Jeffrey A. Fagan

Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law

Full-time Faculty

Areas of Study

Areas of Specialty

Race and Criminal Procedure
Policing and Police Reform
Firearm Violence and Regulation
Drug Law and Policy
Capital Punishment

Jeffrey Fagan is a leading expert on policing, crime, gun control, and race whose scholarly research is influential in setting public policy.

A prolific scholar, Fagan has served on the editorial boards of academic journals, provided expert testimony, and is a sought-after commentator on policing, race, and the death penalty. His work includes scholarship on capital punishment; the legal socialization of adolescents; neighborhoods and crime; and juvenile crime and punishment. Fagan’s research on the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices—which found that more than 30 percent of the stops were legally unjustified or questionable—was central to a 2013 federal court decision that found the policy unconstitutional.

Fagan, who has taught at Columbia Law since 2001, also holds the position of Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and has been a visiting professor at Yale Law School. He has received awards and fellowships from institutions including the Russell Sage Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Open Society Institute’s Soros Justice Fellowship. He serves on the editorial boards of several journals on criminology and law and is a past editor of the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.

Fagan has served on the Committee on Law and Justice of the National Academies of Science and the 2004 National Research Council panel that examined policing in the United States. He was a member of the MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice and was a founding member of the National Consortium on Violence Research. He has been an expert witness on capital punishment to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. He is a fellow of the American Society of Criminology and served on its executive board for three years.

At Columbia, Fagan directed the Law School’s Center for Crime, Community, and Law and served on the steering committee of the Columbia Center for Youth Violence Prevention at the Mailman School of Public Health.

