Jason Robey

Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice Link

Faculty Affiliate, Center for Aging and Policy Studies

CAPS Biography:

My research contributes to the CAPS signature theme on health and well-being, as well as the cross-cutting themes of policy, place, and specific populations. The primary area of my current research reevaluates the role of prisons in the life course in contemporary America, against the backdrop of declining incarceration rates. This research demonstrates that the lifetime risk of imprisonment has been significantly reduced for all populations in the United States and nearly cut in half for the current generation of young Black men. My ongoing research in this area also explores the role of places and policies in shaping the impact of imprisonment on the life course. Another area of my work explores the salience of citizenship and legal status as emerging axes of legal inequality in both felony and misdemeanor court systems, despite substantially lower rates of criminality among immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants. As a socioeconomically disadvantaged population, noncitizens and especially undocumented noncitizens, face unique disadvantages in navigating the criminal justice system.