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WORK TITLE: Misdemeanorland
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: issa.kohler-hausmann@yale.edu
CITY: New Haven
STATE: CT
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
https://law.yale.edu/issa-kohler-hausmann Phone: (203) 436-3530
RESEARCHER NOTES:
| LC control no.: | no2013021447 |
|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/no2013021447 |
| HEADING: | Kohler-Hausmann, Issa |
| 000 | 00556cz a2200157n 450 |
| 001 | 9206621 |
| 005 | 20180515073551.0 |
| 008 | 130226n| azannaabn |a aaa c |
| 010 | __ |a no2013021447 |
| 035 | __ |a (OCoLC)oca09414284 |
| 040 | __ |a NjP |b eng |e rda |c NjP |d IEN |d DGW-L |
| 100 | 1_ |a Kohler-Hausmann, Issa |
| 372 | __ |a Law |2 lcsh |
| 377 | __ |a eng |
| 400 | 1_ |a Hausmann, Issa Kohler- |
| 670 | __ |a A red herring, c2012: |b page 28 (Issa Kohler-Hausmann, a research fellow at Georgetown Law Center and Ph.D. candidate at New York University and consultant to Human Rights Watch) |
PERSONAL
Born in Milwaukee, WI.
EDUCATION:University of Wisconsin, B.A., 2000; Northwestern University, M.A., 2006; Yale Law School, J.D., 2008; New York University, Ph.D., 2014.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author. Ilissa Brownstein & Associates, attorney; Yale University, Associate Professor of Sociology; Yale Law School, Associate Professor of Law, 2014—.
AWARDS:Law research fellow, Georgetown University; Law and Society Association Award; American Sociological Association Award.
WRITINGS
Also contributor to periodicals, including American Journal of Sociology and the Stanford Law Review.
SIDELIGHTS
Issa Kohler-Hausmann has built a career primarily within law. She became a New York Bar member in the year 2009, and went on to work under Ilissa Brownstein & Associates as an attorney, as well as under her own practice. Kohler-Hausmann is affiliated with Yale University, where she serves as both a sociology and law professor, since the year 2014. Prior to launching her career, she attended the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, Yale Law School, and New York University, earning degrees from each. She has also studied under Georgetown University under the title of Law Research fellow. Kohler-Hausmann has written and released numerous scholarly works throughout several journals, such as the American Journal of Sociology.
Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing is another piece of writing by Kohler-Hausmann, and serves as a culmination of her extensive academic research. The book focuses on the law system within New York City—or, more specifically, on the legislation surrounding misdemeanor felonies and how New York law has affected those guilty of such crimes. According to Kohler-Hausmann’s research, NYC legislators set up its initial policy (now known as the “Broken Windows”) in the year 1994. The purpose of this policy was to establish a stronger level of order and cut down on the amount of minor crimes occurring within the city. Said crimes came to include visible intoxication within public places; panhandling; and making excessive loud noises. What’s more is the enacting of this policy within New York City has come to influence how misdemeanor crimes are treated elsewhere across the country.
Kohler-Hausmann devotes much of the book to looking into the long standing effects of this legislation upon New York citizens. She heads directly to the city courts for an up close look at the way misdemeanor crimes are currently dealt with. She finds that much of the citizens affected are minorities who are already living in poverty, and whose criminal status will now put them at a further disadvantage. Kohler-Hausmann also puts forth the thesis that misdemeanor legislation is not enforced for the sake of justice, but instead as a exercising oppressive control over disenfranchised communities. “[Kohler-Hausmann] raises intriguing questions, both as a legal scholar and as a concerned citizen,” wrote Sam Roberts, a reviewer on the New York Times website. He added: “For anybody the least bit concerned about the subject […] it is a worthwhile read.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor called Misdemeanorland “an important, first-of-its-kind book.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2018, review of Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing.
ONLINE
Legal Talk Network, https://legaltalknetwork.com/ (July 29, 2018), author profile.
New York Times Online, https://www.nytimes.com/ (July 26, 2018), Sam Roberts, “The ‘Social Control’ Elements of New York’s Criminal Justice System,” review of Misdemeanorland.
Russell Sage Foundation website, https://www.russellsage.org/ (July 29, 2018), author profile.
Yale Law School website, https://law.yale.edu/ (July 29, 2018), author profile.
