President, Alliance Constitutional Sex Offense Laws
Professor of Law, Emerita, Southwestern Law School
Professor Catherine L. Carpenter is the Arleigh M. Woods and William T. Woods chair and Professor Emerita at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. She is also the president of Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) and executive director of Access to Restorative Justice, which strives for reintegration of the marginalized through education and advocacy.
Professor Carpenter’s scholarly focus centers on the injustice of sex offender registration laws. Her work has been cited by courts, law professors, and attorneys advocating to overturn the laws. Her most recent article, “Panicked Legislation,” describes the moral pandemic that has gripped the public and which has produced runaway and ill-conceived laws against those who commit sexual offenses. This publication was recognized by the majority of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Commonwealth v. Torsilieri, and it was relied on by the dissent in its powerful rejoinder. An earlier piece entitled “All Except For” criticizes the criminal justice reform movement for its systematic exclusion of those who have committed sexual offenses. And as further evidence of the impact of Professor Carpenter’s scholarship, Maryland overturned its registration laws in 2014 on ex post facto grounds, citing to Professor Carpenter’s work in doing so.