Selected Publications
Books
-
Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform, Hachette Book Group (2017)
- Sentencing Law and Policy, Foundation Press (2015)
Book Chapters
- "Gary Becker," in Pioneers of Law and Economics, edited by Joshua Wright & Lloyd Cohen (2009)
Published and Forthcoming Papers
- "The Incentives of Private Prisons," 52 Ariz St L J 991 (2021). Link is this: https://
arizonastatelawjournal.org/wp- content/uploads/2021/01/10- Pfaff.pdf - "Why the Policy Failures of Mass Incarceration Are Really Political Failures," 104 Minn L Rev 2673 (2020). Link is this: https://minnesotalawreview.
org/wp-content/uploads/2020/ 06/Pfaff_Final.pdfarticle= 2094&context=faculty_ scholarship - Theories of Mass Imprisonment no longer forthcoming: is 2020
- "Reckless-Dinitz Lecture: Decarceration's Blindspots," 16 Ohio St J Crim Law 253 (2020). Link is this: https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/
handle/1811/88017/OSJCL_V16N1_ 253.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y - "A Second Step Act for the States (and Counties, and Cities)", 41 Cardozo L Rev 151 (2019). Link is this: http://cardozolawreview.com/a-
second-step-act-for-the- states-and-counties-and- cities/ - "It's About Quality: Private Confinement Facilities in Juvenile Justice" (with Jeffrey A. Butts), 18 Criminology & Pub Pol'y 361 (2019). Link is this: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.
com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9133. 12435 - "Prosecutors Matter: A Response to Bellin's Review of Locked In." 116 U Mich L Rev Online (2018). Link is this: https://repository.law.umich.
edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi? article=1017&context=mlr_ online - "Theories of Mass Imprisonment,” in CRIMINAL JUSTICE THEORY: EXPLANATIONS AND EFFECTS, edited by Cecilia Chouhy et al. (forthcoming 2018).
- Criminal Punishment and the Politics of Place, 45 FORDHAM URBAN L J 571 (2018)
- “Prosecutorial Guidelines,” in REFORMING CRIMINAL JUSTICE, Vol. 3, edited by Erik Luna (2017)
- The Need for Prosecutorial Guidelines,” in POLICING AND PUNISHMENT: PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS AND POLICY SOLUTIONS, edited by Chris Suprenant (2017)
- The Complicated Economics of Prison Reform, 114 Mich L Rev 951 (2016) (invited book review)
- Federal Sentencing in the States: Some Thoughts on Federal Grants and State Imprisonment, 66 HASTINGS L J 1567 (2015) (invited symposium piece)
- The War on Drugs and Prison Growth: Limited Importance, Limited Legislative Options, 52 Harv J Legis 173 (2015)
- Escaping from the Standard Story: Why the Conventional Wisdom on Prison Growth is Wrong, and Where We Can Go from Here, 26 Fed Sent Rptr 265 (2014)
- Waylaid by a Metaphor: A Deeply Problematic Account of Prison Growth (Reviewing Ernest Drucker: A Plague of Prisons), 111 U Mich L Rev 1087 (2013)
- The Micro and Macro Causes of Prison Growth, 28 Ga St U L Rev 1239 (2012)
- The Myths and Realities of Correctional Severity: Evidence from the National Corrections Reporting Program, 13 Am Law & Econ Rev 491 (2011)
- The Durability of Prison Populations, 2010 U Chi Legal Forum 73 (2010).
- The Future of Appellate Sentencing Review: Booker in the States, 93 Marquette L Rev 683 (2009)
- The Challenge of Designing Quality Guidelines for Observational Research, AUSTRALASIAN EVALUATION SOCIETY CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS (2009)
- “Gary Becker,” in PIONEERS IN LAW AND ECONOMICS, edited by Joshua Wright and Lloyd Cohen (2009)
- The Empirics of Prison Growth: A Critical Review and Path Forward, 98 J Crim L & Criminology 547 (2008)
- The Vitality of Voluntary Guidelines in the Wake of Blakely v. Washington: An Empirical Assessment, 19 Fed Sent Rep 202 (2007)
- The Continued Vitality of Structured Sentencing Following Blakely: The Effectiveness of Voluntary Guidelines, 54 UCLA L Rev 235 (2006)
Working Papers and Works in Progress
-
Truth in Sentencing Laws and the Limited Role of the Federal Government (working paper)
Other Publications
- "Reform School: Five Myths About Prison Growth Dispelled." Slate, February 19, 2009.
- "It's the Media, Not Juveniles, Who Are Delinquent: A Panic About Names." Huffington Post, February 3, 2009.