I am a philosopher and a lawyer specializing in criminal justice, legal studies, philosophy of law (primarily criminal law and procedure), applied ethics, and social and political philosophy. I also explore these topics in film, music, and literature. Recently I’ve been writing about the religious philosophy of my favorite science fiction author, Philip K. Dick.
I am associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at California State University, Stanislaus, where I work within the concentration in Criminal Legal Studies. I am also the director of the minor in pre law, coordinator of the Pre-Law Resource Center, and one of the campus pre-law advisers.
Chris Turner and I edited a book on Werner Herzog and philosophy. It is available from Lexington Books. I designed the cover based on a photograph by Lena Herzog.
My next book is an edited volume entitled Crime, Violence, Justice: Philosophical Perspectives. It will be published by Trivent Publications in early 2025. It is the inaugural volume in Trivent’s Criminal Justice and Philosophy series (which I also serve as editor). The book canvases innovative, critical, and global/international debates addressing the intersection of criminal justice and philosophy (social, political, ethical, and legal).
Our authors, including seasoned as well as early and mid-career scholars from the United States and Europe, are particularly interested in the exploration of innovative approaches to the problems presented by the classification of certain behaviors as criminal or “merely” wrongful, the maintenance of separate criminal and civil legal institutions, and the pervasive use of coercive institutions (police, jails, prison) as mechanisms of social control and punishment.
The cover was painted and designed by my wife, Abby (https://www.housefinchstudio.com/) and is based on my photograph of the sanctuary knocker on the door of Durham Cathedral, taken during the 2023 Critical Legal Conference at Durham University.