Darryl K. Brown

  • O. M. Vicars Professor of Law

Darryl K. Brown teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Adjudication and Evidence at UVA Law, among other courses. Before joining the law faculty in 2007, he was the Class of 1958 Alumni Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, where he joined the faculty in 1998. He is the author of "Free Market Criminal Justice: How Democracy and Laissez Faire Undermine the Rule of Law."

Brown clerked for Chief Judge Dolores K. Sloviter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit after earning his law degree at the University of Virginia. He was an associate at Kilpatrick & Cody in Atlanta before working as an assistant public defender in Clarke County, Ga.

Scholarship Profile: Exploring and Explaining How Criminal Law Really Works (Virginia Journal 2009)

Education

  • J.D.
    University of Virginia School of Law
    1990
  • M.A.
    College of William and Mary
    1991
  • B.A.
    East Carolina University
    1984

Books

The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Process (edited with Jenia I. Turner & Bettina Weisser), Oxford University Press (2019).
Free Market Criminal Justice: How Democracy and Laissez Faire Undermine the Rule of Law, Oxford University Press (2016).

Textbooks

Adjudication of Criminal Justice: Cases and Problems (with Ronald L. Carlson & Susan W. Crump), Thomson/West (2007).

Book Chapters

Disclosure, Security, Technology: Challenges in Pre-trial Access to Evidence, in The Oxford Handbook of Prosecutors and Prosecution, Oxford University Press, 101–116 (2021).
Evidence Discovery and Disclosure in Common Law Systems, in The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Process, Oxford University Press, 543–561 (2019).
Discovery, in Reforming Criminal Justice: A Report by the Academy for Justice, 147–169 (2017).
Discovery, in Reforming Criminal Justice: Pretrial and Trial Processes, Academy for Justice, 147–169 (2017).
Public Welfare Offenses, in The Oxford Handbook of Criminal Law, Oxford University Press, 862–883 (2014).
Reforming the Judge's Role in Plea Bargaining, in The Future of Criminal Law?, Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, 75–84 (2014).
American Prosecutors’ Powers and Obligations in the Era of Plea Bargaining, in The Prosecutor in Transnational Perspective, Oxford University Press, 200–213 (2012).
The Enduring Pattern of Broad Criminal Codes and a Path for Structural Change, in Criminal Law Conversations, Oxford University Press, 528–529 (2009).
Class and Credibility: Insights from Empirical Sociology, Cognitive Psychology, and Trial Practice, in Class and Identity Readings (conference proceedings), 499 (1995).
Structure and Relation in the Jurisprudence of Juries: Comparing the Capital Sentencing and Punitive Damages Doctrines, in Successful Techniques for Civil Trials, Lawyers Cooperative Pub. (2 ed. 1992).

