Connect with Katherine
About Katherine
Katherine Beckett is Chair and Professor in the Department of Law, Societies, and Justice and S. Frank Miyamoto Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. She is also a faculty associate and steering committee member of the University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights. Professor Beckett’s research analyzes the causes and consequences of criminal legal changes and penal practices. Her research projects have explored the consequences of criminal justice expansion for social inequality, the role of race in drug law enforcement and the administration of the death penalty in Washington State, and more.
Contributions
The Futility and High Cost of Criminalizing Marijuana
No Jargon Podcast
In the News
Publications
Provides a brief overview of the history and evolution of police discretion from the 1960s to today and explain how its exercise has been impacted in recent decades by the war on drugs and the adoption of broken windows policing.
Examines the role of race in the application of the death penalty in the wake of the Furman v. Georgia decision. Suggests that race plays a significant role in capital sentencing even where the statutory framework effectively narrows the pool of homicide cases that may result in the death penalty.