013. Antwerp, Belgium.
“Law and Order Politics in Cross-National Perspective” Annual Meetings of the Council of European Studies. 25-28 June, 2013. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Discussant and chair, The Micro-Politics of Mass Incarceration. Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Boston, MA, May 31-June 2, 2013.
“Back to Basics: Constitutionalism for Ordinary People.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Boston, MA, May 31-June 2, 2013.
Critic, Author-meets-critic, David Garland’s Peculiar Institution, British Society of Criminology, Portsmouth, England, 5 July 2012.
“Making the State Pay: Comparative Policy Agendas on Violence and Punishment.” Comparative Agendas Project Conference. 14-16 June, 2012, Reims, France.
“Putting Politics in its Place: Immigration, Crime and Political Criminology.” With Bill Lyons. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association. San Francisco, CA, June 1-4th, 2011.
Moderator and convener, Authors-Meet-Critics, Dario Melossi’s Controlling Crime, Controlling Society and Loic Wacquant’s Punishing the Poor. With Jonathan Simon and Alessandro DeGiogi. American Society of Criminology Annual Meetings, Philadelphia, November 6, 2009
“Finding Their Punitive Best: Crime Policy, Politics and Race Across the American States.” With Naomi Murakawa. Paper Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Toronto, September 2-5, 2009.
“The Invisible Man: Race, Crime and Federalism.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL. April 2-5th, 2009.
Session Chair, “Defining, Framing, and Reconceptualizing Race: Policy Adoption and Policy Outcomes. the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL. April 2-5th, 2009.
Session Co-chair. “Crime, Policy and Politics in Comparative Perspective.” Annual Meetings of the European Society of Criminology Meetings. Edinburgh, Scotland. September 2-September 5, 2008.
“The Politics of Punishment: An Institutional Approach.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the European Society of Criminology Meetings. Edinburgh, Scotland. September 2-September 5, 2008.
“The Face of the Innocence Frame: Media, Race and Death Penalty Exonerations.” With Regina Lawrence. Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA. August 27-August 30, 2008.
Panel Chair, “Spillover Effects and Policy Linkages across Issues and Levels of the Federal System.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA. August 27-August 30, 2008.
“The Politics of (In)Justice and the Pitfalls of Federalism: Moving Beyond a National Civil Rights Strategy Through Local Politics.” The Paradoxes of Race, Law and Inequality in the United States, University of California, Irvine. May 2-3rd, 2008.
“Who is Federalism For: Liberals, Conservatives, Everyone or Political Losers?” Panel participant, Association of American Law Schools, New York, NY. January 2008.
“Going Local: Measuring Political Participation and Mobilization in Urban Settings.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. August 30-September 2, 2007.
“Legislative Activism, Populism and Racial Politics: What Explains Variation in State Crime Policies?” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. August 30-September 2, 2007.
“De-mobilizing Citizens: Interest Groups in State and Local Crime Politics.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings on the Midwest Political Science Association Meetings, April 12-14th, 2007.
Discussant, “Dark Prisons, Racial Orders and the Justice System,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31st – September 3rd, 2006, Philadelphia, PA.
“The Politics of Federal Prosecution: U.S. Attorneys Offices in the Federal Criminal Justice System,” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31st – September 3rd, 2006, Philadelphia, PA. With Jim Eisenstein.
“Interest Groups and the Pennsylvania Criminal Law,” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, July 6-9, 2006, Baltimore, MD.
Chair and discussant, “Legislation and Legislators in Court,” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, July 6-9, 2006, Baltimore, MD.
“Interest Groups and the Federalization of U.S. Criminal Justice Policy,” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology. November 16-29th, 2005. Toronto, Canada.
Chair and discussant, “Do Concepts Travel,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4th, 2005. Washington, D.C.
Discussant, “Politics in Lower Courts,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4th, 2005. Washington, D.C.
"The Contours of Federal Criminal Justice: A Preliminary Look." Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 29th –September 1st, 2003. Philadelphia, PA. With Jim Eisenstein (lead author) and John Kramer.
“Towards a Theory of the Representational Bias in a Federal Political System.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 3-6th, 2003. Chicago, IL.
“Satisfaction With Police and Neighborhood Collective Efficacy: Formal Contributions to Informal Social Control,” with Eric Silver (lead author). Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology. November 13-17, 2002. Chicago, IL
“Punishment and Mass Incarceration: A Roundtable Discussion on Crime, Policy and Politics.” Co-convener and participant. Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology. November 13-17, 2002. Chicago, IL.
“Research Opportunities in the Federal Criminal Justice System.” Participant. Convened by Jim Eisenstein and Matthew Holden. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 30-September 2, 2002. Boston, MA.
“Who Gets What, Where and How? Federal and State Cooperation in Prosecution and Law Enforcement.” Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 7-10, 2001. Atlanta, GA.
“The Federal/State Prosecution Nexus: Preliminary Empirical Findings.” Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 30-September 2, 2001. San Francisco, California. With Jim Eisenstein (lead author) and John Kramer.
“Can Community Policing Strengthen Community: A critical assessment of some core assumptions.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, July 4-7, 2001. Budapest, Hungary. With Eric Silver. [unable to attend – paper delivered by panel chair]
“The Lesser of Two Evils: Community Crime Prevention and the Policing of the Inner-City.” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 31-September 3, 2000. Washington, D.C.
“Who’s in Charge Here? Race, Community and the Politics of Crime Prevention.” Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. May 27-30, 1999. Chicago, IL.
"Community-friendly policing." Roundtable discussant. Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association. November 18-21, 1998. Seattle, Washington.
"Police, Community and Control: Operation Weed and Seed in Seattle." Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Meetings, September 3-6, 1998. Boston, MA.
"Community, Control and the Politics of Policing: Operation Weed and Seed and Community Policing in Seattle.” Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. June 3-6, 1998, Aspen, Colorado. Co-authored with Bill Lyons.
"Race, Crime and Punitive Drug Policy: The Case of Seattle's Drug Traffic Loitering Ordinance." Western Political Science Association Meetings, March 1995.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
“American exceptionalism? Race, Crime and Democracy in the United States.” 55Plus, Jewish Center of Princeton, February 21, 2019.
“Money in Politics: Free Speech or Corrupting?” Moderator, Network for Responsible Public Policy, with David Donnelly, Lisa Gilbert, William Schulter. November 2, 2017.
“Is the U.S. constitutional system broken?” Network for Responsible Public Policy, with Peter Coy and Earl Maltz. September 22, 2016, Farleigh Dickinson University.
“The State of American Politics.” Roundtable discussion with Jay Sexton and Congressman Jim Himes. Oxford North American Reunion, Washington, DC, April 8-9, 2016.
“The Tragedy of American politics: Violence, inequality and mass incarceration.” Cathedral Village Retirement Community, May 20, 2015.
“The New Jim Crow,” Princeton Jewish Center, Social Justice Committee, December 8, 2013.
