Professor Alice Ristroph, an expert in criminal law, criminal procedure, and constitutional law, joined the faculty as professor of law in July. Ristroph previously taught at Seton Hall University School of Law, where her scholarship focused on the relationships among legal concepts and legal practices.
“It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to join the faculty at Brooklyn Law School,” Ristroph said. “There is so much energy and talent at the school—among the criminal law faculty, in faculty working across other fields, and in the students. And of course, there is so much energy and talent in this borough, which has been my home for years. As Brooklyn Law School continues to educate excellent lawyers, I’m honored to become a part of the team.”
Ristroph has deep experience as a political theorist. She explores in her scholarship, among other topics, how dominant conceptual assumptions in criminal law and criminal procedure have impeded reform efforts and suggests more promising alternative frameworks to minimize the state’s use of force.
“We are proud to welcome Professor Ristroph to our distinguished faculty,” said Dean Nick Allard. “Her compelling work in criminal law and criminal procedure will further enrich our vibrant intellectual community. I look forward to her contributions to our great tradition of advancing scholarship and teaching.”
Ristroph’s previous work has addressed various topics in constitutional theory and criminal law theory, and has appeared in the Yale Law Journal, California Law Review, Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Duke Law Journal, among other publications. Her most recent article, “The Constitution of Police Violence,” appeared in the UCLA Law Review. She joined the Seton Hall faculty in 2008 after serving as associate professor at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. Previously she was an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York City. She holds a J.D. and Ph.D. in political theory from Harvard University.