The American Law Institute elected MSU College of Law Professor Catherine Grosso as a new member in July, recognizing her scholarship in the role of race and other extralegal factors in criminal investigations, trials and the administration of capital punishment.

 

She teaches criminal procedure, capital punishment law, and a seminar on criminal juries. Grosso received a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies from Earlham College and a J.D. from University of Iowa College of Law.

Grosso is the seventh MSU Law professor who is a member of the American Law Institute, an organization of 4,500 judges, lawyers and law professors of the 1.3 million lawyers in the United States. The American Law Institute undertakes major legal projects to promote the better administration of justice by clarifying existing law and proposing new legal principles. She is one of 60 legal scholars elected this summer.

“Catherine is an influential intellectual legal scholar whose work promotes social justice,” said MSU Law Dean Linda Sheryl Greene, a life member of ALI. “Her work on the role of race in sentencing decisions and on the conviction of innocent criminal defendants has transformed our understanding of criminal system integrity and reliability. She will bring this important expertise to ALI, and in turn share those rich ALI experience with our faculty and students.”

Grosso is a contributing editor to the National Registry of Exonerations, which collects, analyzes and disseminates information about exonerations of innocent criminal defendants in the United States since 1989. She works closely at NRE with MSU Professor Barbara O’Brien, the Editor of NRE. 

“It is a great honor to join ALI, and I am excited to get involved,” said Grosso. “I have followed recent ALI projects with great interest. The Law of American Indians and the Principles of the Law of Policing are important pieces of work.”

Grosso is the past president of Society of American Law Teachers and a current member of its Board of Governors.

In addition to Dean Greene and Grosso, the following MSU Law faculty are members of the ALI: Kristine Bowman, James Ming Chen, Wenona Singel, David Thronson and Nicholas Wittner.

“To further its work, the Institute elects individuals who reflect the excellence and diversity of today's legal profession,” states the ALI on its website. “Membership in The American Law Institute is a distinct professional honor, and the number of elected members is limited.”