Publications

Fagan, Jeffrey and Alexis Danielle Campbell, “Race and Reasonableness in Police Shootings,” Boston University Law Review (2020, in press)
Fagan, Jeffrey and Amanda B. Geller, “Profiling and Consent: Stops, Searches and Seizures after Soto,” Virginia Journal of Law and Social Policy,” (2020, forthcoming).
Grosso, C., J. Fagan, M. Laurence, and D. Baldus (deceased), “Death by Stereotype: Race, Ethnicity, and California’s Failure to Implement Furman’s Narrowing Requirement,” UCLA Law Review (forthcoming, 2020).
Harris, Angela, Elliott Ash, & Jeffrey Fagan, ”Fiscal Pressures and Discriminatory Policing: Evidence from Traffic Stops in Missouri,” Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics (2020, forthcoming).
Kalesan, B.K., H.M. Bailey, Y. Zuo, F. Li, H., J.Min, K. Vaddiparti, M. Prospen, J. Fagan, & S. Galea, “Changes in Patterns of Mortality Rates and Years of Life Lost due to Firearms in the United States, 1999-2016: A Joinpoint Analysis,” PLOS One (2020, in press).
Baldus, D. (deceased), G. Woodworth, R. Newell, M. Laurence, J. Fagan, and C. Grosso, "Furman at 45: Constitutional Challenges from California's Failure to (Again) Narrow Death Eligibility." 16 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 693 (December 2019).
MacDonald, John M., and Jeffrey Fagan, “Using Shifts in Deployment and Operations to Test for Racial Bias in Police Stops,” 109 AEA Papers and Proceedings 1–5 (2019), https://doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20191027
Amanda Geller and Jeffrey Fagan, “Police Contact and the Legal Socialization of Urban Teens." 5 The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 26-491 (2019).
Fagan, Jeffrey. “Segregation and Law Enforcement,” in The Dream Revisited: Contemporary Policy Debates About Housing, Segregation and Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century (Ingrid Gould Ellen and Justin Stiel, eds.) 153, Columbia University Press (2019)
Kalesan, B.K., Y. Zuo, Z, Xuan, B. Siegel, J. Fagan, C. Branas, S. Galea, “Patterns of Injury Severity in Firearm Hospitalizations from 1993 to 2014: A Joinpoint Analysis,” Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open (2018)
Legewie, Joscha, and Jeffrey Fagan, “Aggressive Policing and the Educational Performance of Minority Youth.” 84 American Sociological Review 220-247 (2019), SocArXiv. https://doi:10.31235/osf.io/rdchf
Grunwald, Ben and Jeffrey Fagan, “The End of Intuition-Based High-Crime Areas.” 107 California Law Review 102 (2019).
Fagan, Jeffrey, and Amanda B. Geller, "Race, Police and the Production of Capital Homicides,” 23 Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law 102 (2018).
Fagan, Jeffrey and Daniel Richman. “Understanding Recent Spikes and Longer Trends in American Murders,” 117 Columbia Law Review 1235 (2017)
Kalesan, B., K. Lagast, M. Villareal, E. Pino, J. Fagan, and S. Galea, “School Shootings During 2013-15 in the U.S.,” Injury Prevention (2017,) at doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2016-042162
Kalesan, B., C. Adhikarla, J.C. Pressley, J.A. Fagan, Z. Xuan, M. Siegel, S. Galea, “The hidden firearm epidemic: increasing firearm injury rates 2001-2013," American Journal of Epidemiology (2017) at doi: 10.1093/aje/kww147
“Stops and Stares: Race and Proactive Policing,” (with Anthony Braga, Rod Brunson, and April Pattavina), 43 Fordham Urban Law Journal, 2016
“New Policing, New Segregation,” (with Elliot Ash), Georgetown Law Journal, 2016
“The Effects of Local Crime Surges on Crime and Arrests in New York City,” (with J. MacDonald and A.B. Geller), PLoS ONE 11(6): e0157223. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.015722
“Terry’s Original Sin, University of Chicago Legal Forum,” forthcoming, 2016
“Following the Script: Narratives of Suspicion in Terry Stops in Street Policing,” (with Amanda B. Geller), 82 University of Chicago Law Review 51, 2015
“American Policing in the 21st Century: Legitimacy is a Key Concern,” (with T.R. Tyler), 40 Fordham Urban Law Journal 119, 2015
“The Salience of Social Contextual Factors in Appraisals of Police Interactions with Citizens: A Randomized Factorial Experiment,” (with Braga, Anthony A., et al.), Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 2014
“Aggressive Policing and the Health of Young Urban Men,” 104 American Journal of Public Health 2311, 2014, (with Amanda B. Geller and T. Tyler)
“Policing, Crime, and Legitimacy in New York and Los Angeles: The Social and Political Contexts of Two Historic Crime Declines,” (with J. MacDonald) The Uncertain Future (David Halle and Andrew Beveridge, eds.), Oxford University Press 243, 2013
“Race and Selective Enforcement in Public Housing,” with (G. Davies and A. Carlis.), 9 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, 2012
“Street Stops and Broken Windows Revisited: Race and Order Maintenance Policing in a Safe and Changing City,” (Fagan, J., et al.) Exploring Race, Ethnicity and Policing: Essential Readings, (S. Rice and M. White, eds.), New York University Press 309, 2010
“Pot as Pretext: Marijuana, Race and the New Disorder in New York City Street Policing,” (with A.B. Geller) 7 Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 591, 2010
Legitimacy, Criminal Justice, and the State in Comparative Perspective, (T. Tyler, A. Braga, et al., eds.), Russell Sage Foundation Press, 2008
“Drug Control in Public Housing: The Paradox of the Drug Elimination Program in New York City,” (G. Davies and J. Holland), 13 Georgetown Journal of Poverty, Law & Policy, September 2007

Honors and Awards

National Associate, National Research Council and Institute of Medicine

2011–Present

Fellow, Earl Warren Legal Institute, School of Law, University of California-Berkeley

1999–Present

Power of One Award, Racial Justice Award, Center on Race Crime and Justice, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

2016

Lillie and Nathan Ackerman Lecture in Equality and Justice, Baruch College

November 2013

Fellow, Davenport College, Yale University

Darrow K. Soll Memorial Criminal Law and Justice Lecture, Indignities of Order Maintenance, Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

March 2013

Lecturer, Hoffinger Colloquium, Profiling and Consent: The Trouble with Police Consent Decrees, New York University School of Law

April 2011

Senior Justice Fellow, Open Society Institute

2005–2006

Health Policy Scholar, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

2002–2004

Fellow, American Society of Criminology

April 2002

Book Award, “Best Book on Adolescence and Social Policy” for Changing Borders of Juvenile Justice (with F. Zimring), Society for Research on Adolescence

2002

Public Interest Achievement Award, Public Interest Law Foundation of Columbia University

Spring 2001

Bruce Smith Senior Award, Academy for Criminal Justice Sciences

March 2000

Lecturer, Fortunoff Colloquium, Social Contagion of Violence. New York University School of Law

