Kaneesha R. Johnson
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About Kaneesha
My research lies at the intersection of public policy, the criminal legal system, and historical institutionalism within the field of American politics. My book project, which won the Harvard Department of Government Robert Noxon Toppan prize for the best dissertation upon a subject of political science, focuses on the ways in which the state designs systems of punishment as a form of social control and how people who are subjected to those forms of control respond at the local level.
Contributions
America's Failed Efforts to Reform the Death Penalty
In the News
Publications
Examines the record established through 40 years of experience with the “new and improved” death penalty since, in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated all existing death penalty laws in its landmark Furman v. Georgia decision. Asks if the modern system has worked as intended, and have the states successfully targeted only a narrow class of particularly heinous crimes and the most deserving criminals for the ultimate punishment, or do various elements of caprice, bias, and arbitrariness continue to make the application of the death penalty akin to “being struck by lightning” as the Court noted in Furman?
Overviews recent agenda-setting pieces that describe particular challenges or limitations of political science research on mass incarceration, or that propose new avenues of research. Highlights work on how public opinion, activism, and interest group activity have contributed to mass incarceration. Discusses political outcomes, discussing research about how experiences with incarceration can shape public opinion and political participation, and gives an overview of research on the political effects of felon disenfranchisement laws.
Finds that a main determinant of whether an individual will be executed is not the crime they commit, but the jurisdiction’s experience with executing others. This is not acceptable—legally, morally, or constitutionally.