SpearIt
Associate Professor of Law

Phone: (713) 313-7276

Email: spearit@tmslaw.tsu.edu

Writings Available for Download on SSRN

Curriculum Vitae

Joined the faculty in 2013.

Education:
J.D., 2009 University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall)
Ph.D., 2006 University of California, Santa Barbara
M.T.S., 2000 Harvard Divinity School
B.A., magna cum laude, 1998 University of Houston

Biographical Information

• Associate Professor, (Tenured) Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Houston, TX (2013-present)

• Contributing Editor, Jotwell Criminal Law (2015-present)
  

• Contributing Editor, The Islamic Monthly (2016-present)

• Chair, Subcommittee on Pell Grant Funding, American Bar Association (2014-present)

• Fellow, Institute for Social Policy & Understanding, Washington D.C. (2012-2016)

• Board of Governors, Society of American Law Teachers (2012-2015)

• Visiting Professor, Seattle University School of Law (Summer 2013, 2015)

• Assistant Professor, Saint Louis University School of Law, Saint Louis, MO (2010-2013)

Publications

• American Prisons: A Critical Primer on Culture and Conversion to Islam (First Edition Design Publishing 2017).

• “Uncertainty Ahead: Update on Pell Grant Funding for Prisoners,” in The State of Criminal Justice 2017 (American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section 2017).

• “Drafting Legal Documents in a Doctrinal Class,” in Experiential Education in the Law School Curriculum (Carolina Academic Press 2017).

• “Not for Free: Exploring the Collateral Costs of Diversity in Legal Education,” 48 U. Pacific L.R. 887 (2017).

• “Restoring the Pell Grant for Prisoners: Growing Momentum for Reform,” in The State of Criminal Justice 2016 (American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section 2016).

• Keeping it REAL: Why Congress Must Act to Restore Pell Grant Funding to Prisoners, 11 U. Mass. L. Rev. 26 (2016).

• Foreword to Thurgood Marshall School of Law Journal of Gender, Race, & Justice, Vol. 6 (2016).  

• Sonic Jihad: Muslim Hip Hop in the Age of Mass Incarceration, 11 Fl. Intl. U. L. Rev. 201 (2015).

• "Raza Islamica: Prisons, Hip hop & Converting Converts,” in Hip Hop and the Law (Carolina Academic Press 2015)(republished from 22 Berkeley La Raza L.J. 175 (2012)).

• Evolving Standards of Domination: Abandoning a Flawed Legal Standard and Approaching a New Era in Penal Reform, 90 Chicago-Kent L. Rev. 495 (2015).

• How Mass Incarceration Underdevelops Latino Communities, in U.S. Latinos and Criminal Injustice (2015).

• Shackles Beyond the Sentence: How Legal Financial Obligations Create a Permanent Underclass, 1 N.Y. L. Sch. Impact Ctr. Pub. Int. L. 46 (2015).

• Redefining Gender Violence—Transcript from Converge! Reimagining the Movement to End Gender Violence, 5 Miami Race & Soc. Just. L. Rev. 289 (2015).

• Foreward: From LatCrit to LatCrit 2.0—Institutionalizing a Movement and Cultivating Next-Generation Scholarship, 47 John Marshall L. Rev. 1167 (2014).

• “Religion in Prison,” in Religion and America Cultures: Tradition, Diversity and Popular Expression (2d ed. 2014).

• Spectacular or Specious? A Critical Review of the Spectacular Few: Prisoner Radicalization and the Evolving Terrorist Threat, 39 T. Marshall L. Rev. 225 (2014).

• Introduction—Twenty Years after the Education Apocalypse: The Ongoing Fall Out from the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill, 33 St. Louis U. Pub. L. Rev. 283 (2014) (with Mary Rachel Gould).

• Economic Interest Convergence in Downsizing Imprisonment, 75 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 475 (2014).

• Experiential Education as Critical Pedagogy: Enhancing the Law School Experience, 38 Nova L. Rev. 249 (2014) (with Stephanie Smith Ledesma).

• Muslim Radicalization in Prison: Responding with Sound Penal Policy or the Sound of Alarm?, 49 Gonz. L. Rev. 37 (2014).

• Legal Punishment as Civil Ritual: Making Cultural Sense of Harsh Punishment, 82 Miss. L.J. 1 (2013) (Lead Article).
  

• Facts and Fictions About Islam in Prison: Assessing Prisoner Radicalization in Post-9/11 America, Institute for Social Policy & Understanding, Inst. for Soc. Pol’y & Understanding, Jan. 2013 Report.

• Raza Islámica: Prisons, Hip Hop & Converting Converts, 22 Berkeley la Raza L.J. 175 (2012).

• Religion as Rehabilitation? Reflections on Islam in the Correctional Setting, 34 Whittier L. Rev. 29 (2012).

• Priorities of Pedagogy: Classroom Justice in the Law School Setting, 48 Cal. West. L. Rev. 467 (2012).

• Why Obama is Black: Language, Law & Structures of Power, 1 Colum. J. Race & L. 468 (2012).

• Enslaved by Words: Legalities and Limitations of ‘Post-Racial’ Language, 2011 Mich. St. L. Rev. 705 (2011).

• Child Pornography Sentencing & Demographic Data: Reforming Through Research, 24 Fed. Sent’g Rep. 102 (2011).

• Gender Violence in Prison & Hyper-masculinities in the ‘Hood: Cycles of Destructive Masculinity, 37 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 89 (2011).

• "Gang Intervention in the United States: Legal and Extra-Legal Attempts at Peacemaking," in Peacemaking from Theory to Practice (Andrea Bartoli et al. eds., 2011).

