Austin Sarat (born November 2, 1947) is an American political scientist who is William Nelson Cromwell Professor of
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...
and
Political Science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
at
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
in
Amherst, Massachusetts
Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...
. He is also a
Five College Fortieth Anniversary Professor. He has written, co-written, or edited more than fifty books in the fields of law and political science. Professor Sarat received a
B.A. from
Providence College
Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...
in 1969, and both an
M.A. and
Ph.D. from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
in 1970 and 1973, respectively. He also received a
J.D. from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...
in 1988.
Sarat's primary research interest is the use of the
death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
, which he refers to as "state killing."
Sarat has received the Ronald Pipkin Service Award, awarded annually to a
Law and Society Association member who has demonstrated sustained and extraordinary service to the Association, 2014. He also has received the Lasting Contribution Award, awarded by the American Political Science Association’s Section on Law and Courts “for a book or journal article, 10 years or older, that has made a lasting impression on the field of law and courts.” Recognizing "The Emergence of Transformation of Disputes: Naming, Blaming, Claiming," 2011. Sarat also in an Honorary Doctor of Laws at
Providence College
Providence College is a Private university, private Roman Catholic university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1917 by the Dominican Order and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, it offers 47 undergraduate Academic ...
.
Publications
*Lethal Injection and the False Promise of Humane Execution, with Mattea Denney, Nicolas Graber-Mitchell, Greene Ko, Lauren Pelosi, and Rose Mroczka. Stanford University Press, 2022.
*Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America's Death Penalty: Stanford University Press, 201
*Re-imagining To Kill a Mockingbird: Family, Community, and the Possibility of Equal Justice under Law. University of Massachusetts Press, 2013
*Legal Responses to Religious Practices in the United States: Accommodation and its Limits. Cambridge University Press, 2012
*The Secrets of Law, with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey. Stanford University Press, 2012
*Imaging New Legalities: Privacy and its Possibilities in the Twenty First Century, with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey. Stanford University Press, 2011
*Life Without Parole: America’s New Death Penalty?, with Charles Ogletree NYU Press, 2012
*Dissenting Voices in American Society: The Role of Judges, Lawyers, and Citizens. Cambridge University Press, 2012
*Merciful Judgments and Contemporary Society: Legal Problems, Legal Possibilities. Cambridge University Press, 2011
*Transitions: Legal Changes, Legal Meanings University of Alabama Press, 2011
*Who Deserves to Die, with Karl Shoemaker University of Massachusetts Press, 2011
*Imagining Legality: When Law Meets Popular Culture. University of Alabama Press, 2011
*Options for Teaching: Teaching Literature and Law, with Cathrine O. Frank and Matthew Anderson. Modern Language Association, 2011
*Law as Punishment/Law as Regulation, with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey. Stanford University Press, 2011
*Is the Death Penalty Dying?: European and American Perspectives Cambridge University Press, 2011
*Subjects of Responsibility, with Andrew Parker and Martha Umphrey Fordham University Press, 2011
*Law Without Nations, with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey. Stanford University Press, 2010
*Performances of Violence, with Carleen Basler and Tom Dumm University of Massachusetts Press, 2010
*When Government Breaks the Law: Prosecuting the Bush Administration, with Nasser Hussain. New York University Press, 2010
*Law and the Stranger, with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey Stanford University Press, 2010
*Speech and Silence in American Law. Cambridge University Press, 2010
*Sovereignty, Emergency, Legality. Cambridge University Press, 2010
*Law and the Humanities: An Introduction, with Cathrine O. Frank and Matthew Anderson. Cambridge University Press, 2009
*The Road to Abolition, with Charles Ogletree. New York University Press.
*Crisis and Catastrophe: Political, Legal, and Humanitarian Responses, with Javier Lezaun. University of Massachusetts Press, 2009
*When Law Fails: Making Sense of Miscarriages of Justice. ed., with Charles Ogletree. New York University Press, 2009
*The Cultural Lives of Cause Lawyers, ed., with Stuart Scheingold. Stanford University Press, 2008
*Forgiveness, Mercy, Clemency, ed., with Nasser Hussain. Stanford University Press, 2007
*Trauma and Memory: Reading, Healing, and Making Law, ed., with Michal Alberstein and Nadav Davidovitch. Stanford University Press, 2007
*Cause Lawyers and Social Movements, ed., with Stuart Scheingold. Stanford University Press, 2006
*From Lynch Mobs to the Killing State: Race and The Death Penalty in America, ed. with Charles Ogletree. New York University Press, 2006
*The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment: Comparative Perspectives, ed., with Christian Boulanger. Stanford University Press, 2005
*Mercy on Trial: What It Means To Stop an Execution. Princeton University Press, 2005
*The Limits of Law, ed., with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey. Stanford University Press, 2005
*Law on the Screen, ed., with Lawrence Douglas and Martha Umphrey. Stanford University Press, 2005
*Dissent in Dangerous Times ed., University of Michigan Press, 2005
*Something to Believe In: Politics, Professionalism, and Cause Lawyers, with Stuart Scheingold. Stanford University Press, 2004
*Law in the Liberal Arts, ed., Cornell University Press, 2004
*Cultural Analysis, Cultural Studies and the Law: Moving Beyond Legal Realism, ed., with Jonathan Simon. Duke University Press, 2003
*Looking Back At Law's Century: Time, Memory, and Change, ed., with Bryant Garth and Robert Kagan. Cornell University Press, 2002
*When the State Kills: Capital Punishment and the American Condition. Princeton University Press, 2001
*Law, Violence, and the Possibility of Justice, ed., Princeton University Press, 2001
*Pain, Death, and the Law, ed., University of Michigan Press 2001
References
External links
Profileat
Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarat, Austin
Amherst College faculty
Living people
1947 births
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni
American political scientists
Yale Law School alumni
Providence College alumni