“Race, the U.S. Death Penalty, and Global Human Rights.” Livingston College, Building Community, Lecture Series on Human Rights, Rutgers University, November 20th, 2006.
“The Politics of (In)Justice: Lessons from a Nation’s Racialized Past.” Livingston College, Building Community, Lecture Series on Human Rights, Rutgers University, October 12th, 2005.
“Death Penalty Symposium,” Amnesty International Penn State Chapter, Eisenhower Chapel, Penn State University, March 23, 2004. University Park, PA.
“College Students and Political/Civic Engagement,” Social Change Week, University Student Government. Penn State University, January 22nd, 2004. University Park, PA.
TEACHING
Awards
SAS Award for Distinguished Contribution to Undergraduate Education, Assistant Professor Category, Rutgers University, 2006-7.
Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Presidential Fellow, Rutgers University, Fall 2006-Spring 2008.
Courses
Graduate:
Research Design
Law and Social Policy
Law and Social Movements
The Law and Politics of Crime and Punishment
Undergraduate:
U.S. Constitutional Law
Law and Politics
Race, Crime and Justice
Comparative Crime and Punishment
Explaining Mass Incarceration
Crime and Public Policy
Checks and Balances and Other Myths of American Politics [senior seminar]
Democracy, Punishment and Inequality, Honors seminar
Critical Issues in Race and Criminal Justice, an inter-disciplinary advanced undergraduate seminar sponsored by the Center for Race and Ethnicity
First-year seminar: How Democratic is the U.S. Constitution? (Fall 2008), Race, Crime, Politics in HBO’s The Wire (Spring 2010), The Politics of Urban Crime (Fall 2014 with P. Carr)
Crime and Public Policy
Seminar in Security, Violence and Fear in American Politics
Seminar in Violence and Non-violence
Introduction to American Politics
Teaching Colloquia
“Teaching Your First Course,” February 2008. Graduate School, Rutgers University
“Preparing to Teach a Course,” November 2007, Graduate School, Teaching Assistant Program, Rutgers University.
“Teaching Your First Course,” February 2007. Graduate School, Rutgers University
“Getting your dissertation published,” April, 2006. New Faculty Workshop, Rutgers University.
“Teaching Your First Course,” February 2006. Graduate School, Rutgers University
“Turning your dissertation into a book,” March 2005. Graduate School, Rutgers University.
“Teaching and Grading,” February 2005, Department of Political Science Graduate Student Workshop. Rutgers University
"On-Line Writing Workshops: Experiments in Web-Technology." Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Meetings, September 3-6, 1998. Boston, MA.
UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT, PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Division Co-Chair, American Political Economy, APSA 2023
Member, Search Committee, Joint Hire in Race and Ethnic Politics with Africana Studies, 2019-20
Chair, Lasting Contribution Award, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, 2019
Member, William Anderson Award Committee, American Political Science Association, 2019
Chair, Herbert Jacob Prize, Law and Society Association, 2018
Core Requirements Committee, School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers University, 2017-2019
Chair, Search Committee, American Politics/Race and Ethnic Politics, Rutgers University, 2016-17
Chair, Search Committee, Joint hire in Political Science and Criminal Justice, Rutgers Universtiy, 2015-16
Advancement and Promotions Committee, School of Arts and Sciences,
Rutgers University, 2014-
Advisory Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2016-
Personnel Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2016-
Director, Princeton-Rutgers Criminal Justice Working Group, 2013-15
Collaborative speaker series between Rutgers-New Brunswick and LAPA/Princeton
Chair, Graduate Program Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2014-2016
Faculty representative, University Senate
Rutgers University, 2013-2016
Faculty representative, Executive Council Graduate School – New Brunswick
Rutgers University, 2013-2016
Executive Committee, Public Policy Section
American Political Science Association, 2013-2017
Aaron Wildavsky Award Committee
American Political Science Association, 2014
Dissertation Award Selection Committee
Law and Society Association, 2012
Chair, Search Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2009-2010
Acting Director, Center for Race and Ethnicity
Rutgers University, 2009-2010
Advancement and Promotion Committee, School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers University, 2009-2011
Peer Evaluation Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2010
Advisory Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2010
Personnel Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2009
Nominating Committee, School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers University, 2006-2008
Search Committee, Department of Political Science, Political Theory
Rutgers University, Fall 2007
Curriculum Committee, Fall 2007-Spring 2008
Criminal Justice Program, Rutgers University
Program Committee, Criminal Justice Program
Rutgers University, permanent member
Summer Institute Selection Committee
Law and Society Association, 2006-8
Advisory Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2004-6
Search Committee, Department of Political Science, Race/Ethnicity in U.S. Politics
Rutgers University, 2005-6
Penn State Mock Trial Club, Faculty Advisor
Penn State University, 2003-4
Membership Committee
Law and Society Association. 2001-2003.
Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society, Penn State Chapter, Faculty Advisor
Penn State University, 2001-2003
Faculty Marshall, Graduation Ceremonies, College of Liberal Arts
Penn State University, May 2002
Crime, Law and Justice Recruitment Committee, Dept. of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice, Penn State University, 2002-2004.
Advisory Committee, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice
Penn State University
Minority Affairs Committee, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice
Penn State University
Graduate Committee, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice
Penn State University
MANUSCRIPT REVIEWS
Cambridge University Press
Oxford University Press
American Journal of Political Science
American Political Science Review
British Journal of Political Science
Journal of Politics
Perspectives on Politics
Law and Society Review
Criminology and Public Policy
Punishment and Society
Theoretical Criminology
European Journal of Criminology
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Political Science Association
Law and Society Association
Midwest Political Science Association
European Political Science Association
March 2023
______________________________________________________________________________
Department of Political Science miller[at]polisci.rutgers.edu
Rutgers University www.lisalmiller.com
89 George Street 848.932.9382
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1411
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Professor, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2016-present.
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2016.
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2004-2008.
Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice, 2000-2004
Adjunct Professor, Department of Political Science, 2000-2004
Pennsylvania State University, 2000-2004.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Politics and Government
University of Puget Sound, 1999-2000.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Political Science, University of Washington, 1999
M.A. University of Washington, 1994
B.A. Political and Social Thought, University of Virginia, 1987
FELLOWSHIPS
John G. Winant Visiting Professor of American Politics, Rothermere American Institute
University of Oxford, 2015-16.
Visiting Research Scholar, Program in Law and Public Affairs
Princeton University, 2012-2013.
Visiting Fellow, All Souls College
University of Oxford, 2011-2012.
ADMINISTRATIVE POSITIONS
Faculty Director, Lloyd Gardner Fellowship in Leadership and Social Policy, Rutgers University, 2017-2022.
Acting Graduate Program Director, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University,
Spring 2019, Spring 2017.
Acting Director of Undergraduate Studies, Program in Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, Spring 2015.
Program Director, Law, Justice and Society Fellowship, Rutgers University, 2009-2012.
Acting Director, Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University, 2009-2010.
PUBLICATIONS
Books
The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics.
