Other Writing

“The possibility of parole: A powerful incentive that makes us all safer” — Route Fifty. May 6, 2024.

“Fixing the Research-to-Policy Pipeline” — Vital City. March 27, 2024.

“Marijuana reform: What do the experts think?” (with Anna Harvey) — Niskanen Center. April 2023.

“Preventing mass violence: What do the experts think?” (with Anna Harvey) — Niskanen Center. June 2022.

“Stemming Violence by Investing in Civic Goods” (with Anna Harvey) — Vital City. March 2022. Also published in the Gotham Gazette.

“Pretrial detention: What do the experts think?” (with Anna Harvey) — Niskanen Center. October 26, 2021.

“Don’t Blame Progressive Prosecutors for Rising Crime Rates” — Bloomberg Opinion. September 13, 2021.

“Reducing gun violence: What do the experts think?” (with Anna Harvey) — Niskanen Center. August 5, 2021.

“Research Roundup: Lead Exposure Causes Crime” — Niskanen Center. June 15, 2021.

“Policing and public safety: What do the experts think?” (with Anna Harvey) — Niskanen Center. May 26, 2021.

“A New Study Reveals that Not Prosecuting People for Nonviolent Misdemeanors May Actually Reduce Crime” (with Amanda Agan and Anna Harvey) — TIME. May 4, 2021.

“Prosecuting low-level crimes makes us less safe” (with Amanda Agan and Anna Harvey) — Washington Post. April 6, 2021.

“How DNA Databases Deter Crime” — Bloomberg Opinion. February 1, 2021.

“The Deterrent Effects of DNA Databases” — Manhattan Institute. December 2, 2020.

“The problem with ‘Clean Slate’ policies: Could broader sealing of criminal records hurt more people than it helps?” (with Sarah Lageson) — Niskanen Center. August 31, 2020.

“Body Cameras Don’t Make Police More Accountable” — Bloomberg Opinion. July 29, 2020.

“A True Second Chance: A Natural Experiment on Diversion in Texas Reveals Big Benefits for Crime, Employment” — Admissible Evidence, Council on Criminal Justice. July 22, 2020.

“How to Fix Policing” — Niskanen Center. July 9, 2020.

“Investing in Children Breaks Cycles of Poverty and Criminal Justice Involvement” — Admissible Evidence, Council on Criminal Justice. July 6, 2020.

“How to Make a Police Force More Diverse” — Bloomberg Opinion. July 1, 2020.

“Changing Police Recruitment Messages Attracts a Larger and More Diverse Applicant Pool” — Admissible Evidence, Council on Criminal Justice. June 22, 2020.

“Making Fair and Respected Cops: Procedural Justice Training in Chicago Proves Successful” — Admissible Evidence, Council on Criminal Justice. June 5, 2020.

“Incarceration and the COVID-19 Crisis” (with Anna Harvey and Jacob Kaplan) — Econofact. May 2020. Also published by the Niskanen Center.

“Returning Citizens Should Get Checks Too” — Medium. March 29, 2020.

“Empirical evidence on the effects of Ban the Box policies: The state of the literature in 2019” — Written testimony submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a hearing on the Fair Chance Act. March 2019.

“Research roundup: What does the evidence say about how to fight the opioid epidemic?” — Brookings blog. December 7, 2018.

“Gun Regulation Is Costly—and Not the Only Option” — The Regulatory Review, University of Pennsylvania Law School. November 9, 2018.

“Study after study shows ex-prisoners would be better off without intense supervision” — Brookings blog. July 2, 2018.

“Can employment-focused programs reduce reincarceration rates?” — Econofact. June 29, 2018.

“The moral hazard of life-saving innovations: Naloxone access, opioid abuse, and crime” — IZA Newsroom. April 2018.

“Using technology to fight sexual harassment in Economics” — CSWEP newsletter (pages 7-8). April 2018.

“New evidence that access to health care reduces crime” — Brookings blog. January 3, 2018.

“Empirical evidence on the effects of Ban the Box policies” — Written testimony submitted to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for the hearing “Oversight of the Bureau of Prisons and Inmate Reentry.” December 2017.

“Do police body-worn cameras reduce the use of force?” — Econofact. November 2017.

“Do body-worn cameras improve police behavior?” — Brookings blog. October 2017.

“The effects of ‘ban the box’ on the employment of black men” (with Amanda Agan) — Econofact. June 2017.

“New evidence that lead exposure increases crime” — Brookings blog. June 2017.

“Do databases of criminal offenders help reduce crime?” — Medium (premium site, subscription required). May 2017.

Quora Session — Q&A on crime and discrimination — Quora. May 2017.

Quora responses syndicated by other outlets:

“What are the benefits of police-worn body cameras?” — Apple News, Huffington Post

“Can DNA databases reduce crime rates?” — Forbes, Apple News

“How can acoustic gunshot detection systems help law enforcement?” — Forbes

“How is our criminal justice system broken?” — Huffington Post

“How technology is impacting our criminal justice system” — Forbes

“How can the average person help improve our criminal justice system?” — Huffington Post

“Let computers be the judge” — Medium (premium site, subscription required). April 2017.

“Are immigrants more likely to commit crimes?” — Econofact.org. February 2017.

“Forget ‘ban the box’ and give ex-prisoners employability certificates” — Real Clear Policy. December 2016. Also published by Brookings.

“Does ‘Ban the Box’ Help or Hurt Low-Skilled Workers?: Statistical Discrimination and Employment Outcomes when Criminal Histories are Hidden” (with Benjamin Hansen) — Cato Research Briefs on Economic Policy, Number 62. October 2016.

“How hiding criminal records hurts black and Hispanic men” (with Benjamin Hansen) — Time. September 2016.

“Are criminal risk assessment scores racist?” (with Megan Stevenson) — Brookings blog. August 2016.

“DNA databases deter crime, without filling prisons” — Real Clear Markets. August 2016. Also published by Brookings.

“To reduce wrongful convictions, reform the bail system” — Inside Sources. June 2016. Also published by Brookings.

“The unintended consequences of ‘Ban the Box’” — Real Clear Markets. May 2016. Also published by Brookings.

“Gun violence in major U.S. cities is massively underreported” — Brookings blog. April 2016.

“Should we pay people not to commit crime?” — Inside Sources. April 2016. Also published by Brookings, the Las Vegas Sun, and the Jacksonville Journal-Courier.

“Keep the kids inside? Juvenile curfews and urban gun violence” (with Jillian Carr) — Cato Research Briefs on Economic Policy, Number 47. March 2016.

“Want to reduce incarceration rates? Try targeted surveillance” — Real Clear Markets. March 2016. Also published by Brookings.

“To reduce gun violence, empower citizens to make their communities safer” — Inside Sources. February 2016. Also published by Brookings.

“Repealing juvenile curfew laws could make cities much safer” — Real Clear Markets. December 2015. Also published by Brookings.

“Can technology fix the criminal justice system?” — Brookings blog. December 2015.

“Fighting crime with Daylight Saving Time“(with Nicholas Sanders) — Brookings blog. October 2015.

“The case for expanding the DNA database” — Richmond Times-Dispatch. February 2015.

“Race has a hand in determining market outcomes” (with Luke Stein) — VoxEU. June 2010.