Christopher E. Smith joined the faculty of the MSU School of Criminal Justice in 1994 after previously teaching political science at the University of Akron and the University of Connecticut-Hartford.  His primary research interests are judicial policy-making, the U.S. Supreme Court, court processes, and constitutional rights in criminal justice, especially prisoners’ rights.  He is the author or co-author of more than 20 books, including The Supreme Court and the Development of Law:  Through the Prism of Prisoners' Rights (2016), John Paul Stevens:  Defender of Rights in Criminal Justice (2015), Constitutional Rights:  Myths & Realities (2004), and Courts and the Poor (1991).  He is also the author of more than 100 scholarly articles that have been published in such journals as Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law, Criminal Justice Studies, Criminal Justice Policy Review, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Justice System Journal, and Boston University Public Interest Law Journal.