Professor Jocelyn Simonson Elected as New Member of American Law Institute

Herman Badillo ’54 Professor of Law Jocelyn Simonson has been elected as a new member of the American Law Institute (ALI), the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law.  The ALI, which in 2024 celebrated its 100th anniversary, aspires to strengthen and improve the legal system.  

“It’s an honor to join so many of my colleagues as a member of the ALI, at a time when attention to the meaning of the Rule of Law is more important than ever,” Simonson said. “I look forward to learning more about this powerful community and seeing how I can play a part in its collective projects.” 

Simonson, co-director of Brooklyn Law School’s Center for Criminal Justice and previous associate dean for research and scholarship, writes and teaches in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, and social change. Her scholarship explores ways in which the public participates in the criminal process and in the institutions of local governance that control policing and punishment. In her book Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People are Dismantling Incarceration (New Press, 2023), Simonson delves deeply into these collective acts of justice. Her law review articles have appeared in the Stanford Law Review, Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, California Law Review, and Michigan Law Review. Professor Simonson’s scholarship has been cited twice by the Supreme Court and was designated “Must Read” by the NACDL Getting Scholarship Into Courts Project. 

“The strength of the Institute lies not only in the quality of our work but in the quality of our conversations—civil, thoughtful, and rooted in respect of differing views,” said ALI President David F. Levi in a statement announcing new members. “In welcoming this new class of members, we renew our commitment to those values and to the important work of clarifying and improving the law in service of a healthy democracy.”  

Other ALI members from the Law School faculty include President, Joseph Crea Dean and Professor of Law David D. Meyer, as well as Vice Dean and Stanley A. August Professor of Law William D. Araiza, Anita and Stuart Subotnick Professor of Law Anita Bernstein, Centennial Professor of Law Dana Brakman Reiser, Gerald Baylin Professor of Law James A. Fanto, David Dinkins ’56 Professor of Law, and Co-Director of the Center for Criminal Justice Alexis Hoag-Fordjour, David M. Barse Professor of Law Edward Janger, Professor of Law Brian A. Lee, Professor of Law Samuel K. Murumba, Les Fagen Professor of Law Alice Ristroph, and Irwin and Jill Cohen Professor Aaron D. Twerski; 1901 Distinguished Research Professors of Law Neil B. Cohen and Marsha Garrison; Professors Emeriti William E. Hellerstein, Beryl R. Jones-Woodin, Norman S. Poser, Elizabeth M. Schneider, and Winnie F. Taylor; and Dean and President Emerita Joan G. Wexler.