Rate My Professor Rachel Barkow

Her research specializes in criminal law, particularly the application of administrative and constitutional law to criminal justice administration, including sentencing, prosecutors, separation of powers, federalism, and clemency. Key publications include Justice Abandoned: How the Supreme Court Ignored the Constitution and Enabled Mass Incarceration (Harvard University Press, 2025), Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration (Harvard University Press, 2019), and Prosecutors in the Boardroom: Using Criminal Law to Regulate Corporate Conduct (NYU Press, 2011, co-edited). She has co-authored several editions of Criminal Law and Its Processes: Cases and Materials and published over 60 articles, such as "Can Prosecutors End Mass Incarceration?" (Michigan Law Review, 2021) and "Clemency" (Annual Review of Criminology, 2024, with Mark Osler). A leading expert in criminal law and policy, she teaches criminal law, administrative law, and constitutional law courses. Honors include NYU's Distinguished Teaching Award (2013), Podell Distinguished Teaching Award (2007), Making A Difference Award (2016), election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019), and American Law Institute membership (2008). Barkow has testified before congressional subcommittees on sentencing, overcriminalization, clemency, and agency capture.