Austin Sarat
Cognoscenti contributor
Austin Sarat is associate dean of the faculty and William Nelson Cromwell professor of jurisprudence and political science at Amherst College. His publications include "Mercy on Trial: What It Means to Stop an Execution" and "Gruesome Spectacles: Botched Executions and America’s Death Penalty."
Recently published
Joe Biden and the precedent of preemptive pardons
Preemptive pardons are unusual, but legal, writes Amherst College political scientist Austin Sarat. President Biden's pardon of Hunter was partly motivated by a justifiable fear of what Trump’s Justice Department...
Is America Heading For Another Civil War?
As the 2020 campaign unfolds, writes Austin Sarat, candidates on both sides are offering dire predictions of what will result if the other side wins.
The Death Penalty And Mercy: Dear Governors, Can You Spare A Pardon?
In the mid-1900s, governors granted clemency to as many as 1 in 5 death-row inmates, writes Austin Sarat. Now, governors rarely extend such mercy.