2016. New York: Oxford University Press.
The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty and the Politics of Crime Control.
2008. New York: Oxford University Press.
The Politics of Community Crime Prevention: Implementing Weed and Seed in Seattle.
2001. Burlington, VT: Dartmouth/Ashgate Press. Law, Justice and Power Series.
Edited volumes
Theoretical Criminology: Special Issue on the State of the State 41(4). November 2017. With Vanessa Barker, co-editor.
Journal articles (peer-reviewed)
Miller, Lisa L. 2023. “Checks and Balances, Veto Points, and Constitutional Folk Wisdom.” Political Research Quarterly forthcoming.
Johnson, Richard and Lisa L. Miller. 2022. “The Conservative Policy Bias of Senate Malapportionment.” PS: Political Science and Politics 56(1): 10-17.
Miller, Lisa L. 2021. “Racialized Anti-Statism and the Failure of the American State.” The Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics 6(1): 120-143.
Miller, Lisa L. 2018. “The Use of Case Studies in Law and Social Science.” Annual Review of Law and Social Science 14: 381-396. Translated into Burmese.
Miller, Lisa L. 2015. “What’s Violence Got to Do With It? Inequality, punishment and state failure in American politics.” Punishment and Society 17(2): 184-210.
Miller, Lisa L. 2014. “Racialized State Failure and the Violent Death of Michael Brown.” Theory and Event 17(3), Supplement.
Miller, Lisa L. 2013. “Power to the People: Violent Victimization, Inequality and Democratic Politics.” Theoretical Criminology 17(3): 283-313.
Miller, Lisa L. 2011. “The Local and the Legal: American federalism and its implications for the carceral state.” Criminology and Public Policy: Mass Incarceration 10(3): 725-732.
Miller, Lisa L. 2010. “The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Racial Inequality in Criminal Justice.” Law and Society Review 44 (3/4): 805-842.
Miller, Lisa L. 2007. “The Representational Biases of Federalism: scope and bias in the political process, revisited.” Perspectives on Politics 5:2: 305-321.
Miller, Lisa L. and James Eisenstein. 2005. “The Federal/state criminal prosecution nexus: a case study in cooperation and discretion.” Law and Social Inquiry 30 (2): 239-268.
Miller, Lisa L. 2005. “Re-thinking bureaucrats in the policy process: criminal justice agents and the national crime agenda.” Policy Studies Journal 32 (4): 569-588.
Silver, Eric and Lisa L. Miller. 2004. “Sources of informal social control in Chicago neighborhoods.” Criminology 42: 551-583.
Silver, Eric and Lisa L. Miller. 2002. “A Cautionary note on the use of actuarial risk assessments tools for social control,” Crime and Delinquency 48: 138-161.
Miller, Lisa L. 2001. “Looking for postmodernism in all the wrong places: Implementing a new penology.” British Journal of Criminology 41: 168-184.
Miller, Lisa L. “Taking it to the streets: reframing crime prevention through race and community.” 2000. Studies in Law, Politics and Society 20, 207-238.
Berliner, Lucy, Donna Schram, Lisa L. Miller, and Cheryl Darling Milloy. 1995. “A Sentencing Alternative for Sex Offenders: A Study of Decision-Making and Recidivism.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 10(4):487-502.
Special Issues, Book Chapters, and Review Essays
Miller, Lisa L. 2022. “Up from Federalism: Danielle Allen’s Democracy in the Time of Corona Virus and Jacob Grumbach’s Laboratories Against Democracy: How National Parties Transformed State Politics, Boston Review, July 2022. https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/up-from-federalism/
Miller, Lisa L. 2020. “American Exceptionalism or Exceptionalism of the Americas? The Politics of Lethal Violence, Punishment and Inequality.” In Lacey, Nicola, David Soskice, Leonidas K. Cheliotis, Sappho Xenakis, eds., Tracing the Relationship Between Inequality, Crime and Punishment: Space, Time, and Politics. London: The British Academy, Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2019. “Amending Constitutional Myths.” 67 Drake University Law Review 101-127.
Miller, Lisa L. 2018. “Making the State Pay: Violence and the Politicization of Crime in Comparative Perspective.” In Kevin Reitz (ed), American Exceptionalism in Imprisonment. New York: Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2018. “Review symposium: The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics.” With Insa Koch, Tim Newburn, Richard Sparks, and Vanessa Barker (coordinator), and a response by Miller. Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 57(1): 124-134.
Threadcraft, Shatema and Lisa L. Miller. 2017. “Black Women, Victimization, and the Limits of the Liberal State.” Theoretical Criminology: Special Issue 41(4): 478-493.
Miller, Lisa L. 2016. “Violent crime, constitutional frameworks, and mass publics.” In Dzur, Albert, Ian Loader and Richard Sparks eds. Democratic Theory and Mass Incarceration. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2016. “Crime, Punishment and Urban Governance in Contemporary American Politics.” In Amy Bridges and Michael Fortner, eds. Urban Citizenship and American Democracy: The Historical and Institutional Roots of Local Politics and Policy. SUNY Press.
Miller, Lisa L. 2016. “Response to Paul Hirschfield.” Sociological Forum 31(1).
Miller, Lisa L. 2014. “The (Dys)Functions of American Federalism.” Tulsa Law Review 49(2): 267-278.
Miller, Lisa L. and Kevin Woznial. 2013. “Criminology and Political Science.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Criminology. Ed. Richard Wright. New York: Oxford University Press.
Miller, Lisa L. and William T. Lyons. 2012. “Putting Politics in its Place: Reflections on Political Criminology, Immigration and Crime.” In Austin D. Sarat, ed. The Legacy of Stuart Scheingold, Special Issue of Studies in Law, Politics and Society 59: 123-154.
Book reviews (all sole authored)
Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration. Rachel Elise Barkow. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.
Reviewed in Current History 118(811): 325-327, 2019.
Nordic Nationalism and Penal Order: Walling the Welfare State. Vanessa Barker. New York: Routledge 2018.
Reviewed in Punishment and Society 23(1): 139-142, 2020
Prison Break: Why Conservatives Turned Against Mass Incarceration. David Dagan and Steve Teles. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. Vol. 27(4): 67-72, 2017.
Solitary Confinement: Social Death and its Afterlives. Lisa Guenther. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013.
Reviewed in Perspectives on Politics 13(4): 1126-1128, 2015.
The Politics of Imprisonment: How the Democratic Process Shapes the Way America Punishes Offenders. Vanessa Barker. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. Vol. 21 No. 4, April, 2011.
Race to Injustice: Lessons Learned from the Duke Lacrosse Rape Case. Michael L. Seigel (ed). Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2009.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 19, No. 8, August 2009.
Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do About It. Mindy Thompson Fullilove. New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.
Reviewed in the Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law 30 (5), 985-989. October 2005.
Imprisoning America: The Social Effects of Mass Incarceration. Edited by Mary Pattillo, David Weiman and Bruce Western. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004.
Reviewed in the Journal of Politics 67 (3), 943-44. August 2005.
