James M. Binnall

Dr. Binnall is an Associate Professor of Law, Criminology, and Criminal Justice at California State University, Long Beach. He is also a practicing attorney and a formerly incarcerated person who spent just over 4 years in prison for a DUI Homicide that claimed the life of his close friend. While incarcerated, Dr. Binnall took his LSAT's and was accepted to law school. Once released, he earned his JD and LL.M. (2007/2008), was admitted to the State Bar of California (2008), and received his Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society from University of California, Irvine (2014).

In his research, Dr. Binnall explores the statutory exclusion of individuals with a felony conviction from the jury process. The nation’s leading scholar on the topic, Dr. Binnall has published numerous articles on felon-juror exclusion in both social science and law journals. His research has appeared in Law & Social Inquiry, Law & Policy, Psychology, Crime, and Law, Stanford Law and Policy Review Online, Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, and Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law. On the subject of felon-juror exclusion, Dr. Binnall has testified for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and presented to the American Bar Association’s Jury Commission. His work has also been featured in popular media outlets including: The Conversation, CALMatters, Law 360, Criminal Legal News, Mother Jones, and the ABA Journal.

Dr. Binnall’s most recent book – Twenty Million Angry Men: The Case for Including Convicted Felons in Our Jury System (University of California Press) – reveals the flaws inherent in the justifications for felon-juror exclusion, as well as the negative impacts of the practice on jury deliberations and on the reintegration of those who have been convicted of a felony. The book’s primary thesis is that prospective jurors with a felony criminal history enhance, rather than detract from our jury system. In this way, felon-juror exclusion is both unnecessary and potentially damaging to the majority of U.S. jurisdictions that enforce this prevalent and severe collateral sanction.