Articles & Reviews

The Trial Lottery (with Kiel Brennan-Marquez & Stephen E. Henderson), 56 Wake Forest Law Review 1–45 (2021).
Civil Order, Criminal Justice, and ‘No Justice No Peace’, 70 University of Toronto Law Journal 84–101 (2020).
Does It Matter Who Objects? Rethinking the Burden to Prevent Errors in Criminal Process, 98 Texas Law Review 625–677 (2020).
Factually Baseless Enforcement of Criminal Law is Okay. Full Enforcement is Not. , 104 Marquette Law Review 511–541 (2020).
The Case for a Trial Fee: What Money Can Buy in Criminal Process, 107 California Law Review 1415–1454 (2019).
Reforming Criminal Justice by Reforming Lawyers (reviewing Benjamin H. Barton & Stephanos Bibas, Rebooting Justice: More Technology, Fewer Lawyers, and the Future of Law) Regulatory Review (2018).
Criminal Enforcement Redundancy: Oversight of Decisions Not to Prosecute, 103 Minnesota Law Review 843–914 (2018).
Das von den Regeln des freien Marktes inspirierte System des plea bargaining in den USA, 130 Zeitschrift für die gesamte Strafrechtswissenschaft 447–475 (2018).
How Criminal Law Dictates Rules of Criminal Procedure, 70 Rutgers University Law Review 1093–1115 (2018).
How Criminal Law Dictates Rules of Criminal Procedure, 70 Rutgers University Law Review 1093–1115 (2018).
How to Make Criminal Trials Disappear Without Pretrial Discovery, 55 American Criminal Law Review 155–201 (2018).
The Judicial Role in Criminal Charging and Plea Bargaining, 46 Hofstra Law Review 63–85 (2017).
What’s the Matter with Kansas—and Utah?: Explaining Judicial Interventions in Plea Bargaining, 95 Texas Law Review See Also 47–62 (2017).
Decriminalization, Regulation, Privatization: A Response to Professor Natapoff, 69 Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc 1–16 (2016).
Judicial Power to Regulate Plea Bargaining, 57 William & Mary Law Review 1225–1276 (2016).
Penal Modernism in Theory and Practice, 1 Critical Legal Analysis 182–188 (2014).
Strict Liability in the Shadow of Juries, 67 SMU Law Review 525–543 (2014).
The Perverse Effects of Efficiency in Criminal Process, 100 Virginia Law Review 183–223 (2014).
What Can Kafka Tell Us About American Criminal Justice? (reviewing Robert P. Burns, Kafka’s Law: The Trial and American Criminal Justice) 93 Texas Law Review 487–503 (2014).
Lafler’s Remedial Uncertainty: Why Prosecutors Can Rest Easy, 4 HLRe: Off the Record 9–14 (2013).
Review of Daniel Givelber & Amy Farrell, Not Guilty: Are the Acquitted Innocent? (reviewing Daniel Givelber & Amy Farrell, Not Guilty: Are the Acquitted Innocent?) Criminal Law & Criminal Justice Books (2013).
Criminal Law Reform and the Persistence of Strict Liability, 62 Duke Law Journal 285–338 (2012).
Criminal Law Theory and Criminal Justice Practice, 49 American Criminal Law Review 73–103 (2012).
Defense Counsel, Trial Judges, and Evidence Production Protocols, 45 Texas Tech Law Review 133–149 (2012).
Federal Mens Rea Interpretation and the Limits of Culpability’s Relevance, 75 Law & Contemporary Problems 109–131 (2012).
Lafler, Frye and Our Still Unregulated Plea Bargaining System, 25 Federal Sentencing Reporter 131–134 (2012).
Criminal Law’s Unfortunate Triumph over Administrative Law, 7 Journal of Law, Economics, & Policy 657–683 (2011).
Why Padilla Doesn’t Matter (Much), 58 UCLA Law Review 1393–1415 (2011).
Can Criminal Law Be Controlled? (reviewing Douglas Husak, Overcriminalization: The Limits of the Criminal Law) 108 Michigan Law Review 971–991 (2010).
Epiphenomenal Indigent Defense, 75 Missouri Law Review 907–930 (2010).