Deviant Knowledge: Criminology, Politics and Public Policy by Reese Walters. 2003. Portland, OR: Willan Publishing.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 14, No. 11, November 2004.
Invisible Punishment: The Collateral Consequences of Mass Incarceration by Marc Mauer and Meda Chesney-Lind (Editors). 2002. New York: The New Press.
Reviewed in Punishment and Society 6 (4), 458-161. October 2004.
Crime Control and Community: The New Politics of Public Safety by Gordon Hughes and Adam Edwards (Editors). 2002.
Reviewed in the Law and Politics Electronic Book Review, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 12, No. 11, November 2002.
RESEARCH GRANTS AND AWARDS
Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence, Rutgers University, 2008.
National Science Foundation Research Award. Jim Eisenstein, John Kramer, Jeff Ulmer and Lisa L. Miller, co-principal investigators. “Uncharted Territory: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Inter-District Variation in the Federal Court System,” 2001-2003.
Research Award, Research and Graduate Studies Office, The Pennsylvania State University. “Federalism, Crime Politics and the Political Representation of Urban Neighborhoods,” 2001.
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
“Deal with It! Democracy, Violent Crime, and State Responsiveness.” Conference on Crime, Politics and Citizenship, University of Sheffield, April 11-12, 2017.
“American exceptionalism? Race, crime and democracy in the United States.”
John G. Winant Inaugural Lecture, Rothermere American Institute
University of Oxford, February 24, 2016.
COMMENTARY/MEDIA
“Abolishing the Police Won’t Solve Violent Crime but Neither Will the Carceral State,” Rising, The Hill, December 27, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhilQtcTyX8
“Taking Violence and Government Seriously,” Niskanen Center, December 6, 2022. https://www.niskanencenter.org/taking-violence-and-government-seriously/
“Heat: What’s rising crime doing to American politics?” July 17, 2022 (interview by Michael Bluhm) The Signal. https://www.thesgnl.com/2022/06/violent-crime-midterm-elections-us-lisa-miller/
“Fear Factor: How is rising violence affecting U.S. politics?” An interview with Lisa L. Miller, February 11, 2022 (by Graham Vyse), The Signal. https://www.thesgnl.com/2022/02/violent-crime-politics-us-lisa-miller/
“Murders Spiked in 2020: How will that change the politics of crime?” A FiveThirtyEight Chat, October 6, 2021. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/murders-spiked-in-2020-how-will-that-change-the-politics-of-crime/
“Homicide Impunity, Human Rights, and State Failure.” Niskanen Center Webinar, September 24, 2021. With Wesley Lowery, Roxanna Altholz, Jeff Asher, and Michael Javen Fortner. https://www.niskanencenter.org/webinar-homicide-impunity-human-rights-and-state-failure/
“The U.S. Presidential Election of 2020: Consequences and Prospects.” Mile End Institute Podcast, January 20, 2021. Queen Mary College, University of London. https://anchor.fm/mile-end-institute/episodes/The-US-Presidential-Election-of-2020-Consequences-and-Prospects-ep6aq6
“Race, Violence, and the Failed American State.” Scarlet Speakers in the Heart of your Home, Rutgers University on-line lecture, June 30, 2020. https://sas.rutgers.edu/news-a-events/events/events/past-events/3278-scarlet-speakers-in-the-heart-of-your-home-with-lisa-miller
“Federalism is Unlikely to Save Progressive Politics,” Law and Political Economy blog, July 11, 2019. https://lpeblog.org/2019/07/11/federalism-is-unlikely-to-save-progressive-politics/
“Mob Rule,” Roundtable with David Foster, TRT World TV, January 15, 2019.
“Calling a Fascist a Fascist,” Lawyers, Guns and Money, August 17, 2017. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/08/calling-fascist-fascist
“It’s Time to Talk about Power, Part II” March 1, 2017. OUPBlog, Oxford University Press.
https://blog.oup.com/2017/03/healthcare-reform-obamacare-checks-balances
“It’s Time to Talk about Power, Part I,” February 17, 2017. OUPBlog, Oxford University Press.
https://blog.oup.com/2017/02/electoral-college-checks-balances
“Black Activists Don’t Ignore Crime,” Op-Ed, New York Times Op-Ed, August 6, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/opinion/black-activists-dont-ignore-crime.html?_r=0
“Gun Control Failed in the senate. But it wasn’t a fair vote.” The Guardian Opinion. June 21, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/21/gun-control-reforms-senate-vote-not-fair-republican-congress
“Tyranny of the Losers and the Politics of Gun Control.” Lawyers, Guns and Money. June 16, 2016. http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2016/06/tyranny-of-the-losers-and-the-politics-of-gun-control
“Race, violence and the failure of the American state.” Discover Society, Issue 33, June 1, 2016.
http://discoversociety.org/2016/06/01/race-violence-and-the-failure-of-the-american-state/
“Crime and Punishment in Post-War Britain: “Mob Rule” as Democratic Corrective.” London School of Economics, British Politics and Policy Blog, January 21, 2016.
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/crime-and-punishment-in-post-war-britain-mob-rule-as-democratic-corrective/
“Reforming police and prisons will not save us,” Rethinking Ferguson Workshop Blog posts, Balkinzation, August 2015.
http://balkin.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/reforming-police-and-prisons-will-not.html
“Violence and the Racialized Failure of the American State.” Guest Post, Lawyers, Guns and Money, December 14, 2014.
http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2014/12/violence-racialized-failure-american-state-guest-post-lisa-m-miller
“(Mis)Understanding American Politics: Constitutions, Collective Action, Competition, Quiescence,” Policy Brief, Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, August 2012. https://www.fljs.org/uploads/documents/Miller-federalism.pdf
“Mass Incarceration.” With Todd Clear, Ebru TV, December 21st, 2010.
“Opposition or Coalition? Courts and the Political Process in Times of Crisis.” Policy Brief. Foundation for Law, Justice and Society. Oxford University. November 2008. http://www.fljs.org/section.aspx?id=2875
“Too Little Too Late: The Supreme Court as a Check on Executive Power.” Commentary: Foreign Policy in Focus. February 17, 2006. http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/3117
Forum: “What are the opportunities and difficulties in using qualitative data to study the Federal criminal justice system?” 2003. Law and Courts, Newsletter of the Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association. With James Eisenstein, Matthew Holden, Jr., Donald K. Stern, Todd Lochner, Daniel Krislov, Richard T. Boylan, Andrew B. Whitford, and Daniel Richman.
INVITED LECTURES/PRESENTATIONS
“American Exceptionalism or Exceptionalism of the Americas: The Politics of Lethal Violence Punishment, and Inequality.” Inaugural presentation of the Workshop Series on The Social Analysis of Penality Across Borders, Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and the Crime and Society Program of the National University of Litoral (Argentina), September 28, 2021 (virtual).
“The Politics of Crime and Punishment: Three lectures.” Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina. July 30-Aug 1, 2019.