Issa Kohler-Hausmann
Associate Professor of Law and Associate Professor of Sociology
Issa Kohler-Hausmann is an Associate Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale. She joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2014. Her primary research interests are in criminal law, criminal procedure, empirical legal studies, tort law, sociology of law, and legal theory.
FULL BIOGRAPHY
Issa Kohler-Hausmann
Contact Information
issa.kohler-hausmann@yale.edu
Misdemeanorland Data Projects
Faculty Assistant
Jennifer Marshall
(203) 432-4956
jennifer.marshall@yale.edu
Education & Curriculum Vitae
Ph.D. (Sociology), New York University, 2014
J.D., Yale Law School, 2008
M.A., Northwestern University, 2006
B.A., University of Wisconsin, 2000
Courses Taught
Sociology of Law: Law and Bureaucracy
Biography
News
Issa Kohler-Hausmann is an Associate Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale. She joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2014. Her primary research interests are in criminal law, criminal procedure, empirical legal studies, tort law, sociology of law, and legal theory. Before coming to Yale, she was a Law Research Fellow at Georgetown University. Admitted to the New York Bar in 2009, she previously worked in solo practice and has been an associate with Ilissa Brownstein & Associates. In her practice work, she practiced in felony and misdemeanor criminal defense, New York State freedom of information litigation, and parole matters.
Kohler-Hausmann has been most recently published in the Stanford Law Review, the American Journal of Sociology, and has work represented in many other journals and books. Her most recent publications focus on misdemeanor arrests in New York City and their use as a form of social control, and she has won awards for her writing from the American Sociological Association and the Law and Society Association. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, Yale Law School, and New York University.
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Issa Kohler-Hausmann
Issa Kohler-Hausmann is an Associate Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Associate Professor of Sociology at Yale. She joined the Yale Law School faculty in 2014. Her primary research interests are in criminal law, criminal procedure, empirical legal studies, tort law, sociology of law, and legal theory. Before coming to Yale, she was a Law Research Fellow at Georgetown University. Admitted to the New York Bar in 2009, she previously worked in solo practice and has been an associate with Ilissa Brownstein & Associates. In her practice work, she practiced in felony and misdemeanor criminal defense, New York State freedom of information litigation, and parole matters. Kohler-Hausmann has been most recently published in the Stanford Law Review, the American Journal of Sociology, and has work represented in many other journals and books. Her most recent publications focus on misdemeanor arrests in New York City and their use as a form of social control, and she has won awards for her writing from the American Sociological Association and the Law and Society Association. Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she holds degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Northwestern University, Yale Law School, and New York University.
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Yale
Guest Appearances
April 25, 2018
How broken windows policing changed the legal landscape in ‘Misdemeanorland’
Prof. Issa Kohler-Hausmann explains the impact a change in tactics had for New York City police, courts and residents, and discusses her new book, “Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing.”
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Issa Kohler-Hausmann
Associate Professor of Law, Yale University
Kohler-Hausmann will complete a book on how New York City’s signature policing tactics—including “broken windows” and “quality-of-life” policies—have contributed to mass misdemeanor arrests. Drawing from three years of fieldwork, unique datasets, and interviews with prosecutors, judges, defense attorneys and defendants, she will study how misdemeanor cases contribute to racial and class inequalities despite the fact that they often do not result in criminal convictions or jail sentences.
Kohler-Hausmann, Issa: MISDEMEANORLAND
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2018): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Kohler-Hausmann, Issa MISDEMEANORLAND Princeton Univ. (Adult Nonfiction) $29.95 5, 1 ISBN: 978-0-691-17430-3
An in-depth study of misdemeanor justice in New York City.
