He attended Williams College and earned Ph.D. and J.D. degrees from U.C. Berkeley. He has been on the Rhode Island Ethics Commission for five years. Professor Cheit’s current research focuses on the intersection between law, public policy, and psychology in understanding social responses to child sexual abuse in the contemporary United States. He also has research interests in the civil justice system and the relationship between insurance and society, and in "good government" and ethics in government, particularly at the state and local level in Rhode Island. His first book, Setting Safety Standards: Regulation in the Public and Private Sectors, was published by the University of California Press. He is currently writing a book on the law and politics of child sexual abuse.