“The Tragedy of American Politics,” Symposium: Is it time to amend the Constitution? Drake University Law School, Des Moines, Iowa, April 13, 2019.
“Constitutional Myths,” Rutgers University Law School, Camden, NJ, March 25, 2019.
“Constitutional Myths and Political Power,” Temple University Law School, Philadelphia, November 8th, 2018.
“Racial Inequality and Failed States.” James Weldon Johnson Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, Oct 1, 2018.
“The Myth of Mob Rule,” Drexel University School of Law, Philadelphia, September 28, 2018.
Author Meets Reader Session for The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent Crime and Democratic Politics.
Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 30-Sept 1, 2018, Boston. Readers: Mark Graber, Heather Schoenfeld, David Dagan, Amy Lerman.
Annual Meetings of the American Association of Criminology, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia. Readers: Peter Enns, Frank Baumgartner, Peter Ramsey, convened by Steve Farrall.
Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 2017, Mexico City. Readers: Chuck Epp, Megan Ming Francis, Insa Koch, Naomi Murakawa, Tim Newburn, Richard Sparks, convened by Vanessa Barker.
“What’s Violence got to do with it? Inequality, Punishment, and Racialized State Failure in U.S. Politics.” Villanova Law School, Philadelphia, January 31, 2018.
“Lethal Violence as Political Outcome: Racialized disadvantage, inequality, and the politics of state-building.” Tracing the Relationship between Crime, Inequality, and Punishment. British Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, London, December 7-8, 2017.
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” New York University, Department of Sociology, New York, March 10, 2017
“Crime, Punishment, and the Racialized Failure of the American State.” Prison Justice Initiative, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., November 30, 2016
“Crime, Punishment, and the Racialized Failure of the American State.” Workshop on American Punishment, New York University, New York, October 27-28, 2016
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” Center for the Study of Law and Society, University of California, Berkeley, CA, October 17, 2016
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” Cornell University, Department of Political Science, Ithaca, NY, September 30, 2016
“Police Violence and Racialized State Failure.” Police Actions and Citizen Mobilization in Democratic Societies, Yale University, New Haven, CT, April 21-22, 2016
The Democratic Deficit in American Politics: A Symposium on Lisa L. Miller’s The Myth of Mob Rule: Violence crime and democratic politics. Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, England. February 24-25, 2016.
“The Myth of Mob Rule: Violent crime and democratic politics.” London School of Economics, Mannheim Centre for Criminology, London, England, March 9, 2016
“Violence, mass imprisonment and the racialized failure of the American state.” Black Politics in Color-blind Era.” Nuffield College and the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, December 9-10, 2015.
“The Myth of Mob Rule,” University of Sheffield, Sheffield, England, October 17, 2015
“What’s the Matter with American Politics?” American Political Economy in Comparative Perspective conference. Paul Pierson and Kathleen Thelen, co-organizers. MIT, Boston, MA, May 8-9, 2015.
“Mass incarceration as racialized state failure.” American Politics Research Workshop. Department of Political Science. University of California, Berkeley. November 25, 2014.
“What’s violence got to do with it?” Emerging Trends Series, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ January 29, 2014.
Author Meets Reader sessions for The Perils of Federalism:
Annual Meetings of the Social Science History Association, Convener and Chair: Michael Fortner, Discussants: Christopher Mueller, Eric Schneider, Michael Dawson. November 23, 2013, Chicago, IL.
Annual Meetings of the American Association of Law Schools, “The Good, the Bad and the Local: The Changing Face of Federalism in Criminal Justice.” Panel discussion on Lisa L. Miller’s The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty and the Politics of Crime Control. Convener: Tracey L. Meares, with Daniel C. Richman, and Jennifer M. Chacon, January 6th, 2011. San Francisco, CA.
Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 2nd, 2010. Chair: Naomi Murakawa, Discussants: Paul Frymer, Vesla Weaver, Michael Owens. Washington, D.C.
Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 4, 2009. Discussants: Jim Jacobs, Geoff Ward, Franklin Zimring. Philadelphia, PA.
“Multi-level governance and interest group representation: Cautionary tales from the U.S.” Summer School on Interest Groups and Agenda-Setting in Multi-Level Systems of Governance.
Institut Barcelona Estudis Internacionals, IBEI. Barcelona, Spain. July 5, 2013.
“The Promises and Pitfalls of Multi-level Governance: Lessons from the US.” Policing and Governance in Multi-level Societies. University of Oxford, Oxford, England. June 14, 2013.
“Violence and the politicization of crime in comparative perspective.” Conference on American Exceptionalism in Crime and Punishment, Robina Institute, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN, April 25-27, 2013
“What’s the Matter with ‘Our Federalism?’ On Constitutions, Collective Action, Competition and Quiescence.” Department of Politics, University of Texas, Austin, TX, March 18, 2013.
“What’s the Matter with ‘Our Federalism?’ On Constitutions, Collective Action, Competition and Quiescence.” Program in Law and Public Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, November 12, 2012.
“Making the State Pay: Race and the politicization of crime in comparative perspective.” Symposium on the Politics of Immigration, Race and Ethnicity. Yale University, October 12, 2012.
“The Comparative Politics of Violence,” Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford, Brown Bag Series, May 28, 2012.
“Should the Mob Rule? Democracy and the Politics of Punishment,” University of Edinburgh School of Law, May 16, 2012.
“(Mis)Understanding American Federalism: On Collective Action, Competition and Quiescence.” The Promise and Pitfalls of Federalism: Constitution-making in the 21st Century.” Foundation for Law, Justice and Society, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, 20 April 2012.
“In Defense of Mob Rule: Violence, Inequality and Comparative Constitutionalism.” Institute for Comparative Public Policy, University of Manchester, March 21, 2012.
“Power to the People: Violence, Inequality and Democratic Politics,” Centre for Criminology Lecture Series, All Souls College, University of Oxford, February 2, 2012.
“Violence, Inequality and Criminal Punishment.” All Souls College, Visiting Fellows Colloquium Series. November 8, 2011, University of Oxford.
“Punishment as Urban Experience.” Seminar on the City: American Government as Urban Government, Drexel University, June 13th, 2011.
“Inequality, Race and American Federalism,” Rutgers University School of Law – Newark. April 20th, 2011.
“Racial Constitutionalism and American Democracy,” The University of Chicago Law and Political Theory Group, University of Chicago Law School, April 5th, 2011.
“Tea Party Politics Redux: Racial Constitutionalism and the Tragedy of American Democracy,” Sawyer Seminar in Law and Politics, Syracuse University. March 4th, 2011.
“Power to the People: American Democracy, Racial Inequality and Criminal Punishment.” Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University, October 26, 2010.
“Competition and Cooperation,” Panel discussion. Allocating Prosecutorial Power: How Prosecutors Compete, Cooperate and Clash. The Prosecution Center, New York University Law School, April 23, 2010.
“The Invisible Black Victim: How American Federalism Perpetuates Inequality in Criminal Justice.” University of Pennsylvania American Politics Workshop, February 4th, 2010.
