In Memoriam: Dr. Harold Pepinsky, Professor Emeritus

The Department of Criminal Justice is sad to announce the passing of our colleague and friend, Harold (Hal) Pepinsky. Hal passed away peacefully in Durango, Colorado on January 28^th, 2023. Hal joined what was at the time the Department of Forensic Studies in 1974 and retired in 2009 to be with his wife Jill Bystydzienski, a Professor in the Department of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies at The Ohio State University. When Jill retired they moved to Durango to be near their daughter Katy, her husband, Christian and their two grandchildren, Mila and Evan.

Donations can be made to the “Hal Pepinsky Legacy Travel Fund” found within the American Society of Criminology (ASC) division webpages. There will be a celebration of Hal’s life and work at the ASC Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in November.

Read the entire tribute written by Kip Schlegel.

Welcome Dr. Bonnie Ernst to the Department of Criminal Justice

We are excited to welcome Dr. Bonnie Ernst to the Department of Criminal Justice.  Dr. Ernst started this Spring 2023 semester, currently teaching CJUS-P408 Mass Imprisonment.

Dr. Ernst spent a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor with our department before joining the University of Florida in 2019.  Bonnie received her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 2018 and her research focuses on the history of race, gender, and criminal justice in the United States. 

She is currently working on a book that examines how the women's movement shaped acitvisim among incarcerated women, attorneys, and community leaders during the rise of mass incarceration in Detroit.

The Herald-Times Guest Column: Research team working to find a new way to approach probation and reduce recidivism

Dr. Northcutt Bohmert, Michelle Ying, Carmen Diaz, Evan Lowder, and Eric Grommon were guest columnists for The Herald-Times discussing their research and work with Monroe County to reduce probation revocations and recidivism. 

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Read The Herald-Times guest column dated November 23, 2022.  

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Learn more about the Indiana University research team's prior research in Monroe County.

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Dr. Northcutt Bohmert is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Students for the Department of Criminal Justice.  Her research interests involve prisons, jails, community supervision, social psychological influences and environmental contexts, gender and intersectionality.

Carmen Diaz is a graduate student in the Department of Criminal Justice focusing on racial and ethnic disparities, pretrial and prosecutorial decision making.