Jonathan Simon joined the Berkeley Law faculty in 2003 as part of the J.D., JSP, and Legal Studies programs. He teaches in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, criminology, legal studies and the sociology of law.
Simon’s scholarship concerns the role of crime and criminal justice in governing contemporary societies, risk and the law, and the history of the interdisciplinary study of law. His published works include over seventy articles and book chapters, and three single authored monographs, including: Poor Discipline: Parole and the Social Control of the Underclass (University of Chicago 1993, winner of the American Sociological Association’s sociology of law book prize, 1994), Governing through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear (Oxford University Press 2007, winner of the American Society of Criminology, Hindelang Award 2010) and Mass Incarceration on Trial: A Remarkable Court Decision and the Future of Prisons in America (New Press 2014). Simon has served as the co-editor-in-chief of the journal, Punishment and Society, and the co-editor of the Sage Handbook of Punishment & Society (along with Richard Sparks). He is a member of the Law & Society Association and the American Society of Criminology. Simon’s scholarship has been recognized internationally with appointment as a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship at the University of Edinburgh (2010-11), a Fellow of the Israeli Institute for Advanced Studies (2016), and a Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (2018). In 2016 Simon was recognized for his scholarship on the human rights of prisoners with the Docteur honoris causa de la Faculté et de l’Institut, Faculté de Droit et Criminologie, Université Catholique de Louvain.
Education
A.B., UC Berkeley (1981)
J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (1987)
Ph.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (1990)
Jonathan Steven Simon is teaching the following course in Spring 2025:
• 221.76 sec. 001 - The Legal Politics of Campus Protests
Courses During Other Semesters
| Semester | Course Num | Course Title |  Teaching Evaluations | Fall 2024 | 234.2 sec. 001 | Criminal Justice Theory | View Teaching Evaluation |
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Bay Area retail theft bust nets $8 million in stolen merchandise from CVS, Walgreens, Target
Professor Jonathan Simon says that due to businesses trying to maximize profits by reducing the number of people working there, the automated self check-outs enable theft
By the numbers: Critics, supporters of former DA discuss county’s conviction rate
Professor Jonathan Simon says that we shouldn’t trust the conviction rate too much, highlighting that the conviction rate fails to capture how well the district attorney is protecting justice as a whole in the community
Scholarly Impact: Study Ranks Berkeley Law Faculty Sixth, With 15 Professors in Their Field’s Top 15
Fifteen professors, including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, also made lists of the most-cited faculty in their fields.
East Bay police officer faces lesser gun charge in death of unarmed man after prosecution misstep
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the case of a Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy being tried for the death of an unarmed motorist now facing a less serious charge after prosecutors failed to demonstrate that he used a semiautomatic pistol in the 2018 shooting — even though there is no dispute that he did
Biden’s 100 days: Where some of the president’s early executive orders stand now
Professor Jonathan Simon says President Biden’s executive order ending Justice Department contracts with private prisons is “mostly symbolic”
Journalism at San Quentin
Professor Jonathan Simon says rehabilitative measures should be offered to all prisoners and are an effective means of addressing the underlying reasons individuals commit crimes, particularly violent offenses
Did California Congresswoman Maxine Waters Tamper With The Jury In Derek Chauvin’s Trial?
Professor Jonathan Simon says he is he is skeptical of claims that the Chauvin verdict will be overturned on the grounds that remarks from Maxine Waters prejudiced the jury
Q&A With Professor Jonathan Simon: ‘Cinematic’ Video Helped Seal Guilty Verdict in Derek Chauvin Trial
That evidence helped overwhelm the advantages police typically hold when officers are accused of committing a crime in the line of duty, Simon said.
Chauvin’s conviction called a #MeToo moment in race and policing
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses how the guilty verdict in the Chauvin case could be a turning point in the culture of policing and race relations in America
Chauvin murder trial: UC law professor explains requirements to convict
Professor Jonathan Simon explains what it will take to convict Officer Derek Chauvin
Legion of Chauvin prosecutors, each with own role
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the prosecution’s strategy in the case against Derek Chauvin
From Economics to History, Recent Books Showcase Depth and Breadth of Faculty Scholarship
Fifteen books published in 2019 and 2020 were highlighted at a recent event, including work by Ian Haney López, Franklin Zimring, and Dean Erwin Chemerinsky.
California Bill That Promotes Alternatives To Policing Is Back Despite Governor’s Veto
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the CRISIS Act and says Governor Newsom’s desire to appear progressive has arguably outweighed his appetite to champion and enact legislation that reflects those values
Op-Ed: Don’t use S.F. tragedy to justify return to mass incarceration
Professor Jonathan Simon says Californians who witnessed the failures of mass incarceration need to remind the public of the unacceptable human and financial costs of going backward
Berkeley scholars’ outrage, reflections on U.S. Capitol mob siege
Berkeley Law experts reflect on the the attempted coup at the U.S. Capitol
California’s far-left activists shocked they beat Prop. 25. What’s the future of bail now?
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the opportunities for bail reform at the local level, after Prop 25 fails
Does homicide charge against Bay Area cop in fatal shooting signal a new day?
Professor Jonathan Simon says a combination of a new state law and the current police reform climate may have swayed the Alameda DA to prosecute the case of a police officer who fatally shot Steven Taylor at a Walmart store in April
California could cut its prison population in half and free 50,000 people. Amid pandemic, will the state act?
Professor Jonathan Simon explains why this moment in time resents a unique opportunity to reduce prison overcrowding by making reforms, particularly by releasing women who could safely be released
A Conversation on How Race and America’s Criminal Justice System Are Inextricably Linked
Two Berkeley Law professors and two other UC Berkeley scholars describe how race has created different forms of criminal justice in the U.S.
Trump appointed these four judges. And now as a direct result the federal government has executed prisoners for the first time in 17 years
Professor Jonathan Simon discusses the impact of Justice Kennedy’s retirement and Justice Kavanaugh’s appointment on capital punishment cases