“Black Invisibility in American Criminal Justice.” Princeton Criminal Justice Working Group, Princeton University. September 30, 2009.
“Black Invisibility: Race, Punishment and American Federalism.” Symposium on The Problem of Punishment, Carter G. Woodson Institute, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, April 16-18, 2009.
“Black Invisibility and Racial Injustice: Politics and Punishment under U.S. Federalism.” Hoffinger Criminal Justice Colloquium. New York University Law School. November 24, 2008.
“The Invisible Black Victim: Race, Punishment and American Federalism.” Emerging Trends Series, Department of Political Science, Rutgers University. November 11, 2008.
“Between Privilege and Poverty: Perspectives on New Jersey Disparities.” Panel Participant, Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University, October 24, 2008.
“Can We Trust the Courts in Times of Crisis?” Aspen Institute, Justice and Society Program. Aspen Institute, Aspen, Colorado. July 7-9, 2008.
“The Politics of (In)Justice and the Pitfalls of Federalism: Moving Beyond a National Civil Rights Strategy through Local Crime Politics,” Paradoxes of Race, Law and Inequality Conference, co-sponsored by the Law and Society Review and the Center for Law, Society and Culture at the University of California, Irvine, May 2-3, 2008.
“Criminal Differences: the Role of Race & Ethnicity in Detention, Juvenile Court, and American Justice.” Roundtable discussion sponsored by the Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University, October 26, 2007.
“The Mobilization of Bias in the Criminal Justice Policy Process,” January 12th, 2005, Master Session at the Institute for Qualitative Research Methods, Arizona State University, January 3-14th, 2005.
“Urban Minorities, Civic Engagement and the Politics of Public Safety.” Color Lines Conference, Harvard University Civil Rights Project. Cambridge, MA, August 31st – September 2st, 2003.
“The High-Cost of Symbolic Politics,” paper presented in annual colloquia sponsored by the Center for Research on Crime and Justice, Penn State University, January 15, 2001.
“The Politics of Law and Order: Towards a Cultural Analysis of Law and Politics, The Scheingold Legacy.” Panel discussant. Conference event honoring Stuart A. Scheingold. Co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science and the Comparative Law and Society Studies Center at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. December 2, 2000.
SELECT CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PARTICIPATION
“The Enduring Power of States’ Rights.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Montreal, September 14-18, 2022.
Discussant, Annual Conference on Justice and Injustice: Political Science Perspectives on Crime and Criminal Justice. Institute for Social and Policy Studies, Yale University, August 5, 2022.
“The Myth of Checks and Balances.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Lisbon, Portugal, July 13-16, 2022.
Chair, The Constitution and American Political Development. Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings, Chicago, April 7-10, 2022.
“Checks and balances and American veto points.” Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meetings, Chicago, April 7-10, 2022.
“Constitutional folk wisdom and the Anti-Democratic Politics of the American Right.” Oxford-Stanford Conference on the Changing Character of the American Right, September 21-23, 2021 [virtual].
“The Long Civil War: Lethal violence and failed state-building in the United States.” European Society of Criminology Annual Meetings, September 7-10, 2021 [virtual]
“Checks and balances, veto points, and American constitutional folk wisdom.” First Annual American Political Economy Research Conference, August 2-4, 2021 [virtual]
“The Long Civil War: Lethal Violence and the Failure of U.S. State-Building.” Annual Meetings of the European Society of Criminology, September 7-10, 2021. [virtual]
“Checks and balances, veto points, and American constitutional folk wisdom.” First Annual conference on American Political Economy, August 2-4, 2021 [virtual].
Discussant, Punishment in Global Peripheries: Contemporary Changes and Historical Continuities. Centre for Criminology, Oxford University, June 23-25, 2021 [virtual]
“Coming Apart at the (Already Frayed) Seams: Crime, Criminal Justice, and the Failure of the American State.” Vanderbilt University Law School, Criminal Justice Roundtable, November 6-7, 2020 [virtual]
“States’ Rights, Limited Government, and the Constitutional Refuge of American Right-Wing Politics.” Oxford Stanford Conference on The Changing Character of the American Right, October 19, 2020. [virtual]
Discussant and Chair, Author-Meets-Reader, Hannah Walker’s Mobilized by Injustice, Criminal Justice Mini-Conference, September 10-11, 2020 [virtual]
“Checks and Balances and Other Myths of American Politics.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 10-13, 2020. San Francisco, CA [virtual]
“Checks and Balances and Other Constitutional Myths.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, May 28-31, 2020, Denver, Colorado [virtual]
“Exceptionalism of the Americas: Colonialism, Slavery, and the Political Origins of Lethal Violence,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 29 – September 1, 2019, Washington, D.C.
“Colonialism, Slavery, and the Politics of Lethal Violence,” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, May 30 – June 2, 2019, Washington D.C.
Chair, Author Meets Reader, Race and the Politics of Mass Incarceration, Heather Schoenfeld. Readers: Vesla Weaver, Alison McKim, Robert Lieberman. Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Washington D.C., May 30 – June 2, 2019.
Roundtable on Critical Perspectives on the Carceral State, with Timothy Weaver and Rebecca Thorpe. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Boston, MA, Aug 30-Sept 1, 2018,
Lunchtime panel on crime and punishment scholarship in political science, Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, mini conference on political science perspectives on justice and injustice, August 30, 2018.
“Violence, Punishment and the Racialized American State: Or, everything I know about American constitutionalism I learned from studying crime.” Con Law Schmooze, University of Maryland, March 1-2, 2018.
“The Real Politik of Crime and Punishment.” Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia, PA.
Chair, Author Meets Reader for Frank Baumgartner, Marty Davidson, Kaneesha R. Johnson, Arvind Krishnamurthy, Colin P. Wilson, Deadly Justice: A Statistical Portrait of the Death Penalty. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 15-18, 2017, Philadelphia, PA.
“Violence, State Failure, and the (Il)Legitimacy of Law in the Americas.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31-September 4, 2017, San Francisco, CA.
Discussant and Chair, The Carceral State, The Police and The Politics of Disparity. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31-September 4, 2017, San Francisco, CA.
“Race, Violence, and the Failure of the American Constitution.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
Discussant, “Punishment and Democratic Politic: Theoretical and methodological issues.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
Discussant, “Penal Sub-phenomena in the United States: Theorizing Penal Change from the Ground Up.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
Reader, Author Meets Reader, Daniel LaChance, Executing Freedom: The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment. Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, June 20-23, 1017, Mexico City.
“Violence, mass imprisonment and the racialized failure of the American state.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
Chair and discussant, “Critical Perspectives on Imprisonment in the U.S.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4, 2016, Philadelphia, PA.
“Back to Basics: Constitutions for Ordinary People.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the International Conference on Public Law, June 17-20, 2016. Berlin, Germany.
“Constitutions and Everyday Politics.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, May 28-31, 2015. Seattle, WA.
