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ӣ����Ƶ’s Center for Criminal Justice hosted author , professor of law at the University of Colorado Law School, to discuss her recent book, (Cambridge University Press, 2020). In her book, Gruber examines the conflict inherent between the punitive impulse of what she defines as “legal feminism” and the issue of hyper-incarceration in the United States, and, in doing so, critiques the state’s ability to combat sexual and domestic violence through law and punishment.

“The book is important and necessary,” said Kate Mogulescu, professor of clinical law and co-director of the center, who moderated the discussion. “Most people’s conception of feminist history only starts at a specific point, but [Gruber] highlights organizing work done by different types of feminists much earlier than that which has affected the growth of the carceral state.”

Gruber said she “wrote this book for [her] law-school-aged self,” torn between a skepticism of state power and feminist orthodoxy that saw the importance of a strong response to gender violence. Gruber shares a wider historical lens with a less “monolithic” view of feminism, distinguishing between those who saw the legal tools of the state as oppressive against those who saw them as the normative mechanisms of justice.

“As lawyers, we understand that our legal frames are necessarily state-centric, which can make us maybe more sanguine about law and law enforcement,” said Gruber. “We should realize that we should be somewhat careful about successes within that system, and reform from within. While many of the reforms feminists have made and proposed have made the carceral state more feminist, it certainly also made feminism more carceral.”

Gruber also recognized the impressive scholarship of the ӣ����Ƶ faculty in this area, citing the works of Professors Mogulescu, Cynthia Godsoe, Alice Ristroph, and Jocelyn Simonson.

The Center’s book talk has become an annual event, bringing noted criminal law scholars and activists for critical conversations on criminal justice law and policy. Past speakers include , author of , (The New Press, 2019); Issa Kohler-Hausman, author of (Princeton University Press, 2018); and Dr. , author of the Pulitzer Prize-winner (Pantheon, 2016).

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Read more about Professor Aya Gruber