The Confrontation Clause and the High Stakes of the Court’s Consideration of Briscoe v. Virginia (with Stephen W. Murphy), 95 Virginia Law Review in Brief 907–930 (2010).
History’s Challenge to Criminal Law Theory, 3 Criminal Law & Philosophy 271–287 (2009).
Prosecutors and Overcriminalization: Thoughts on Political Dynamics and a Doctrinal Response, 6 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 453–466 (2009).
Executive Branch Regulation of Criminal Defense Counsel and the Private Contract Limit on Prosecutor Bargaining, 57 DePaul Law Review 365–393 (2008).
The Multifarious Politics of Capital Punishment: A Response to Smith, 94 Virginia Law Review in Brief 57–64 (2008).
Yick Wo and the Constitutional Regulation of Criminal Law, 2008 University of Illinois Law Review 1405–1413 (2008).
Democracy and Decriminalization, 86 Texas Law Review 223–275 (2007).
The Distribution of Fraud Enforcement, 28 Cardozo Law Review 1593–1598 (2007).
The Decline of Defense Counsel and the Rise of Accuracy in Criminal Adjudication, 93 California Law Review 1585–1646 (2005).
Cost-Benefit Analysis in Criminal Law, 92 California Law Review 323–372 (2004).
Rationing Criminal Defense Entitlements: An Argument from Institutional Design, 104 Columbia Law Review 801–836 (2004).
The Problematic and Faintly Promising Dynamics of Corporate Crime Enforcement, 1 Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law 521–550 (2004).
Defense Attorney Discretion to Ration Services and Shortchange Some Clients, 42 Brandeis Law Journal 207–224 (2003).
An Overview of the American Criminal Jury (with David Abrami & Kimberley A. Mottley), 21 St. Louis University Public Law Review 99–122 (2002).
Judicial Instructions, Defendant Culpability, and Jury Interpretation of Law, 21 St. Louis University Public Law Review 25–50 (2002).
The Warren Court, Criminal Procedure Reform, and Retributive Punishment, 59 Washington & Lee Law Review 1411–1428 (2002).
Third-Party Interests in Criminal Law, 80 Texas Law Review 1383–1428 (2002).
Watching Legislatures for Apprendi's Effects on Plea Bargaining, 5 California Criminal Law Review 1–17 (2002).
What Virtue Ethics Can Do for Criminal Justice: A Reply to Huigens, 37 Wake Forest Law Review 29–50 (2002).
Street Crime, Corporate Crime, and the Contingency of Criminal Liability, 149 University of Pennsylvania Law Review 1295–1360 (2001).
Criminal Procedure Entitlements, Professionalism, and Lawyering Norms, 61 Ohio State Law Journal 801–866 (2000).
Regulating Decision Effects of Legally Sufficient Jury Instructions, 73 Southern California Law Review 1105–1132 (2000).
Criminal Procedure, Justice, Ethics, and Zeal, 96 Michigan Law Review 2146–2155 (1998).
Plain Meaning, Practical Reason, and Culpability: Toward a Theory of Jury Interpretation of Criminal Statutes, 96 Michigan Law Review 1199–1268 (1998).
Trial Advocacy as Legal Reasoning—And Legal Realism, 24 NYU Law Review 315–332 (1998).
Jury Nullification within the Rule of Law, 81 Minnesota Law Review 1149–1200 (1997).
Structure and Relationship in the Jurisprudence of Juries: Comparing the Capital Sentencing and Punitive Damages Doctrines, 47 Hastings Law Journal 1255–1324 (1996).
Rethinking Georgia's "Missing Witness" Rules for Closing Arguments, 30 Georgia State Bar Journal 135–142 (1994).
The Means and Ends of Representative Juries, 1 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law 445–474 (1994).
The Role of Race in Jury Impartiality and Venue Transfers, 53 Maryland Law Review 107–156 (1994).
The Misdemeanor Proof of Insurance: A Proposal for Reform, 29 Georgia State Bar Journal 164–167 (1993).
Racism and Race Relations in the University, 76 Virginia Law Review 295–336 (1990).