“The Long Shadow of Watts: Violence, policing and the persistence of Black inequality.” Organizer and participant in roundtable at the Center for Race and Ethnicity, Rutgers University. April 29, 2015.
“Mass incarceration as state failure.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 28-31, 2014. Washington, D.C.
Chair and discussant, Panel on Gun Policy in the U.S. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 28-31, 2014. Washington, D.C.
“Whither the riots? The public and political salience of crime in the U.K.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Comparative Agendas Conference, Konstanz, Germany. June 12-14, 2014.
“What’s violence got to do with it? Race, inequality and criminal punishment in American politics.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, WI. May 29-31, 2014.
“Blaming the Victim? Socio-legal scholarship, victims’ rights and political mobilization around crime.” With Josh Eaise. Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Minneapolis, WI. May 29-31, 2014.
“Law, Order and State Failure in American Politics,” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Western Political Science Association, Seattle, WA April 17-20, 2014.
“What’s violence got to do with it?” Comparative Agendas Project conference, 27-29 June, 2013. Antwerp, Belgium.
“Law and Order Politics in Cross-National Perspective” Annual Meetings of the Council of European Studies. 25-28 June, 2013. Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Discussant and chair, The Micro-Politics of Mass Incarceration. Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Boston, MA, May 31-June 2, 2013.
“Back to Basics: Constitutionalism for Ordinary People.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, Boston, MA, May 31-June 2, 2013.
Critic, Author-meets-critic, David Garland’s Peculiar Institution, British Society of Criminology, Portsmouth, England, 5 July 2012.
“Making the State Pay: Comparative Policy Agendas on Violence and Punishment.” Comparative Agendas Project Conference. 14-16 June, 2012, Reims, France.
“Putting Politics in its Place: Immigration, Crime and Political Criminology.” With Bill Lyons. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association. San Francisco, CA, June 1-4th, 2011.
Moderator and convener, Authors-Meet-Critics, Dario Melossi’s Controlling Crime, Controlling Society and Loic Wacquant’s Punishing the Poor. With Jonathan Simon and Alessandro DeGiogi. American Society of Criminology Annual Meetings, Philadelphia, November 6, 2009
“Finding Their Punitive Best: Crime Policy, Politics and Race Across the American States.” With Naomi Murakawa. Paper Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, Toronto, September 2-5, 2009.
“The Invisible Man: Race, Crime and Federalism.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL. April 2-5th, 2009.
Session Chair, “Defining, Framing, and Reconceptualizing Race: Policy Adoption and Policy Outcomes. the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL. April 2-5th, 2009.
Session Co-chair. “Crime, Policy and Politics in Comparative Perspective.” Annual Meetings of the European Society of Criminology Meetings. Edinburgh, Scotland. September 2-September 5, 2008.
“The Politics of Punishment: An Institutional Approach.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the European Society of Criminology Meetings. Edinburgh, Scotland. September 2-September 5, 2008.
“The Face of the Innocence Frame: Media, Race and Death Penalty Exonerations.” With Regina Lawrence. Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA. August 27-August 30, 2008.
Panel Chair, “Spillover Effects and Policy Linkages across Issues and Levels of the Federal System.” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Boston, MA. August 27-August 30, 2008.
“The Politics of (In)Justice and the Pitfalls of Federalism: Moving Beyond a National Civil Rights Strategy Through Local Politics.” The Paradoxes of Race, Law and Inequality in the United States, University of California, Irvine. May 2-3rd, 2008.
“Who is Federalism For: Liberals, Conservatives, Everyone or Political Losers?” Panel participant, Association of American Law Schools, New York, NY. January 2008.
“Going Local: Measuring Political Participation and Mobilization in Urban Settings.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. August 30-September 2, 2007.
“Legislative Activism, Populism and Racial Politics: What Explains Variation in State Crime Policies?” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. August 30-September 2, 2007.
“De-mobilizing Citizens: Interest Groups in State and Local Crime Politics.” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings on the Midwest Political Science Association Meetings, April 12-14th, 2007.
Discussant, “Dark Prisons, Racial Orders and the Justice System,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31st – September 3rd, 2006, Philadelphia, PA.
“The Politics of Federal Prosecution: U.S. Attorneys Offices in the Federal Criminal Justice System,” Paper prepared for the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 31st – September 3rd, 2006, Philadelphia, PA. With Jim Eisenstein.
“Interest Groups and the Pennsylvania Criminal Law,” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, July 6-9, 2006, Baltimore, MD.
Chair and discussant, “Legislation and Legislators in Court,” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, July 6-9, 2006, Baltimore, MD.
“Interest Groups and the Federalization of U.S. Criminal Justice Policy,” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology. November 16-29th, 2005. Toronto, Canada.
Chair and discussant, “Do Concepts Travel,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4th, 2005. Washington, D.C.
Discussant, “Politics in Lower Courts,” Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, September 1-4th, 2005. Washington, D.C.
"The Contours of Federal Criminal Justice: A Preliminary Look." Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 29th –September 1st, 2003. Philadelphia, PA. With Jim Eisenstein (lead author) and John Kramer.
“Towards a Theory of the Representational Bias in a Federal Political System.” Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Midwest Political Science Association, April 3-6th, 2003. Chicago, IL.
“Satisfaction With Police and Neighborhood Collective Efficacy: Formal Contributions to Informal Social Control,” with Eric Silver (lead author). Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology. November 13-17, 2002. Chicago, IL
“Punishment and Mass Incarceration: A Roundtable Discussion on Crime, Policy and Politics.” Co-convener and participant. Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology. November 13-17, 2002. Chicago, IL.
“Research Opportunities in the Federal Criminal Justice System.” Participant. Convened by Jim Eisenstein and Matthew Holden. Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 30-September 2, 2002. Boston, MA.
“Who Gets What, Where and How? Federal and State Cooperation in Prosecution and Law Enforcement.” Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Criminology, November 7-10, 2001. Atlanta, GA.
“The Federal/State Prosecution Nexus: Preliminary Empirical Findings.” Presented at the Annual Meetings of the American Political Science Association, August 30-September 2, 2001. San Francisco, California. With Jim Eisenstein (lead author) and John Kramer.
“Can Community Policing Strengthen Community: A critical assessment of some core assumptions.” Annual Meetings of the Law and Society Association, July 4-7, 2001. Budapest, Hungary. With Eric Silver. [unable to attend – paper delivered by panel chair]
“The Lesser of Two Evils: Community Crime Prevention and the Policing of the Inner-City.” Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association, August 31-September 3, 2000. Washington, D.C.
“Who’s in Charge Here? Race, Community and the Politics of Crime Prevention.” Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. May 27-30, 1999. Chicago, IL.
"Community-friendly policing." Roundtable discussant. Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association. November 18-21, 1998. Seattle, Washington.
"Police, Community and Control: Operation Weed and Seed in Seattle." Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Meetings, September 3-6, 1998. Boston, MA.
"Community, Control and the Politics of Policing: Operation Weed and Seed and Community Policing in Seattle.” Annual Meeting of the Law and Society Association. June 3-6, 1998, Aspen, Colorado. Co-authored with Bill Lyons.
