She has a Ph.D. from the University of Washington and a B.A. from the University of Virginia. Her interests are at the intersection of law and social policy, specifically the politics of punishment and the legal and political mobilization of racial minorities on crime and justice issues. She has written extensively on the development of crime and justice policy and legal frameworks in the United States and has also published research examining the inner workings of the federal criminal courts. Her most recent book is The Perils of Federalism: Race, Poverty and the Politics of Crime Control. (2008, Oxford University Press).