Rachel Barkow
Charles Seligson Professor of Law
Rachel Barkow is the Charles Seligson Professor of Law at NYU School of Law and Faculty Director of the Zimroth Center on the Administration of Criminal Law. She clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Laurence Silberman on the D.C. Circuit. From 2013 to 2019, she served as a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission. Her book Prisoners of Politics is a landmark critique of how political incentives drive mass incarceration, and her 2025 book Justice Abandoned examines Supreme Court decisions that enabled it.
Teaching Style
Professor Barkow is a direct and incisive Socratic teacher who cold-calls students with focused, pointed questions designed to test their understanding of doctrinal rules and their real-world consequences. She brings deep expertise from her service on the U.S. Sentencing Commission to the classroom, grounding theoretical discussions in practical experience. She expects students to think critically about the institutional structures that produce criminal law outcomes, not just the rules themselves.
Cold Call Tips
- 1Know the elements of major crimes and defenses cold — Barkow expects precision on black-letter criminal law
- 2Be prepared to discuss the institutional dynamics of criminal law making, including the role of prosecutors, legislatures, and sentencing commissions
- 3Read her work on mass incarceration to understand the policy context she brings to doctrinal analysis
- 4Think about how administrative law principles apply to criminal justice institutions — she often bridges these two fields
Areas of Expertise
Education
- J.D., Harvard Law School
- B.A., Northwestern University
Notable Publications
- Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration (2019)
- Justice Abandoned (2025)
- Separation of Powers and the Criminal Law (Stanford Law Review)
Research Interests
More Professors at NYU School of Law
Constitutional Law, Antidiscrimination Law, Law and Literature
Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Election Law, Employment Law
Constitutional Law, Family Law, Criminal Law, Reproductive Rights
Constitutional Law, Election Law, Voting Rights, Separation of Powers
Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Federal Courts, Policing
Criminal Law, Racial Justice and the Law, Eighth Amendment, Capital Punishment