Eve Hanan
Eve Hanan is an Associate Professor at UNLV Law. Her expertise is in Criminal Law, Clinical Legal Education and Teaching, Trial and Appellate Practice, Criminal Procedure, and Restorative Justice.
What's the most important thing you are working on right now?
Right now, I am getting to know the most pressing juvenile and criminal justice issues in Clark County as I design the new juvenile and criminal defense clinic that will begin next fall. I want to make sure that the clinic students can, though individual client representation and policy projects, make a real difference in Clark County.
What is the most significant issue facing your field and how should it be addressed?
Mass incarceration is the most important issue in criminal law today, and it is also one of the most pressing issues in American society. Its ramifications cannot be overstated for imprisoned people and their families. Within the field of criminal law, mass incarceration prompts us to address two challenges: (1) how to reduce crime without relying on prisons, and (2) how to reduce racial disparity when enforcing criminal laws. Legal changes, like reducing maximum sentences and re-invigorating the Eighth Amendment, are not enough. The best solutions derive from interdisciplinary analysis that uses social science data to inform law and policy reform.
When you are working on an article or a book, what's your favorite part of the process? What do you do during the process that others might find odd?
I spent many years working as a criminal defense lawyer in Boston, D.C., and Maryland, so, when I sit down to write, I often have a former client in mind, or a pattern of practice I observed over time. This anchors me in real-world problems, but I find it’s also important to move away from practice and analyze the problem from a rigorous, academic prospective. When I return to think about solutions, I reality-check them using my experience representing low-income people at trial and on appeal.
When students ask you what they should read outside the required textbooks and other law-related books, what do you suggest?
I wholeheartedly recommend Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. It is a personal account by one of our nation’s finest criminal defense attorneys who has dedicated his career to representing people charged with the most serious crimes. In it he recounts his advocacy for clients on death row who were likely innocent, and juveniles sentenced to life in prison where they spent years in solitary confinement. As the title suggests, he not only discusses justice in the legal sense, but he also reasserts the legitimacy of mercy and forgiveness in our legal system. Whether students plan to become prosecutors, defense attorneys or judges in criminal court, Stevenson’s book is a must read.
What is it about being a law school professor that inspires or motivates you?
I caught the criminal law and procedure bug from my law school professors, who talked passionately about the Bill of Rights from the podium and guided me through my first client representations in the clinic. They sparked in me a sense of intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for criminal law that propelled and sustained me during my years in practice as a public defender. I walk into the classroom with the goal of doing the same for my students.