معرفی
Jocelyn Simonson is the Herman Badillo ’54 Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where she teaches and writes in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, and evidence. She is a leading scholar on public participation in the criminal legal system and transformative justice.
- University: Brooklyn Law School
- School: School of Law
- Department: Department of Law
- Academic Rank: Professor
Her educational background includes a J.D. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Yale University.
- Harvard University – J.D.
- Yale University – B.A.
Professor Simonson's research centers on how ordinary people engage with and reshape the criminal legal system through grassroots actions such as bail funds, copwatching, courtwatching, and participatory defense. She explores how these bottom-up interventions challenge traditional legal doctrines and institutional designs, advocating for a more democratic and just system. Her work bridges legal theory, constitutional rights, and social movement strategy, contributing to the growing fields of movement law and abolition theory.
Her recent publications, appearing in premier journals like Stanford Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Harvard Law Review, reflect a consistent focus on democratizing justice, expanding community control, and reimagining legal institutions. Themes across her work include resistance, accountability, and the epistemic contributions of marginalized communities to legal knowledge.
Professor Simonson has received significant recognition for her scholarship:
- Herman Badillo ’54 Professor of Law (2025)
- Designated 'Must Read' by NACDL Getting Scholarship Into Courts Project
- Cited twice by the U.S. Supreme Court
She is actively involved in mentoring and public scholarship. While no current advisees are listed, her prior role as associate dean for research and scholarship highlights her leadership in academic development. She has also contributed to legal education through clinical and pedagogical writing. Prior to joining Brooklyn Law School in 2015, she served as an Acting Assistant Professor at NYU School of Law and worked as a public defender with the Bronx Defenders, bringing real-world experience into her scholarship and teaching.
Her work is further amplified through her book Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People are Dismantling Mass Incarceration (2023), which synthesizes her research into an accessible and powerful narrative on grassroots justice movements. She continues to shape discourse on criminal justice reform through interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement.
