Professor Alexis Hoag Illuminates Headline Cases on National Media

Professor Alexis Hoag, an expert in criminal law and civil rights, had several appearances on broadcast media outlets in recent weeks offering legal analysis of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and other high-profile criminal cases.

Hoag made multiple appearances over several days on CNN’s New Day with John Berman and Brianna Keilar, as well as CNN Newsroom with Victor Blackwell and Alisyn Camerota. She appeared on Nov. 11 discussing Kyle Rittenhouse’s testimony and twice on Nov. 15 discussing closing arguments and jury deliberations.

On Nov. 18, she also commented on the testimony of the men on trial for the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. “[Travis McMichael] can’t have it both ways,” she said, “You can’t be an individual who claims to be trained in de-escalation tactics and… the constitutional limitations of force, and then go out hunting, actively, a Black man jogging down the street.”

Also on Nov. 15, Hoag shared her views on the Rittenhouse trial and other major cases of the day on NPR’s Town Square with Ernie Manouse.

Hoag teaches and writes on criminal law and procedure, evidence, and carceral abolition. Her recent scholarship examines the ways policies, doctrines, and practices within the criminal legal system erode people’s constitutional rights and perpetuate racial subordination. She previously spent more than a decade as a civil rights and criminal defense lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Office of the Federal Public Defender, primarily representing clients convicted of capital offenses in federal post-conviction proceedings.