In 1994, the city initiated "Broken Windows" (or quality-of-life) policing, under which low-level offenses--noise complaints, panhandling, public drunkenness, etc.--became important enforcement priorities in an effort to restore a "society of civility" and prevent minor criminals from growing into major criminals. The approach, championed by Police Commissioner William Bratton, has since been widely adopted elsewhere. In this startling scholarly debut, Kohler- Hausmann (Law and Sociology/Yale Univ.) explores what happened to all those arrests when they arrived in the criminal courts. After three years of research and interviews, she finds the hundreds of thousands of individuals who flooded the lower courts--"almost exclusively poor people of color from the city's most disadvantaged neighborhoods"--did not face sentences based on guilt or innocence. Rather, their arrests were used as a form of social control. Each defendant underwent a process of sorting, testing, and monitoring, aimed at gathering information to help identify "potential deviants" for later court encounters. Under this managerial rather than adjudicative approach, the courts exerted their power through "the techniques of marking through criminal justice record keeping, the procedural hassle of case processing [long waits, filthy conditions, frequent court appearances, etc.], and mandated performance [drug treatment, community service, etc.] evaluated by court actors." Based on a dissertation and burdened by the weight of its scholarly apparatus, the book steps gingerly around the troublesome conclusion that "Broken Windows" arrests in New York are being used to keep close tabs on repeat minor offenders and to keep the lid on heavily policed black and Hispanic communities. While overly detailed, it offers vivid examples of the courtroom experiences of illegal peddlers, squeegee cleaners, and other subfelony offenders and raises innumerable questions about "Broken
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Windows," how its information-collecting and surveillance aspects live on in the courts, and the ongoing relationship between disadvantaged New Yorkers and the criminal justice system.
An important, first-of-its-kind book.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Kohler-Hausmann, Issa: MISDEMEANORLAND." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2018. Book Review
Index Plus, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A532700346/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=d99ced78. Accessed 16 July 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A532700346
2 of 2 7/16/18, 10:16 PM
Most criticism of the criminal justice system is directed at police strategies, like stop-and-frisk, which imply that a lot of people are up to no good, and at sentencing guidelines that result in mass incarceration, which suggest that society is better off with those questionably up-to-no-good people in prison.
In “Misdemeanorland: Criminal Courts and Social Control in an Age of Broken Windows Policing” (Princeton University Press), Issa Kohler-Hausmann, an associate professor of law and sociology at Yale University, explores another major cog of the system.
“After a person is arrested as part of New York City’s famed Broken Windows enforcement, that person has to go somewhere,” she writes. “And where that person goes is misdemeanorland.”
Ms. Kohler-Hausmann, who worked as a criminal defense lawyer in New York, peppers her book with surprising statistics and case histories drawn from her field work and interviews. She raises intriguing questions, both as a legal scholar and as a concerned citizen.
“Misdemeanorland” is not exactly a breezy ride through Disney World. Appreciating her eye-opening account of the criminal justice system’s often overlooked creaky gears requires patience and tolerance for occasional academic jargon. For anybody the least bit concerned about the subject, however, it is a worthwhile read.
Ms. Kohler-Hausmann begins by puncturing the conventional wisdom that the flood of arrests for so-called quality-of-life offenses beginning in the early 1990s would have inundated the courts with misdemeanor cases, leaving judges little choice but to mete out mostly convictions and jail sentences through assembly-line justice.
What happened instead, she writes, was “a decline in the rate of criminal conviction and an increase in the rate of dismissal.”
She found that less than 1 percent of misdemeanor cases even proceed to a pretrial hearing or to a trial in a system where prosecutors have the upper hand by offering plea bargains and where defense attorneys’ only leverage is usually to ask for delays.
Instead, she posits, the penal power exerts social control through what she describes as marking (identifying a defendant as a real or potential lawbreaker), procedural hassle (the ordeal of processing a case) and performance (an evaluation of the defendant’s subsequent behavior).
How? By identifying recidivists on the basis of previous arrests alone, rather than convictions, and then subjecting them to more stringent oversight. Just having an open case significantly increased the probability of a criminal conviction from a misdemeanor arrest, she writes.
Some of her suggested solutions seem logical. Beat officers may not care if a few of their hundreds of fare-beating arrests are dismissed, she writes. But they do care about overtime, vacation days and promotions.
Since a cop can accumulate overtime while waiting to process an arrest whether or not it’s dismissed, “a mayoral and police administration that took seriously enforcing the constitutional rules of police action,” she writes, “would build internal mechanisms to audit for lawful street-level activity and build feedback loops between the data gathered there and the things that police officers care about.”
Other conclusions are more provocative.
Most police practices are intended to reduce violence and social harm, Ms. Kohler-Hausmann acknowledges, and, indeed, the chief beneficiaries have been residents of poor and minority neighborhoods where crime is disproportionately high.
Still, she argues, the costs to those communities of a “managerial” (exercising social control) rather than an “adjudicative” (fairly administering justice) model of law enforcement are enormous: vast numbers of browbeaten people who are degraded by arrest, demeaned by a bureaucratic court system and permanently stamped with criminal records.
“As long as we, as a society, are comfortable with securing social control and order primarily with the tools of criminal law and punishment,” she writes, “this will be the case.”