"Race, Crime and Punitive Drug Policy: The Case of Seattle's Drug Traffic Loitering Ordinance." Western Political Science Association Meetings, March 1995.
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
“American exceptionalism? Race, Crime and Democracy in the United States.” 55Plus, Jewish Center of Princeton, February 21, 2019.
“Money in Politics: Free Speech or Corrupting?” Moderator, Network for Responsible Public Policy, with David Donnelly, Lisa Gilbert, William Schulter. November 2, 2017.
“Is the U.S. constitutional system broken?” Network for Responsible Public Policy, with Peter Coy and Earl Maltz. September 22, 2016, Farleigh Dickinson University.
“The State of American Politics.” Roundtable discussion with Jay Sexton and Congressman Jim Himes. Oxford North American Reunion, Washington, DC, April 8-9, 2016.
“The Tragedy of American politics: Violence, inequality and mass incarceration.” Cathedral Village Retirement Community, May 20, 2015.
“The New Jim Crow,” Princeton Jewish Center, Social Justice Committee, December 8, 2013.
“Race, the U.S. Death Penalty, and Global Human Rights.” Livingston College, Building Community, Lecture Series on Human Rights, Rutgers University, November 20th, 2006.
“The Politics of (In)Justice: Lessons from a Nation’s Racialized Past.” Livingston College, Building Community, Lecture Series on Human Rights, Rutgers University, October 12th, 2005.
“Death Penalty Symposium,” Amnesty International Penn State Chapter, Eisenhower Chapel, Penn State University, March 23, 2004. University Park, PA.
“College Students and Political/Civic Engagement,” Social Change Week, University Student Government. Penn State University, January 22nd, 2004. University Park, PA.
TEACHING
Awards
SAS Award for Distinguished Contribution to Undergraduate Education, Assistant Professor Category, Rutgers University, 2006-7.
Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Presidential Fellow, Rutgers University, Fall 2006-Spring 2008.
Courses
Graduate:
Research Design
Law and Social Policy
Law and Social Movements
The Law and Politics of Crime and Punishment
Undergraduate:
U.S. Constitutional Law
Law and Politics
Race, Crime and Justice
Comparative Crime and Punishment
Explaining Mass Incarceration
Crime and Public Policy
Checks and Balances and Other Myths of American Politics [senior seminar]
Democracy, Punishment and Inequality, Honors seminar
Critical Issues in Race and Criminal Justice, an inter-disciplinary advanced undergraduate seminar sponsored by the Center for Race and Ethnicity
First-year seminar: How Democratic is the U.S. Constitution? (Fall 2008), Race, Crime, Politics in HBO’s The Wire (Spring 2010), The Politics of Urban Crime (Fall 2014 with P. Carr)
Crime and Public Policy
Seminar in Security, Violence and Fear in American Politics
Seminar in Violence and Non-violence
Introduction to American Politics
Teaching Colloquia
“Teaching Your First Course,” February 2008. Graduate School, Rutgers University
“Preparing to Teach a Course,” November 2007, Graduate School, Teaching Assistant Program, Rutgers University.
“Teaching Your First Course,” February 2007. Graduate School, Rutgers University
“Getting your dissertation published,” April, 2006. New Faculty Workshop, Rutgers University.
“Teaching Your First Course,” February 2006. Graduate School, Rutgers University
“Turning your dissertation into a book,” March 2005. Graduate School, Rutgers University.
“Teaching and Grading,” February 2005, Department of Political Science Graduate Student Workshop. Rutgers University
"On-Line Writing Workshops: Experiments in Web-Technology." Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Association Meetings, September 3-6, 1998. Boston, MA.
UNIVERSITY, DEPARTMENT, PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Division Co-Chair, American Political Economy, APSA 2023
Member, Search Committee, Joint Hire in Race and Ethnic Politics with Africana Studies, 2019-20
Chair, Lasting Contribution Award, Law and Courts Section of the American Political Science Association, 2019
Member, William Anderson Award Committee, American Political Science Association, 2019
Chair, Herbert Jacob Prize, Law and Society Association, 2018
Core Requirements Committee, School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers University, 2017-2019
Chair, Search Committee, American Politics/Race and Ethnic Politics, Rutgers University, 2016-17
Chair, Search Committee, Joint hire in Political Science and Criminal Justice, Rutgers Universtiy, 2015-16
Advancement and Promotions Committee, School of Arts and Sciences,
Rutgers University, 2014-
Advisory Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2016-
Personnel Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2016-
Director, Princeton-Rutgers Criminal Justice Working Group, 2013-15
Collaborative speaker series between Rutgers-New Brunswick and LAPA/Princeton
Chair, Graduate Program Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2014-2016
Faculty representative, University Senate
Rutgers University, 2013-2016
Faculty representative, Executive Council Graduate School – New Brunswick
Rutgers University, 2013-2016
Executive Committee, Public Policy Section
American Political Science Association, 2013-2017
Aaron Wildavsky Award Committee
American Political Science Association, 2014
Dissertation Award Selection Committee
Law and Society Association, 2012
Chair, Search Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2009-2010
Acting Director, Center for Race and Ethnicity
Rutgers University, 2009-2010
Advancement and Promotion Committee, School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers University, 2009-2011
Peer Evaluation Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2010
Advisory Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2010
Personnel Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2008-2009
Nominating Committee, School of Arts and Sciences
Rutgers University, 2006-2008
Search Committee, Department of Political Science, Political Theory
Rutgers University, Fall 2007
Curriculum Committee, Fall 2007-Spring 2008
Criminal Justice Program, Rutgers University
Program Committee, Criminal Justice Program
Rutgers University, permanent member
Summer Institute Selection Committee
Law and Society Association, 2006-8
Advisory Committee, Department of Political Science
Rutgers University, 2004-6
Search Committee, Department of Political Science, Race/Ethnicity in U.S. Politics
Rutgers University, 2005-6
Penn State Mock Trial Club, Faculty Advisor
Penn State University, 2003-4
Membership Committee
Law and Society Association. 2001-2003.
Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society, Penn State Chapter, Faculty Advisor
Penn State University, 2001-2003
Faculty Marshall, Graduation Ceremonies, College of Liberal Arts
Penn State University, May 2002
Crime, Law and Justice Recruitment Committee, Dept. of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice, Penn State University, 2002-2004.
Advisory Committee, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice
Penn State University
Minority Affairs Committee, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice
Penn State University
Graduate Committee, Department of Sociology and Crime, Law and Justice
Penn State University
MANUSCRIPT REVIEWS
Cambridge University Press
Oxford University Press
American Journal of Political Science
American Political Science Review
British Journal of Political Science
Journal of Politics
Perspectives on Politics
Law and Society Review
Criminology and Public Policy
Punishment and Society
Theoretical Criminology
European Journal of Criminology
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Political Science Association
Law and Society Association
Midwest Political Science Association
European Political Science Association