Profile

Brian Forst

Professor
SPA: Justice, Law & Society

  • Brian Forst joined the American University faculty in 1992, following three years at George Washington University. Before that, he was director of research at the Institute for Law and Social Research (1977-85) and the Police Foundation (1985-89). His research on prosecution, policing, and the deterrent effect of the death penalty is cited extensively by criminal justice scholars. His current research focuses on the prevention of terrorism, errors of justice, and sentencing. Professor Forst chairs the Department of Justice, Law and Society’s doctoral program, served on the Faculty Senate from 1995-2004 and 2006-08, and has played cello with the AU Orchestra. He was awarded the School of Public Affairs Bernard H. Ross Teaching Excellence Award in 2002 and the School's Outstanding Scholarship Award in 2008. He is a voting member of the D.C. Sentencing and Criminal Code Revision Commission. His book, Errors of Justice: Nature, Sources and Remedies (Cambridge University Press), was named Book of the Year for 2006 by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. The Cambridge University Press released his book, Terrorism, Crime, and Public Policy, in the fall of 2008.

  • Degrees

    Ph.D. George Washington University
    M.B.A. University of California, Los Angeles
    B.S. University of California, Los Angeles

  • OFFICE

  • SPA - Justice, Law and Society
  • Ward - 248

  • CONTACT INFO

  • (202) 885-6270
  • Send email Profile UserID

  • MEDIA RELATIONS

  • To request an interview
    please call AU Media Relations
    at 202-885-5950 or
    submit an interview request form.

Teaching

  • Fall 2009

    • JLS-710 Sem in Justice, Law & Society: Doctoral Proseminar in Justice
    • Description

  • Spring 2010

AU Expert

Area of Expertise: Terrorism, errors of justice, law enforcement, privatization of policing, prosecution, sentencing, criminal justice policy, research methods and statistics, deterrence and the death penalty, law and economics, socioeconomics of crime and justice

Additional Information: Brian Forst's book,Errors of Justice: Nature, Sources and Remedies(Cambridge University Press, 2004), received the Book of the Year award for 2006 from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He coauthoredThe Privatization of Policing: Two Views (Georgetown University Press, 1999), with Peter Manning. He coedited After Terror: Accelerating Dialogue Among Civilizations (Polity Press, 2005) with Akbar Ahmed. The book features original essays by Kofi Annan, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Amitai Etzioni, former president Khatami of Iran, Bernard Lewis, Martin Marty, Queen Noor of Jordan, Joseph Nye, Judea Pearl, Sir Ravi Shankar, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, E.O. Wilson, and other distinquished contributors. Forst is the author of two books about terrorism under contract with the Cambridge University Press:Terrorism, Crime, and Public Policy (2008) and Criminologists on Terrorism and Homeland Security, which he is coediting with James Lynch and Jack Greene (scheduled for release in 2009). He has been a voting member of the District of Columbia Sentencing Commission since 2004.

Media Relations
To request an interview please call AU Media Relations at 202-885-5950 or submit an interview request form.

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