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Scott Phillips

Scott Phillips

Professor

scott.phillips@du.edu

https://scottphillips1414.academia.edu/

Personal

Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208

What I do

Scott Phillips is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Denver.

Professional Biography

Scott Phillips is a Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Denver. He is engaged in two lines of scholarship – one empirical, one theoretical. His empirical research focuses on the arbitrary administration of capital punishment. His theoretical research focuses on Donald Black's new and innovative ideas regarding human conflict. In a recent book, he combines those interests: Geometrical Justice: The Death Penalty in America (Scott Phillips and Mark Cooney, Routledge 2022). He teaches the following courses: Capital Punishment; Conflict and the Law; Crime over Time; Criminology; Statistics; and Wrongful Conviction.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Sociology, University of Georgia, 2000
  • MA, Sociology, Louisiana State University, 1996
  • BA, History, Texas Christian University, 1993

Professional Affiliations

  • American Society of Criminology

Media Sources

Research

Professor Phillips' research examines two topics: capital punishment and conflict management. His research on capital punishment examines whether the death penalty is imposed arbitrarily, focusing on both random and patterned forms of arbitrariness. His research on conflict management draws on Donald Black's new and innovative ideas regarding social time and the handling of grievances.

Areas of Research

capital punishment
arbitrariness in the administration of the death penalty
conflict management

Featured Publications

Phillips, S., & Cooney, M. (2022). Geometrical Justice: The Death Penalty in America. New York: Routledge.
Phillips, S., & Marceau, J. F. (2020). Whom the State Kills. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.
Phillips, S., & Steidley, T. T. (2020). A Systematic Lottery: The Texas Death Penalty, 1976 to 2016. Columbia Human Rights Law Review.
Phillips, S., & Cooney, M. (2015). The Electronic Pillory: Social Time and Hostility Toward Capital Murderers. Law and Society Review, 49, 725–759.
Phillips, S. (2009). Status disparities in the capital of capital punishment. Law and Society Review , 43(4), 807–837.
Phillips, S., Hagan, J., & Rodriguez, N. (2006). Brutal borders? Examining the treatment of deportees during arrest and detention. Social Forces, 85(1), 93–110.
Phillips, S., & Cooney, M. (2005). Aiding peace, abetting violence: Third parties and the management of conflict. American Sociological Review , 70(2), 334–354.
Phillips, S. (2003). The social structure of vengeance: A test of Black’s model. Criminology, 41(3), 673–708.
Phillips, S., & Grattet, R. (2000). Judicial rhetoric, meaning-making, and the institutionalization of hate crime law. Law and Society Review , 34(3), 567–606.

Presentations

Phillips, S., & Marceau, J. F. (2020). Whom the State Kills. 55th Anniversary of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Harvard Law School.
Phillips, S. (2019). A Systematic Lottery: The Texas Death Penalty, 1976 to 2016. Furman’s Legacy: New Research on the Overbreadth of Capital Punishment. Columbia Law School.
Phillips, S., & Richardson, J. (2016). The Worst of the Worst: Heinous Crimes and Erroneous Evidence. Innocence Network Conference. San Antonio, Texas.

Awards

  • Dean's Meritorious Sabbatical Award, 2021-2022 (funded by the Harmes C. Fishback Foundation)
  • University of Denver Campus Life Award, University of Denver
  • Law and Society Association Article of the Year, Law and Society Association