Research

Research Statement

My primary research is in the law of democracy with a focus on the theoretical, doctrinal, and ideological dimensions of vote suppression and vote denial. In past work, I have investigated how racial oppression and class-based oppression manifest through the hyper-regulation of the right to vote. My prior articles have examined how this hyper-regulation manifests in voter identification laws, voter fraud claims, felon disenfranchisement laws, and other contexts. This work has been bolstered by my theoretical explorations of tiered legal personhood in regards to privilege and subordination within citizenship status. Within the last several years, in addition to my most recent article addressing democratic practice and Artificial Intelligence, this exploration has examined dimensions of racism and post-racialism that have affected the modern discourse concerning the law that governs American democracy.

My current research extends this agenda through two distinct projects: (1) an examination of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions that effectively nullify the the role of federal power to maintain racial equity in elections; (2) a book-length project exploring how the voter fraud myth distorts the normative and functional meanings of democracy. This work will lead to a comparative examination of the voter suppression phenomenon, an examination of the role of race consciousness in American constitutional law, and other research that extends my work on marginalization in democracy while incorporating my secondary research interests in political theory, critical race theory, and legal history.

Below is a list of all my scholarly articles that are available online as well as links to book-length publications to which I have contributed. For a full list of publications, consult my C.V.

Scholarly Articles

Everything Old is New Again – Advancing Technology and Enduring Problems in American Democracy, Case Western Law Rev. Vol. 75: Iss. 4 (2025)

Unequal Access: The Perpetual Struggle for Voting Rights and the Case of Wisconsin,  Fordham Law Voting Rights & Democracy Forum Vol. 3 (2024) (with Benjamin Edelstein and Mark L. Thomsen) 

Democracy and the Common Good: Perils and Possibilities for a Multiracial Twenty-First Century America,  University of Detroit Mercy Law Review Online Vol. 101 (2023)

“This Lawsuit Smacks of Racism”: Disinformation, Racial Coding, and the 2020 Election, Louisiana Law Review, Vol. 82: Iss. 2 (2022)

The Voting Rights Paradox: Ideology and Incompleteness of American Democratic Practice, Georgia Law Review Vol. 55: Iss. 3 (2021)

Voter Fraud as an Epistemic Crisis for the Right to Vote, Mercer Law Review Vol 71: Iss. 3 (2020)

The Dignity Problem of American Election Integrity, Howard Law Journal, Vol. 62: Iss. 3 (2019)

Normalizing Domination, CUNY Law Review Vol. 20: Iss. 20 (2017).

When Political Domination Becomes Racial Discrimination: NAACP v. McCrory and the Inextricable Problem of Race in Politics, South Carolina Law Review Vol. 68 (2017).

Economic Precarity, Race, and Voting Structures, Kentucky Law Journal Vol. 104: Iss. 4 (2016).

Race, Class, and Structural Discrimination: On Vulnerability within the Political Process, Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development Vol. 28: Iss. 1, Article 4 (2015).

Tiered Personhood and the Excluded Voter, Chicago-Kent Law Review Vol. 90: Iss. 2, Article 4 (2015).

Books and Book Chapters

Voter Registration in Oxford Guide to American Election Law, E. Mazo, ed. (Oxford University Press 2024). 

Race Racism and American Law: Leading Cases and Materials (with Cheryl Harris, Justin Hansford, Amna Akbar, and Audrey MacFarlane) (Aspen Publishing 2023)

It Ain’t My Fault: Hip Hop, Confrontation, and Contemplation from the Jazz Perspective in Hip Hop and the Law (Pamela Bridgewater, et. al, eds., Carolina Academic Press 2015).