Barry Friedman, a professor at NYU Law School and a leading scholar of the law of policing, will visit Texas Law this semester as the 2024 Distinguished Visiting Professor. Friedman will be in residence at the law school twice, first during the week of Feb. 19, and again the week of April 15.
He will meet with students, engage in panel discussions, and participate in faculty colloquia.
“I’m very grateful to get to come to Texas Law to discuss topics that are on the cutting edge of policing—a topic that itself has been atop the national agenda for several years now,” says Friedman. “I’m looking forward to engaging with the students, and spending time with faculty members I very much respect.”
Friedman serves as the founding director of the Policing Project at NYU Law, which he co-founded with Texas Law Assistant Prof. Maria Ponomarenko. The Policing Project uses principles of democratic governance to advance policing accountability and public safety.
“I’m thrilled that we will be hosting Barry Friedman this semester,” says Dean Bobby Chesney. “He is a justly acclaimed scholar and a leading figure in the law of policing. His work on this issue—especially his work with our own Maria Ponomarenko—is timely and important, and it’s fantastic that our faculty and students will be able to spend time with him.”
Friedman has published extensive scholarship about police regulation, constitutional law and theory, federal jurisdiction, and judicial behavior, including the critically acclaimed book “The Will of the People: How Public Opinion Has Influenced the Supreme Court and Shaped the Meaning of the Constitution.”
The Distinguished Visiting Professor program brings renowned faculty from other institutions to Texas Law for short residencies, lasting anywhere from one week to a full semester. These special guests find multiple ways to participate in the intellectual life of the school community, including teaching and giving public talks. Yale Law School Prof. Justin Driver was the Distinguished Visiting Professor in 2023, teaching teach a course called Student Constitutional Rights and delivering a public lecture, “Schooling Free Speech.”
Texas Law students will have the opportunity to attend three panels Friedman will be leading on Friday, Feb. 23:
- “Policing in the Age of the Gun” | Charles I. Francis Auditorium | 11:45 am – 1:00 pm
- Moderator and Panelist: Barry Friedman
- Panelists: Sylvia Moir (Undersheriff, Marin County) and Clark Neily (CATO)
- “Crime and Violence: What Works, What Doesn’t, and What Don’t We Know” | Sheffield Massey Room | 1:15 – 2:30 pm
- Moderator and Panelist: Maria Ponomarenko (Texas Law)
- Panelists: Jamein Cunningham (Texas Law & LBJ School), Michael Sierra-Arévalo (Texas Sociology), Art Acevedo (former Austin Police Chief), and Trudy Strassburger (First Assistant District Attorney)
- “Stop Calling the Police: Alternatives to Police Response” | Sheffield Massey Room | 2:45 – 4:00 pm
- Moderator and Panelist: Barry Friedman
- Panelists: Christy Lopez (Georgetown Law) and Chris Harris (Austin Justice Coalition)