Op-Eds, Blogs, Shorter Works

Why Does the US Sentence People to Hundreds of Years in Prison?, Conversation (July 22, 2019).

Current Courses

Criminal Law
Evidence
Federal Criminal Law

All Courses

Criminal Adjudication
Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure
Evidence
Race & Crime Seminar
Torts
White Collar Crime
Crime and Regulation of Vice

IN THE NEWS

09/22/2022
Virginia Judge Boots Progressive Prosecutor From Second Case (The Washington Post)
04/22/2022
Did Jason Miyares’ Office Sign a Plea Deal With Sheriff’s Deputy Convicted of Sex Crime? (VPM)
08/04/2021
How the Rich Get Bail (Podcast) (Bloomberg)
08/01/2021
Ex-Wife’s Property, Utah Ranch: How Wealthy Secure High Bails (Bloomberg)
05/28/2021
Mask Benefits and Virginia’s Law Against Them (VPM)
04/23/2021
Public Defenders Say Pay Parity Critical to Justice System Reforms (VPM)
08/19/2020
What the Heck Is ‘Injury to a Monument’? The Very Strange Charges Filed Against a Virginia Lawmaker (Washingtonian)
02/07/2020
Lawmaker’s Privilege Ties Up Case Against Ex-NASCAR Driver (The Associated Press)
11/30/2019
With a Massive Amount of Discovery, Legal Experts See Both Sides of Trial Turmoil: an Overworked Office Versus a Basic Task (Danville Register & Bee)
10/06/2019
Supreme Court Puts ‘Insanity Defense’ and Split Juries in Focus as It Hears Arguments Over Two Grisly Murder Cases (CNBC)
09/16/2019
E-Cigarette Ban, Longer Than Life, Bob Ross (BYU Radio)
07/22/2019
Why Does the U.S. Sentence People to Hundreds of Years in Prison? (The Conversation)
04/18/2019
Racial Makeup of Jury Pool Stirs Debate in Federal Case of Accused Danville Gang Members (Danville Register & Bee)
12/04/2018
Reforming Criminal Justice by Reforming Lawyers (The Regulatory Review)
06/14/2018
Why Is Golden State Killer Suspect Joseph DeAngelo in a Cage in Court Appearances? How Could It Affect His Trial? (Oxygen)
10/25/2017
Reforming Criminal Justice (Arizona State University)
10/12/2017
Michigan Governor Sticking to Story About Legionnaires' (Associated Press)
08/01/2017
She Was Convicted of Killing Her Mother. Prosecutors Withheld the Evidence That Would Have Freed Her. (The New York Times Magazine)
03/02/2017
Prosecutor Meeting Could Help De Blasio (Queens Chronicle)
03/02/2017
'Perjury Is a Very Difficult Charge to Prove': Jeff Sessions Probably Didn't Perjure Himself When He Denied Russia Contacts at His Confirmation Hearing (Business Insider)
07/26/2016
Judge's Plea-Bargain Ban for Police Threats Raises Eyebrows (The Wall Street Journal)
06/06/2016
Amid Threat to Witnesses, Judge Bars Defendants' Relatives from Norfolk Courtroom in Murder Trial (The Virginian-Pilot)
02/04/2016
Documents Show Allegations of Extortion and Possible Bribery in David Chase Case (Nashville Scene)
06/23/2015
UVa Professor Calls Culpeper Town's Claim for Special Prosecutor 'Unusual' (Star Exponent)
04/17/2015
Andreatta: Plea Warps Reality of Thefts at Vets' Graves (Democrat & Chronicle)
09/24/2014
W&L Professor Seeks to Have Rejected Plea Deal Unsealed in Hansel Case (The Roanoke Times)
07/14/2014
U.S. Granted Ex-Star Scientific CEO Rare Blanket Immunity (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
05/13/2014
Lawyers in Alexis Murphy case wanted justice served quickly (The Roanoke Times)
01/17/2014
Gov. Christie's Scandal Strategy Is Standard, Legal Experts Say (The Wall Street Journal)
06/21/2013
Experts: Tough to Stick Perjury to Holder (The Hill)
04/25/2013
Jimmy Haslam Investigation: Pilot Flying J Denies Claim of Witness Tampering (Knoxville News-Sentinel)
02/21/2013
Taxi Company Offers Police Data (Cavalier Daily)
02/05/2013
Does Punishment Fit the Crime in Fatal Shooting by Police Officer? (Culpeper Star-Exponent)
02/20/2012
Three-Day Break a Wild Card Factor for Huguely Jury (The Daily Progress)
02/08/2012
Opening Statements Made in College Lacrosse Player's Murder Trial (CNN)
11/15/2011
What do you know about George Huguely? (C-Ville Weekly)
11/08/2011
Defense in Lacrosse Case to Get Records (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
11/07/2011
Huguely Jury Selection Process Among Motions Being Heard Monday (The Daily Progress)
11/07/2011
Judge Rules Attorneys Can Access Victim's Medical Records in Virginia Lacrosse Slaying Case (Washington Post)
08/04/2011
Behind Bars: A Brief History Of The Defendant's Cage (MPR News)
07/30/2011
Va. Beach Jail Death Shines Light on Contempt Cases (The Virginian-Pilot)
01/20/2011
Suffolk Shooting Not Necessarily OK under Virginia Law (The Virginian-Pilot)
12/14/2010
Bill to Close Loophole in School Bus Safety Law (Fairfax Times)
10/01/2010
Reducing Crime Through Education? (WMRA)
08/26/2010
Site Allows Students to 'Bet' Grades (Cavalier Daily)
08/15/2010
U.S. Too Extreme in Prison Sentencing, UVA Law Professor Says (The Daily Progress)

AT UVA LAW

What’s Next in the Prosecution of Donald Trump
Rap on Trial: The Law in Practice
The Tipping Point for Criminal Justice Reform
Professor To Conduct Research at Cambridge as Thomas Jefferson Visiting Fellow
Professors’ New Work Looks at Economic Disparity in Criminal Justice
Scholars Discuss Professor Darryl Brown's Book 'Free Market Criminal Justice'
UVA Law's Criminal Law Faculty Help Shape National Conversation on Justice
Law and Free Market Concepts Intertwine in U.S. Criminal Justice, Professor Darryl Brown Finds in New Book
Law and Free Market Concepts Intertwine in U.S. Criminal Justice, Professor Darryl Brown Finds in New Book
UVA Law Professors Analyze New Federal Policy to Curtail Stiff Drug Sentences
"Democracy and Markets in Criminal Adjudication" with Professor Darryl Brown
Should Authorities Be Allowed to Strip Search Anyone Who Is Arrested?
Faculty Share Memories of Exams Past
Brown Explores Overcriminalization in the Justice System
Criminal Law Expert Darryl Brown Joins Law Faculty
Rap on Trial: The Law in Practice

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