Highlighted Publications




 

This study asks whether court-appointed attorneys achieve different outcomes for low-income defendants based on whether they share the same race. Using administrative data on more than 17,000 misdemeanor cases in Travis County, Texas, the authors examine quasi-random attorney assignment to compare results for Black and White defendants. They find that Black defendants represented by White attorneys are 14–16 percent more likely to have their charges dismissed and 15–26 percen

The authors ask whether state recreational cannabis legalization reduces long-standing racial disparities in the criminal legal system. Using national data from 2007–2019 on arrests, prison admissions, hospitalizations, crimes, and police staffing, they track outcomes for White and Black adults before and after legalization. They find large drops in cannabis possession arrests (down 62% for White adults and 51% for Black adults) and cannabis sales arrests (down 44% and 49%).

This study asks whether sending people who commit financial crimes to prison reduces future offending and whether these sentences also discourage their coworkers from committing similar crimes. The authors use detailed administrative data from Finland, linking court records, workplace information, and criminal histories. Using random assignment of judges to identify causal effects, they find that a prison sentence reduces a defendant’s likelihood of reoffending by about 43 pe

This study asks whether prosecutors’ incorrect beliefs about who is likely to commit violent crimes affect their charging and sentencing recommendations. The authors link survey data from 171 North Carolina prosecutors to more than 600,000 felony cases from 1995–2019. They find that prosecutors systematically underestimate how much violent re-offending declines with age and overestimate how strongly criminal history predicts future violence—by about ninefold. These mistaken b

This study asked whether U.S. city gun buyback programs actually reduce gun crime, homicides, or suicides. Using data from the National Incident-Based Reporting System (1991–2015) and the National Vital Statistics System, the authors analyzed nearly 700 buyback events across more than 400 cities. They found no evidence that these programs lowered firearm-related crime or deaths. Statistically, they could rule out any decrease in gun crime larger than 1.2 percent in the year f

This study asked whether restrictive state gun laws reduce firearm-related suicides and homicides. Researchers examined gun law scores...

The study investigates whether neighborhood incarceration rates predict life expectancy independent of broader social disadvantage. Using...

This study examined whether urban greenspace modifies the relationship between ambient temperature and violent crime in Chicago,...

This study investigates whether U.S. police executives’ support for civilian review boards (CRBs) can be influenced by public opinion or...

This study investigates whether electronic monitoring (EM) is a more effective and cost-efficient pretrial alternative compared to...

This study investigates whether severe health shocks, such as cancer diagnoses, increase individuals’ likelihood of committing crime....

This study examines whether stricter misconduct investigators reduce future police misconduct without decreasing productivity. Using...

This study investigates who is referred to the juvenile justice system for school-based offenses and what academic and behavioral effects...

This study investigates whether residential racial segregation causally increases homicide victimization among non-white Americans. Using...

This study examines whether the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 improved police treatment of African Americans by analyzing FBI Uniform...

This study examines consumer demand for firearms, focusing on price sensitivity and substitution patterns across gun types. Using a...

This study investigates whether peer composition in the Chicago Police Academy influences officers’ future policing behavior. Using a...

This study examines how high-profile acts of police violence impact community engagement with law enforcement, particularly in crime...

This study investigates whether strict school discipline policies, particularly suspensions, increase the likelihood of adult criminal...

This study investigates whether shared identity between defendants and jurors influences court decisions. Using data from the Stockholm...