• Legal Omission: A Reaction to Asian Americans and Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, 2 Geo. J.L. & Mod. Critical Race Persp. 207 (2011).

• “Prison Religion,” “Girard, Rene” and “Prayer Beads,” in Encyclopedia of Global Religions (Mark Juergensmeyer & Wade Clark Roof, eds., 2011).

• “Criminal Justice,” in Richard Hecht and Vincent Biondo, eds., RELIGION IN THE PRACTICE OF DAILY LIFE (Praeger, 2010).

• Mental Illness in Prison: Inmate Rehabilitation & Correctional Officers in Crisis, 14 BERKELEY J. OF CRIM. L. 277 (2009).

• Manufacturing Social Violence: The Prison Paradox & Future Escapes, 11 BERKELEY J. OF AFRICAN-AM. L. & POL’Y 84 (2009).

• God Behind Bars: Race, Religion & Revenge, 37 SETON HALL L. REV. 497 (2007).

• Reimagining Revolution: A Critical Review of Simon Schama’s Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution, 9 BERKELEY J. OF AFRICAN-AM. L. & POL’Y 74 (2007).

Op-eds & Short Pieces

• #TakeAKnee: Sports, Politics and Civil Religion, The Islamic Monthly 10/1/17.

• Prison: A Sacred Space in American Islam, The Islamic Monthly, 8/23/17.

• Finding Islam in Prison, The Saint Louis American, 8/16/17.

• Color Coded Criminal Procedure—Exploring How Law Enables Racism, Disparate Treatment, Violence, Jotwell Criminal Law, 6/19/17.

• Radical, Jihadist, Terrorist: The Difference and Why it Matters, The Islamic Monthly, 2/13/17.

• Growing Support for Restoring Pell Grants to Prisoners, 22 Corrections Managers’ Report 37 (2016).

• The Return of Pell Grants for Prisoners?, 31 American Bar Association Criminal Justice Magazine 10 (2016).

• Trump Cries and Media Wolves, The Islamic Monthly, 10/31/16.

• How Implicit Bias Drags Down Clinton, The Islamic Monthly, 10/7/16.

• The Orlando Massacre and Death of Muhammad Ali: Lessons in Love & Hate for the 2016 Presidential Election, The Islamic Monthly, 10/7/16.

• Exorcising Trump: Time's up for Religious Leaders, Huffington Post, 9/6/16.

• Trump Stabs Supporters with Kaepernick, Huffington Post, 9/9/16.

• The Wrath of Khan: Immigrants Shatter the Trump Narrative, The Islamic Monthly, 8/4/16.
  

• Muhammad Ali's Death is Right on Time for Muslims, The Islamic Monthly, 6/10/16.

• Trump Threatens to Awaken a Sleeping Giant, Huffington Post, 6/9/16.

• Sonic Jihad: Muslim Hip Hop in the Age of Mass Incarceration, The Islamic Monthly, 4/27/16.

• Fort Wayne Killings: Fostering Distrust in Policing, The Islamic Monthly, 3/4/16.

• Crimmigration Law Comes of Age, Jotwell Criminal Law, 3/4/16.

• Concealed Handgun Laws: (Fire)power to the People?, Huffington Post, 11/18/15.

• Ben Carson: Islamophobe Extraordinaire, The Islamic Monthly, 9/23/15.

• Rethinking Proportionality in Punishment, Jotwell Criminal Law, 6/10/15.

• Protesting Islam—American Style, The Islamic Monthly, 6/3/15.

• Revamping the Texas Rules of Evidence: Style Over Substance, Texas Young Lawyers Association, 2/26/15.

• Arkansas Muslim Prisoner Wins a Case, Adds to Legal Legacy, The Islamic Monthly, 1/26/15.

• Restore Pell Grants for Prisoners, Huffington Post, 1/16/15.

• Prisons, Muslim Memory and the Making of a Terrorist, The Conversation, 1/9/15.

• Experiential Education and the Law School Experience, 21 The Law Teacher 52 (2014).

• Religion and Revolution: The Promise of a Fresh Look, Huffington Post, 10/20/14.

• ISIS, Latinos & the Brunt of Border Politics, Huffington Post, 10/10/14.

• The Education Apocalypse—20 years of Ongoing Fall Out, Huffington Post, 7/17/14.

• The Muslim Vote: Down by Law, Huffington Post, 10/31/13.

• What If They Force-fed Gandhi?,Huffington Post, 9/2/13.

• Classroom Justice: Beyond Paper-Chase Pedagogy, 33 The Law Teacher 35 (2013).

• Supremacist Terror Rising, Islamic Extremism on the Decline, Huffington Post, 4/9/13.

• The Waning Pulse of Islamic Radicalization in America, The Islamic Monthly, 3/12/13.

• Growing Faith: Prisons, Hip Hop & Islam, Huffington Post, 3/7/13.

• Model Rule 6.1: A Lawyer’s Duty to Increase Access to Justice, The Young Lawyer, 11/5/12.

• Questions about East Saint Louis Curfew, Saint Louis Beacon, 10/5/2012.

• Legalize Marijuana for Racial-Justice Reasons, Seattle Times, 10/2/2012.

• False Alarms on Islam, Saint Louis American, 8/9/2012.

• Islam, Prisons and Latinos, Saint Louis American, 2/2/2012.

• Obama Chokes on Medical Marijuana, Arizona State Law Journal Blog, 9/12/2011.

• Guest commentary: Radical Islam in prisons is made in the USA, St. Louis Post Dispatch, 6/30/2011.

• Radical Islam in Prison: Made in the USA, Huffington Post, 6/21/2011.

• Islam in American Barrios & Prisons: Converts Reclaim Moorish Spain, Reject Church, Jadaliyya.com, 1/7/2011.

 

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