Christopher E. Smith (born 1958) is an American legal academic who is a specialist in correctional law. He succeeded lawyer and political activist Zolton Ferency as Michigan State University's faculty specialist on constitutional rights in criminal justice. He teaches courses on criminal justice, law, and public policy in Michigan State's School of Criminal Justice.

Biography

After growing up in Michigan, Smith earned his bachelor's degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

before earning a master's degree at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, a J.D. degree at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

, and a Ph.D. in political science from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

. He joined Michigan State University's faculty in 1994 after previously teaching political science at the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public university, public research university in Akron, Ohio, United States. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM fields, STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advance ...

and the University of Connecticut-Hartford.

Work

Smith has written dozens of books focusing on

American government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, execut ...

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

, and the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

. As the author of more than 100 articles for both scholarly and public audiences, his work has appeared in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'', ''American Journal of Criminal Justice'', and ''

Political Research Quarterly ''Political Research Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers the field of political science. The editor-in-chief is Charles Anthony Smith (University of California, Irvine); with associate editors: Andrew Flores (Ameri ...

.''

Legislative career

In 2018, Smith was a candidate for the US House from the MI-08 district. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by

Elissa Slotkin Elissa Blair Slotkin ( ; born July 10, 1976) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Michigan. From 2019 to 2025, she served as the Unite ...

, who also won the general election.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Chris 1958 births Living people American legal scholars Michigan State University faculty Harvard University alumni Alumni of the University of Bristol University of Tennessee College of Law alumni University of Connecticut alumni