douglas.colbert

Professor Colbert joined the faculty in 1994 after directing the criminal justice clinic and teaching civil rights at Hofstra Law School and visiting at Northeastern and Utah Law Schools. In addition to teaching the Access to Justice criminal defense clinic, Professor Colbert also teaches Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Evidence, and Race and Criminal Justice seminar. He has written extensively about indigents’ right to counsel, bail reform, the Thirteenth Amendment, race discrimination in jury selection, affirmative action, police misconduct, politically sensitive trials, and legal scholarship. Professor Colbert was the lead counsel in the Napanoch prison rebellion and represents plaintiffs in civil rights litigation. Prior to entering teaching, he was a senior trial attorney in the criminal defense division of the NYC Legal Aid Society. Professor Colbert’s recent scholarly activities have focused on reforming states’ pretrial release systems and guaranteeing counsel at the bail stage. He founded and directed the Lawyers at Bail Project, which represented 4,000 indigent defendants at bail hearings. Professor Colbert regularly contributes opinion articles and engages in public education about many criminal justice issues. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Public Justice Center and the Maryland Criminal Defense Attorneys Association. He is a past chair of the Maryland State Bar Association’s Section on Correctional Reform.