The US criminal legal system is highly localized. This reality extends to what US Supreme
Court Justice Stephen Breyer called “geographic arbitrariness” in the implementation of the …

Many have argued that discrimination against pit bulls is rooted in the breed's association
with Black owners and culture. We theoretically and empirically interrogate that argument in …

In the years since 1975, when the state of Kentucky established its modern death penalty
system, the state has condemned 82 individuals to die, resulting in three executions. Any …

We explore the annual number of death sentences imposed on black and white offenders
within each US state from 1989 through 2017, with particular attention to the impact of …

Abstract In Roper v. Simmons (2005), the US Supreme Court raised the minimum age at
which someone could be subjected to capital punishment, ruling that no one under the age …

In the twenty-first century United States, approximately 15,000 homicides are recorded each
year. Of these, fewer than a hundred are chosen for capital trials. Those chosen, according …

This dissertation explores the phenomenon of abolitionist de facto (in practice)(ADF) states
in the United States (US). These states, located primarily in the Midwestern and Western US …

This dissertation consists of three articles that seek to understand policy developments
related to the death penalty, same-day registration, and felon voting rights in the American …

The death penalty is the highest form of capital sentencing and punishment in the United
States. Since 1973, a little less than half of US states are responsible for passing death …