About Us
Staff & Board
The Sentencing Project’s staff and board of directors represent a diverse group of individuals with expertise in fields including research, policy, advocacy, and law, with a shared passion for criminal justice reform.
Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D., conducts and synthesizes research on criminal justice policies. She has written about racial disparities in the justice system, public opinion about punishment, and the scope of reform efforts. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, she explained why people serving long sentences for violent crimes should be included in COVID-era decarceration efforts. Her latest report, “A Second Look at Injustice,” is a comprehensive analysis of a growing, powerful tool to curb mass incarceration: second look policies that enable extreme sentences to be re-evaluated. She regularly presents to academic, practitioner, and general audiences and her work has been featured in outlets including the Washington Post, the New York Times, and WNYC’s On the Media. She also edits The Sentencing Project’s Race and Justice Newsletter.
Dr. Ghandnoosh earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her dissertation, “Challenging Mass Incarceration: A California Group’s Advocacy for the Parole Release of Term-to-Life Prisoners,” was an in-depth study of a South Los Angeles-based group challenging severe sentences.
Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D., conducts and synthesizes research on criminal justice policies. She has written about racial disparities in the justice system, public opinion about punishment, and the scope of reform efforts. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, she explained why people serving long sentences for violent crimes should be included in COVID-era decarceration efforts. Her latest report, “A Second Look at Injustice,” is a comprehensive analysis of a growing, powerful tool to curb mass incarceration: second look policies that enable extreme sentences to be re-evaluated. She regularly presents to academic, practitioner, and general audiences and her work has been featured in outlets including the Washington Post, the New York Times, and WNYC’s On the Media. She also edits The Sentencing Project’s Race and Justice Newsletter.
Dr. Ghandnoosh earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her dissertation, “Challenging Mass Incarceration: A California Group’s Advocacy for the Parole Release of Term-to-Life Prisoners,” was an in-depth study of a South Los Angeles-based group challenging severe sentences.
Written By Nazgol Ghandnoosh, Ph.D.
Testimony in support of Washington, DC's Revised Criminal Code Act of 2021
A Second Look at Injustice
Can We Wait 60 Years to Cut the Prison Population in Half?
U.S. Prison Decline: Insufficient to Undo Mass Incarceration
U.S. Prison Population Trends: Massive Buildup and Modest Decline
The Next Step: Ending Excessive Punishment for Violent Crimes
Can We Wait 75 Years to Cut the Prison Population in Half?
Federal Prisons at a Crossroads
Delaying a Second Chance: The Declining Prospects for Parole on Life Sentences
U.S. Prison Population Trends 1999-2014: Broad Variation Among States in Recent Years
U.S. Prison Population Trends 1999-2013: Broad Variation Among States in Recent Years
Black Lives Matter: Eliminating Racial Inequity in the Criminal Justice System
Race and Punishment: Racial Perceptions of Crime and Support for Punitive Policies
Coming on the heels of the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri, this report demonstrates that the consequences of white Americans’ strong association of crime with blacks and Latinos extend far beyond policing.