April 1999

University Faculty Merit Award, Rutgers University

1990–1994

Remarks and Testimony

U.S. v. Antonio Williams and John Hummons, 12-CR-887, Chief Judge Ruben Castillo, U.S. District Court, Northern Division of Illinois, 2013
In re: Ferguson Police Department, Special Litigation Section, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice, DJ 207-42-6
Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 08 Civ. 1034 (SAS), 2008
Davis et al. v. City of New York, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 10 Civ. 0699 (SAS), 2010
Ligon et al. v. City of New York, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York,12 Civ. 2274 (SAS), 2012
State v. Raheem Moore, Circuit Court # 08CF05160, State of Wisconsin, Criminal Division, Milwaukee County
Connecticut v Arnold Bell, Docket # CR02-0005839, District Court of Connecticut, New Haven
Jessica Gonzales v. United States, Petition No. 1490-05, Inter Am. C.H.R., Report No. 52/07, OEA/Ser.L./V/II.128, doc. 19, 2007
U.S. v. Joseph Brown and Jose Lavandier, U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, Docket No. 2:06-CR-82-2
United States v. Khalid Barnes, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 04 Cr. 186 (SCR)
Loggins v. State, 771 So. 2d 1070, Ala. Crim. App., 1999
Truman-Smith v. Bryco Firearms et al. (02-30239 (JBW)), and Johnson v. Bryco Firearms et al. (03-2582 (JBW)), Eastern District of New York
U.S. v. Alan Quinones, S3 00 Cr. 761 (JSR), Southern District of New York
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and National Spinal Cord Injury Association (NSCIA) v. American Arms Corporation, Accu-sport Corporation, et. al., Eastern District of New York, 99 CV 3999 (JBW), 99 CV7037 (JBW)
U.S. v. Durrell Caldwell, J-2045-00; J-2250-00, Family Division, Juvenile Branch, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

View an extended list of Jeffrey Fagan's remarks and testimony:
- Jeffrey Fagan Remarks and Testimony (PDF)
- Jeffrey Fagan Presentations (PDF)
- Jeffrey Fagan External Research Report (PDF)

Activities and Affiliations

Advisory Board, Eighth Amendment Project, 2014-present
Research Advisory Board, The Innocence Project, 2009-present
Working Group on Law, Legitimacy and the Production of Justice, Russell Sage Foundation, 2000-present
Fellow, Earl Warren Legal Institute, University of California School of Law, 1998-present
Advisory Board, Evaluation of the Comprehensive Gang Intervention Program, University of Chicago, 1997-present
National Consortium on Violence Research, Carnegie Mellon University (NSF), 1996-present
Member, Committee to Review Research on Police Policy and Practices, National Research Council, National Research Council, 2001-2003
Committee on Law and Justice, National Academy of Sciences, 2000-2006, vice chair, 2004-2006
Working Group on Incarceration, Russell Sage Foundation, 2000-2006
Academic Advisory Council, National Campaign Against Youth Violence (The White House), 1999-2001
Fellow, Aspen Roundtable on Race and Community Revitalization, 1999-2001
Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice, MacArthur Foundation, 1996-2006
Committee on Opportunities in Drug Abuse Research, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (Special Consultant), 1995-1996
Committee on the Assessment of Family Violence Interventions, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, 1994-1998
Initial Review Group, Violence and Traumatic Stress Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, 1994-1998

Professional Experience

2015–present: Faculty, Columbia Population Research Center
2011–present: Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Columbia Law School
2010–present: Senior Research Scholar, Yale Law School
2008–present: Faculty Fellow, Columbia Population Research Center
1999–present: Faculty Fellow, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University
1996–present: Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
2018 (Fall): Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
2013 (Spring): Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
2010–11: Fellow, Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law and Justice, New York University School of Law
2009–10: Florence Rogatz Visiting Professor of Law, Yale Law School
2004–2015: Director, Center for Crime, Community and Law, Columbia Law School
2001–2011: Professor, Columbia Law School
2001–2006: Director, Doctor of Juridical Science in Law (JSD) Program, Columbia Law School
1998–2001: Visiting Professor, Columbia Law School
1995–2002: Founding Director, Center for Violence Research and Prevention, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
1989–1996: Associate Professor to Professor, School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey
1988–1989: Associate Professor, Doctoral Program in Criminal Justice, City University of New York Graduate Center; Associate Director for Research, Criminal Justice Center, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
1986–1988: Senior Research Fellow, New York City Criminal Justice Agency.
1977–1986: Director, Center for Law and Social Policy, URSA Institute, San Francisco.
1975–1976: Research Director, Northern California Service League, San Francisco, California.
1974–1975: Associate Research Analyst, Office of Criminal Justice Planning, Oakland, California.
1970–1974: Director, College of Urban Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo.
1969–1971: Teaching Assistant and Research Associate, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Buffalo