He is an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute and the former director of Cato’s project on criminal justice. His research interests include the War on Terror, overcriminalization, the drug war, the militarization of police tactics, and gun control. In 2000 he served on the National Committee to Prevent Wrongful Executions. Lynch has also filed several amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving constitutional rights. He is the editor of In the Name of Justice: Leading Experts Reexamine the Classic Article “The Aims of the Criminal Law” and After Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century.